Practice Questions on Part II, U.S. Checks and Balances

1. Which precedent offers the greatest support for President Clinton to exercise unchecked power as Commander in Chief?

The 1960s Tonkin Gulf Resolution authorizing a military response after communist North Vietnamese ships attacked a U.S. destroyer
 The 1991 debate and vote in Congress to approve Operation Desert Storm before U.S. ground troops initiated combat in the Gulf War.
 The 1983 Reagan administration deployment of U.S. peacekeepers in Lebanon without regard for the War Powers Resolution
2. Which rule of law provides the greatest legal authority for President Clinton to initiate military action?
U.S. Constitution, Article I
 U.S. Constitution, Article II
 1973 War Powers Resolution
 1949 NATO Treaty
3. If persuaded that military intervention was needed, which individual would be most likely to prefer a unilateral U.S. military operation rather than a multilateral campaign?
Robert Dole
 Jesse Helms
 Boutros Boutros Ghali
4. Which Republican would be most likely to oppose a Democratic President exercising powers of the Commander in Chief to initiate a NATO mission in the Balkans?
John Ashcroft
George Bush
 Colin Powell
 Ronald Reagan
5. In which situation did Congress take equal responsibility with the President for a military initiative that could have brought blame as well as credit?
Haiti
 Grenada
 Somalia
 Iraq
6. In which case did a Democratic majority in Congress allow a Republican President to ignore the War Powers Resolution?
Haiti
 Bosnia
 Somalia
7. If true, which might best be described as a "wag the dog" military intervention for personal political gain? Clinton deciding to
protect Bosnia’s Muslims with U.S. air power to avoid the kind of genocide which resulted after inaction in Rwanda
stop Serb atrocities in Kosovo to win public support against domestic political adversaries seeking to cripple his Presidency
 stop Haitian refugees from fleeing to the U.S. by overthrowing that country’s oppressive military government

Click here to resume reading Part III of the Kosovo exercise or return to Contents