On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 07:40:51 -0800, "Tarver Engineering"
wrote:


The DoD is Congressional Authority delegated to the Executive. There is no
DoD in the US Constitution.

The DoD is, as you indicate, not mentioned in the Constitution. None
of the Cabinet is mentioned in the Constitution. It was assumed, based
on experience with other democracy's chief executive operations
(including the PM in the British Parliament) that the President would
be assisted by trusted associates in managing the government. (As an
aside, DoD only came into being in 1947 as a replacement for the DoW.)

But, more importantly, the power of the President is inherent in the
Constitution and is delegated by the States. The Congress, as a
co-equal branch of government has no delegational authority.

The President is designated in the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief
of the military and by law may not be a military person. The tradition
of civilian control of the military is a basic tenet of stable
democratic systems.

There's still an empty seat in my American Government class any time
you're in the neighborhood, John.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8