History and Political Science
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Item Understanding Congress's Role in Terminating Unpopular Wars: A Comparison of the Vietnam and Iraq Wars(Routledge, 2014) McHugh, Kelly A.I examine how Congress reacts when the president refuses to terminate involvement in an unpopular war. To address this, I devise a set of hypotheses based on David Mayhew’s work Congress and the Electoral Connection and seek to predict the conditions under which Congress will employ three strategies to end a war: enacting legislation, framing exit strategies, and privately lobbying the president. I test these hypotheses in two cases, the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and conclude that the hypotheses provide a compelling explanation for Congressional behavior during the two wars.Item A Tale of Two Surges: Comparing the Politics of the 2007 Iraq Surge and the 2009 Afghanistan Surge(Sage Publishing, 2015) McHugh, Kelly A.This manuscript compares and contrasts the political obstacles faced by Bush and Obama when they sought to deepen U.S. involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I compare their efforts in three areas. First, I examine their attempts to rally public support for a surge by “going public” and making high-profile policy speeches. Second, I examine their attempts to silence congressional critics, by framing the choice as averting defeat. Finally, I examine each president’s attempt to quell a rebellion inside his administration. Although Bush failed to rally public support, he was able to implement the surge because he succeeded in unifying Republicans in support of his policy, and dividing and silencing congressional Democrats. Obama succeeded because he was able to successfully shape public opinion. This, in turn, allowed him to withstand criticism from hawkish Republicans in Congress and also rally the support of dovish Democratic elites.Item How elected leaders prolong unpopular wars: Examining American policy during the Vietnam War and French policy during the Algerian War(Taylor & Francis, 2016) McHugh, Kelly A.I seek to explain why democracies often maintain involvement in peripheral wars years after public support has dissipated. Using insights from literature on prospect theory and framing theory, I argue that when a war becomes unpopular (largely because the public perceives it to be too costly to achieve the original goal of the war) elites who favor prolonging the conflict seek to “reframe” the debate; here elites attempt to convince the public that a rapid withdraw is in fact a more costly choice. Specifically, leaders will emphasize the reputational and security costs of a loss, and convince the public that a risky gamble—namely an escalation or expansion of the conflict—is the only war to avoid such a loss. I examine these propositions in two case studies: the Vietnam War during the period of 1968–1975, and the Algerian War during the period of 1956–1962.Item No more Iraqs: analysing use of force decisions during the Obama administration(Routledge, 2021-02) McHugh, Kelly A.In this article, I focus on a subset of Obama's foreign policy views, namely his beliefs about the appropriate circumstances under which the United States should engage in armed conflict. I argue that the Iraq war served as a formative event in the development of Obama's worldview. He derived distinct lessons from this policy failure, leading him to articulate a restrictive set of conditions that should be met before the United States considered intervening in the internal politics of another nation, absent a direct threat to national security. I undertake a detailed examination of two case studies – the administration's debates leading to the 2011 intervention in Libya and the decision not to intervene in Syria in 2013 – and demonstrate how the lessons of Iraq shaped Obama's policy choices at critical junctures in the deliberations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Global Change, Peace & Security is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)Item At War with Congress: War Powers Disputes during the Trump Administration.(Taylor & Francis, 2022) McHugh, Kelly A.During his four years in office, Congress made historic challenges to President Donald Trump's authority as Commander in Chief, twice invoking the 1973 War Powers Resolution. The first resolution, passed in 2019, expressed disapproval of the U.S.' logistical and material support for Saudi Arabia's campaign against the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen. The second challenge occurred in 2020 after Trump authorized a drone strike that killed Iranian Major General Qassam Soleimani. In response, Congress passed a WPR that stipulated that any future military action against the regime would require express legislative authorization. Using a case study approach, this essay examines why Congress chose to employ the WPR as a policy tool after decades of dormancy. Ultimately, I argue that a confluence of factors compelled majorities in both chambers of Congress to use the War Powers Resolution to make a powerful rebuke of the administration's policy. Drawing on a wealth of existing literature about the factors that impede or compel Congressional activism in use-of-force debates, I find that in both cases, members of Congress faced strong moral, legal, and strategic incentives to act, with few attendant political risks. As such, while the passage of two wars powers resolutions represented an important milestone in interbranch relations, it likely does not presage a new era of Congressional assertiveness in war powers. Keywords: U.S. foreign policy; Donald Trump; Congress [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Democracy & Security is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)Item Florida founder William P. Duval: frontier bon vivant / James M. Denham(University of South Carolina Press, 2015) Denham, James M.Scion of the Old Dominion -- Soldier and war hawk politician -- Judge and governor -- Founder of the Florida Territory -- Neamathla and a new territorial capital -- A "corrupt bargain" and a new home in Florida -- Trials, tribulations, and "left-handed justice" -- "I have health, activity, good spirits, and a small share of perserverity" -- "Harassed by the persecution of their neighbors" -- Storm clouds on the horizon -- "I intend to examine...your relation to the president" -- Nullifying an election -- "I shall return very poor to Kentucky" -- "Do all you can for Texas" -- Canals, banks, and a constitutional convention -- Faith bonds, division, depression, and a plague -- "Tyler too," Washington intrigue, and St. Augustine -- State of Texas, State of Florida -- "I will not be the cause of disunion in our ranks" -- Gone to Texas, gone to Washington.Item Introduction(University Press of Florida, 2018) Denham, James M.This collection of essays profiles courts that adjudicated disputes in Florida during its time as a Spanish province (1513–1763, 1783–1821); as two British colonies (1763–83); as a U.S. territory (1821–45); and as a Confederate state (1861–65). It also examines the use of special jurisdiction tribunals by Florida’s military, religious, black, and Indian communities.Item “Some prefer the Seminoles”: Violence and disorder among soldiers and settlers in the Second Seminole War, 1835–1842(Routledge, 2017) Denham, James M.In 1832 the Territorial Council prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors by settlers to soldiers without the express permission of the post commanders. On November 26, 1835, Seminole Chief Charley Emaltha was murdered brutally as an act of retaliation. Against the wishes of many native leaders, he had agreed to emigrate west, as required by the earlier treaties of Paynes Landing and Fort Gibson. Some Floridians viewed the soldiers with antipathy, and almost everyone believed that the government was not doing enough to protect them from the Seminole threat. The Second Seminole War had another impact upon criminal justice in the territory. During the period it was fought 1835–1842, Florida became a crossroads of regular army personnel and militia forces. Settlers and soldiers sometimes appeared more hostile toward each other than they were toward the Seminoles. The confrontations between settlers and army personnel often ended in violence.Item Florida founder William P. DuVal: Frontier bon vivant(University of South Carolina Press, 2015) Denham, James M.Each day thousands of revelers trudge down DuVal Street in Florida’s Key West, but few know for whom the street is named. In Florida Founder William P. DuVal, James M. Denham provides the first full-length biography of the well-connected, but nearly forgotten frontier politician of antebellum America. The scion of a well-to-do Richmond, Virginia, family, William Pope DuVal (1784-1854) migrated to the Kentucky frontier as a youth in 1800. Settling in Bardstown, DuVal read law, served in Congress, and fought in the War of 1812. In 1822, largely because of the influence of his lifelong friend John C. Calhoun, President James Monroe appointed DuVal the first civil governor of the newly acquired Territory of Florida. Enjoying successive appointments from the Adams and Jackson administrations, DuVal founded Tallahassee and presided over the territory’s first twelve territorial legislative sessions, years that witnessed Middle Florida’s development into one of the Old Southwest’s most prosperous slave-based economies. Beginning with his personal confrontation with Miccosukee chief Neamathla in 1824 (an episode commemorated by Washington Irving), DuVal worked closely with Washington officials and oversaw the initial negotiations with the Seminoles. A perennial political appointee, DuVal was closely linked to national and territorial politics in antebellum America. Like other “Calhounites” who supported Andrew Jackson’s rise to the White House, DuVal became a casualty of the Peggy Eaton Affair and the Nullification Crisis. In fact he was replaced as Florida governor by Mrs. Eaton’s husband, John Eaton. After leaving the governor’s chair, DuVal migrated to Kentucky, lent his efforts to the cause of Texas Independence, and eventually returned to practice law and local politics in Florida. Throughout his career DuVal cultivated the arts of oratory and story-telling—skills essential to success in the courtrooms and free-for-all politics of the American South. Part frontiersman and part sophisticate, DuVal was at home in the wilds of Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and Washington City. He delighted in telling tall tales, jests, and anecdotes that epitomized America’s expansive, democratic vistas. Among those captivated by DuVal’s life and yarns were Washington Irving, who used DuVal’s tall tales as inspiration for his “The Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood,” and James Kirke Paulding, whose “Nimrod Wildfire” shared Du Val’s brashness and bonhommie.Item Fifty years of justice: A history of the U.S. district court for the middle district of Florida(University Press of Florida, 2015) Denham, James M.Representing half of the state's population, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida is one of the busiest federal courts in the nation. It is recognized most often as the battleground for the Terri Schiavo “right to die” case, but it has been at the center of major decisions for more than fifty years. The famous and the infamous have stood before these judges, including young civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall, mobster Santo Trafficante, drug lord Carlos Lehder, baseball star Denny McLain, movie star Wesley Snipes, criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, and Constance Baker Motley, the first African American woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.Item The Historical Violence Database: A collaborative research project on the history of violent crime, violent death, and collective violence(Taylor & Francis, 2008) Roth, Randolph; Eckberg, Douglas L.; Dayton, Cornelia Hughes; Wheeler, Kenneth; Watkinson, James; Haberman, Robb; Denham, James M.The Historical Violence Database (HVD) is a collaborative research project to gather data on the history of violent crime, violent death, and collective violence. The database will serve as a repository for historical research (research notes, handwritten worksheets, spreadsheets, scans and photographs of original documents, etc.) and will integrate that research into a single information system based on standard worksheets and spreadsheets. The goal is to create a "calendar of cases" that can be amended and augmented. The HVD will also serve as an archive for historic data compiled by public agencies and for early town and county histories that studied violence.Item South Carolina Volunteers in the Second Seminole War: A Nullifier Debacle as Prelude to the Palmetto State Gubernatorial Election of 1836(University Press of Florida, 2011) Denham, James M.Featuring essays on topics ranging from international diplomacy to Seminole military strategy, America's hundred years' war ... reexamines the traditional line of thought that has previously defined early U.S. expansion into the Spanish Gulf borderlands. America's extended battle with the Seminoles transpired over a period of nearly a century commencing in the decades prior to the American Revolution and ending in the decade before the U.S. Civil War ... Each essayist ... expands the conventional views and periods of U.S.-Seminole contact, and each does so in a variety of manners -- chronologically, geographically, culturally, politically, [and] conceptually.