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The Last Time The United States Officially Declared War (And Why They Don’t Anymore)
Hint: It wasn’t Japan or Germany
The United States has only officially declared war eleven times in its 247 year history. The first official declaration of war came in 1812 when the Senate voted to declare war on Great Britain during the War of 1812. (You could consider the Declaration of Independence a declaration of war, which would raise the official number to twelve.)
The United States has not declared war on a foreign nation in over 80 years. However, the lack of votes from Congress has not stopped the United States from engaging in broad military conflicts. Many of these conflicts easily rise to the level of full scale war, including the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the War on Terror. The lack of war declarations is due, largely in part, to the ceding of war making power from Congress to the presidency. There was a constitutional debate surrounding the power of the president as Commander-in-Chief, and the debate was settled. The president can make war without an official declaration.
That leaves the question, when was the last time the United States declared war?
