Unquestioning obedience to the president : the ACLU case against the illegal war in Vietnam / by Leon Friedman and Burt Neuborne ; introduction by Senator George S. McGovern.

This book contains ther legal documents in two related cases challenging the constitutionality of the Vietnam War. Congress was deceived about plans to bomb North Vietnam as early as Feb., 1964. Thus the period of congressional deception by the Executive branch lasted from early 1964 until the summer of 1965, when American ground trooops began to arrive in force in Vietnam. At that point a new relationship between the president and Congress was created, lasting from May, 1965 until the middle of 1969. This second phase consisted of congressional acquiescence in military actions in Vietnam. Once the president had secured the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and commenced the rapid escalation of the war, he thought he would have no difficulty in persuading Congress to pay the increasing bills for the war. He knew that Congress would find it impossible to deny funds for military supplies needed to supply and protect troops in the field