Truman Declares National Emergency to Combat “Communist Imperialism”
President Harry Truman issued Proclamation 2914 on this day, declaring a national emergency as a result of the threat of international Communism.
The Korean War had broken out in June 1950. Most disturbingly, Truman’s proclamation contained no specific provisions regarding the powers of the president during the emergency.
Equally disturbing, Congress never passed a declaration of war related to the Korean conflict, as required by the Constitution, and at a press conference on June 29, 1950 President Truman called the U.S. involvement as a “police action.” The concept of a “police action,” however, does not exist in international law. And in fact, the term “police action” was first uttered by a reporter asking a question. President Truman simply said he accepted the idea.
The National Emergency remained in effect for 28 years and was not terminated until September 14, 1976, following passage of the 1976 National Emergencies Act. That law was designed to limit presidential power and to prevent declarations of national emergency that had no time limit.
Truman’s Proclamation: “Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, president of the United States of America, do proclaim the existence of a national emergency, which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible to the end that we may be able to repel any and all threats against our national security and to fulfill our responsibilities in the efforts being made through the United Nations and otherwise to bring about lasting peace.”
Read: Peter Irons, War Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the Constitution (2005)
And read: David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (2007)
Learn more about the Korean War here
Read the entire Proclamation: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=13684