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Recent claims of unilateral, independent executive power have renewed the debate over presidential authority. The Framers, however, adopted a system of separate branches with predominantly mixed rather than independent powers. President George Washington's proclamation of 1793 demonstrated how the system works. The system's inherent ambiguities led Justice Robert H. Jackson to describe executive power by the standards used to evaluate its exercise. Jackson's description remains accurate, and the system of concurrent authorities remains necessary to protect against tyranny while enabling the president to lead.

The October 1987 issue of the Journal contains an article written by Hans-Peter Gasser, the Legal Adviser to the Directorate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on the U.S. decision not to ratify Protocol I (on international armed conflicts) to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the Protection of War Victims. Unfortunately, the Journal did not include any response by the administration, but only the President's necessarily brief letter of transmittal to the Senate of January 18, 1987, recommending advice and consent to ratification of Protocol II (on noninternational conflicts). The President's letter of transmittal was not intended to be an exhaustive statement of the U.S. objections to Protocol I, nor does it purport to be such.