In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

lsatstudier1 on September 5, 2020

Why not A?

I understand now why B is correct but I found A to be persuasive because the Vietnam war seemed to be a catalyst for the War Resolution Act, and the new provisions for not-war armed conflict seemed like a "new interpretation" to me. Can you help me with what I'm missing? For reference, A says, "showing how the Vietnam conflict led to a new interpretation of the Constitution's provisions for use of the military". I thou

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Victoria on September 23, 2020

Hi @lsatstudier1,

Happy to help! Your question was cut off at the end, so please let me know if I skipped answering any important parts of your question.

Answer choice (A) is incorrect because the Vietnam War did not lead to any new interpretations of the Constitution.

We learn from the passage that the Constitution does not explicitly define the extent of the President's authority to involve U.S. troops in conflicts without declaring war.

Rather, this authority falls unclearly between Congress' powers and the President's.

What can the President do? They are obligated to execute the laws of the land, they are commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and they can appoint envoys and make treaties with the Senate's consent.

What can Congress do? They can declare war, raise and support armies and a navy, enact regulations to control the military, and provide for common defence.

As the authority to involve U.S. troops in conflict without declaring war is not explicitly delineated to either party by the Constitution, the spirit of the Constitution requires that Congress is at least involved in the decision to deploy troops. The War Powers Resolution, catalyzed by American involvement in Vietnam, allowed Congress to reclaim their role in making these decisions.

In this way, the Vietnam War did not lead to a new interpretation of the Constitution. Rather, it motivated Congress to reclaim their half of the concurrent power overlooked by the Constitution.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.