Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-02-20
Senator Longs Charge

ClSA 4CldJlOIAc OCUdtC Was
either written by an entirely
prejudiced person or by one
who did not attend my ex-
animation Of Secretary Dulles
in open session.
I opened my examination
by presenting to him the docu-
ment. prepared in the State
Department in 1851. which
expressed the view that the
President Of the United States
had the power to send Ameri-
can troops anywhere in the
world. even into combat zones,
to protect practically any
American concern or American
interest. / asked Mr.. Dulles
whether that was still the view
of the State Department bas-
ically.
I was seeking to determine
the answer to the question,
whether the President had the
authority to send American
troops in the absence Of q
Congressional authorization. I
think ne does-he has used
it 125 times. However. Mr..
Dulles would not answer the
question: nor was he willing to
answer it within the foresee-
able future.
Solely trying to get mean
ingful replies, / asked Mr..
Dulles whether he thought
President Jefferson had the
power to send American forces
against the Barbary pirates;
whether Mr.. Dulles thought
President Roosevelt had the
power to send American forces
to Iceland during World War
II, as we'll as whether Presi-
dent Truman had the power
to send American forces into
Korea.
In each case, Mr.. Dulles
answer was. Il don't know"
In each case, I followed with
the question, Have you ever
thought about it?" In each
case, his answer was, II have
never thought about it." In
each case, the reply to the
question brought laughter
from the advisers who were
with him.
Your editorial took me to
task for stating on the floor Of
the Senate that those Il don't
know" answers were false
hoods. One of the outstanding
members Of the press in Wash
ington, in personal converse
ton Immediately afterwards,
found a better way to describe
his answers than did !. He
called them supercilious.
1t is self-evident that Mr..
Dulles, both as one of the out
standing constitutional law
yers of the Nation and as the
Secretary of State. acting as
the principal witness for the
Joint resolution being consid-
cred by the Congress at the
present time. had given much
thought to the question which
I was asking. ! submit that 1t
is totally impossible TO believe
that a Secretary of State,
coming before the Congress
to testify on a resolution d.
rectly involving the question
I was asking. could have done
so without giving serious
thought to the limitation OF
the Presidents power to use
the armed forces Of the Ma
ton without specific authori-
cation OF the Congress.
In fact, on September 90.
1854, Mr.. Dulles stated pub
licly in London: Il should
perhaps explain that under
our constitutional system the
President Of the United States
is Commander in Chief Of the
armed forces OF the United
States, and. as such. has the
right to determine their dis
position. That is a right which
cannot be impaired by action
of the Congress.
In addition, 1t is my under
standing that Mr.. Dulles was
consulted in the drafting Of
the foreign policy plank of the
Republican Party platform in
1852. in which President Tru-
mans power TO send troops
into Korea without congress
sional authorization was spe-
officially questioned.
Until I began questioning
Mr.. Dulles, II did not even
occur to me that he would not
give me a meaningful reply.
had every intention of being
friendly and helpful To him.
/ had prepared a series OF
questions. OF which consid-
cred the first one merely pre-
paratory 10 the others.
Only later did IL occur 10
me what the Secretary's pur-
pose In falling 10 respond