America's Power During The Cold War

The Cold War was a tumultuous period in our nation’s history. The US government was challenged by the expansionism of the Soviet Union and matching them in various “proxy wars” around the world. This military and political maelstrom undoubtedly put stresses on the U.S. Government which necessitates strong leadership to be able to withstand this stress. This led to American Presidents seeking an increase in power to be able to strengthen their ability to provide strong leadership. During this time period, Congress also began to take notice of the rise in presidential powers and attempted to counter such advances through the passage of legislation. Even through these attempts, the power of the president steadily rose throughout the time period.

Becoming president in 1945, he saw the advent of the Korean War in 1950 and its progression over time. In 1952, the continued pressures of the Korean War were gripping the nation, and a nationwide steel strike threatened to shut down the most important wartime industry. Fearing the worst, President Truman seized control of the steel industry citing his inherent presidential war powers (Walker 152). Walker goes on to say that, “Through an expedited process, the Supreme Court ruled on the steel industry suit in two months and soundly rejected Truman’s claims of presidential emergency powers” (153). The Supreme Court ruling of six to three in a definitive rejection of Truman’s claim to this power was a testament to the checks and balances engineered within the government of the United States. Truman overstepped his political bounds and the judiciary system was quick to rebuff such an impudent

The next president to take office was John F Kennedy. Kennedy’s presidency was tragically cut short at the hands of Lee Harvey Oswald, yet this still did not stop him from significantly expanding the power of his office. In 1962, it became apparent to the United States that Cuba was housing Soviet missiles, posing the biggest threat to American soil in the entirety of the Cold War. The world was on the brink of nuclear war, which proved to be the ultimate stress-test for the US government. This stress required the utmost solidarity from the US government in order to be able to deal with the Crisis in the most efficient manner possible. Kennedy did this by transferring the power of Foreign Policy making from other governmental bodies to white house staff and exercised his power over the military as Commander-In-Chief to be able to achieve maximum efficiency (Bostdorff 55). This meant that Kennedy had concentrated the foreign policy powers of the US into the Executive branch during the Cuban Missile Crisis, exponentially expanding the power of the president. The handling of this crisis also helped to set the precedent of increased presidential power in the event of future crises. In addition to this, Kennedy also reformed the manner in which the media obtained information regarding himself and foreign affairs. (55) This allowed the