The History and Future of Presidential War Powers

With several major wars threatening to spill over into wider regional conflicts, and a U.S. presidential election looming, the question of what power an American president has to wage war has become more pressing. In a new episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler sits down with Patrick Hulme, an IGCC affiliate and Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Stanford University, to take a deeper look at U.S. presidential war powers. Patrick explains how presidential war powers have evolved and what U.S. allies think, and weighs in on what a Harris or Trump presidency may imply for future U.S. involvement in foreign wars.This interview was conducted on August 28, 2024. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.