Commander-in-Chief

:For the television series, see Commander-in-Chief (TV series).

USA

The Constitution of the United States gives the title to the President of the United States, who "shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States" (See the 1941 Declarations of Warhttp://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/dec/decmenu.htm against Japan and Germany for how this call is made). Governors of the several United States are also commanders-in-chief of their states' respective National Guards and other military forces.

Related Topics:
Constitution of the United States - President of the United States

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Although the United States presidency was modelled upon the kingship of Great Britain, and the title of Commander-in-Chief was unlikely to have been understood to confer upon the President any powers additional to those inherently held by a Sovereign, the title has increasingly come to be perceived as being a peculiarly military position. This has led to a bluring of the distinction between the President's civil and military responsibilities. It was, for instance, the basis for the trial by military commission of Dr Samuel Mudd.

Related Topics:
Great Britain - Commander-in-Chief - President - Sovereign - Military commission - Samuel Mudd

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In the United States, the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization act of 1986 added a new level of CINC. Under Goldwater-Nichols regional CINCs were created to bring a local supreme commander to a conflict. The most well known of which is CINC CENTCOM, who was Norman Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm.

Related Topics:
CINC - CENTCOM - Norman Schwarzkopf

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Commander-in-Chief reserved for the President

On October 24, 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that the title of Commander-in-Chief would be reserved for the President, and that armed forces CINCs would shorten their title to "commander." They are typically referred to as combatant commanders, heading what are now know as Unified Combatant Commands. The title has taken on prominent importance in the political debate in the United States in the context of the "War against Terrorism" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16750-2004Sep12.html.

Related Topics:
Secretary of Defense - Donald H. Rumsfeld - Combatant commander - Unified Combatant Command

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Political implications

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the declaration of the War on Terror, American media has increasingly referred to the President as the "Commander-in-Chief", even in civil affairs. In the discourses of opponents, this is often done when discussing the restriction of civil rights, such as with the Patriot Act, suggesting a comparison between the President and the military leaders of dictatorial countries; but ambiguous statements are also regularly featured in statements of personalities favorable to the Bush administration, in such a way as to suggest a Commander in Chief of the USA themselves:

Related Topics:
September 11, 2001 attacks - World Trade Center - War on Terror - Patriot Act

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• "A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief when it comes to your security." (Good illustration, since the "Commander in Chief" part of the presidential charge always comes to security, this somehow implies that the "commander in chief" has taken over other parts of the presidency -- Bush campaign line, cited by John F. Kerry http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/election.main/index.html)
• "No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home." -- Zell Miller, see 2004 Republican National Convention