Studies on Presidential Power in Foreign Relations

The Executive Branch relies in part on the "sole organ" doctrine to define presidential power broadly in foreign relations and national security, including assertions of an inherent executive power that is not subject to legislative or judicial constraints. The doctrine draws from a statement by John Marshall when he served in the House of Representatives in 1800: "The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations." The Supreme Court, in United States v. Curtiss-Wright (1936), cited Marshall's speech in arguing for inherent presidential powers in external relations. When read in context, however, Marshall's speech does not support an independent, extra-constitutional or exclusive power of the President in foreign relations. The concept of an Executive having sole power over foreign relations borrows from other sources, including the British model of a royal prerogative.