Lay it on the Table

As visitors to Washington, D.C., celebrated the glorious spring of the 1972 Cherry Blossom Festival, tensions inside the U. S. Capitol were rising. Across the globe, in the jungles of Vietnam, an unwinnable war was wearing on. The president, despite promises to phase out the war and bring troops home, was ramping up the air warfare. Senators and House members, as well as the citizens they represented-mothers and fathers, students and teachers, clergy, and activists-had grown weary of boys coming home in body bags and ceremonies around coffins draped in American flags.

Meanwhile, in the south wing of the Capitol, a battle between the war hawks and the peace doves in the U.S. House of Representatives mounted. The hawks had the upper hand, siding with the president and clinging to the tradition that matters of war were handled in the White House, not the Congress. But that spring, Tip O'Neill, then the House Democratic majority whip, saw an opportunity in the unrest. Even the leading hawks were tired of this war and the president's empty promises, and O'Neill knew it was time to act to end the war.

This is the story of one man's attempt to accomplish a milestone in the history of the American legislative process. Because of his initiative and leadership, the People's House was given the unique opportunity to have its voice heard on the matter. Tip O'Neill asked and answered the question that still echoes decades later: If Congress has the constitutional power to declare war, can't it also declare to end war?