Power of the President over Foreign Affairs

In a recent article former Assistant Attorney General James M. Beck challenges the constitutionality of the measures which President Wilson has taken in the carrying out of the foreign affairs policy of this government. While his criticism is especially directed against the action of the President in appointing such confidential agents as John Lind and Colonel House without the consent of the Senate, he makes the sweeping assertion that the President must share the general control of foreign affairs with the Senate. Mr. Beck's position is clearly shown in the following quotations from his article: "Those provisions of the Constitution which require the concurrence of the Senate with the President in the conduct of our foreign relations, have been observed and cherished with a general and jealous acceptance of their wisdom." * * * "To the framers of the Constitution there was no provision of greater importance than those which required joint action by the Executive and the Senate in determining the Foreign Policy of the Republic. To them this concurrent authority marked the principal distinction between a monarchy and a republic."