Quote by Abraham Lincoln
Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purposeand you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, to-day, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, I see no probability of the British invading us but he will say to you be silent; I see it, if you dont. The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood.
Summary
This quote is from Abraham Lincoln's speech to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1848. Lincoln challenges the idea of giving the President unlimited power to invade a neighboring nation based on their own judgment. He argues that if such power is granted, it becomes impossible to set limits and could potentially lead to abuse of power. Lincoln emphasizes that the intention behind the Constitution was to prevent one person from holding the authority to involve the nation in wars, as kings had done so in the past. Ultimately, Lincoln warns against granting the President unchecked power, as it would contradict the principles the Constitution was built upon.
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