Democrats want you to believe that Donald Trump federalizing the National Guard is unconstitutional. It’s part of their hoax that Trump is a dictator, but none of what they say is true. Fifteen U.S. presidents used the military within the nation, including federalizing the National Guard, three times without the governor’s agreement.
In the Twentieth Century, Taft ordered 20,000 federal troops to the Texas/Mexico border in 1911 during the Mexican Revolution. In 1957, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard without the governor’s agreement, plus sent the 101st Airborne to uphold Brown vs.
the Board of Education. In 1962, JFK sent federal troops to quell riots at the University of Mississippi, and again in 1963 to enforce the integration of the University of Alabama. In 1965, LBJ federalized the AL National Guard without the governor’s agreement to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma to Montgomery, Al.
Others earlier used regular troops or federalized the National Guard to quell unrest within the United States since the beginning: Monroe twice in 1817; Andrew Jackson in 1833 to enforce tariffs; Van Buren in 1838; Tyler in 1844; Grant in 1871 to quell the KKK; Hayes in 1877 during the railroad strike; Benjamin Harrison in 1892 during a mining strike; and in 1894 Cleveland used troops to keep Pullman strikers from obstructing trains.
Two other times were unique. George Washington federalized the militia and personally led them into Pennsylvania to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Abraham Lincoln used troops within the nation during the Civil War and suspended habeas corpus.
More importantly, in 1992, George H. W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act of 1792 federalizing the California National Guard, plus deploying Marines in LA to quell rioting and looting during the Rodney King riots. President Trump did the exact same thing in LA to quell violence, rioting and to protect ICE agents, federal facilities, local and state law enforcement, stores and citizens. Any judge saying otherwise ignores the law and precedent.
History doesn’t bear out Democrats’ false claims. It’s disingenuous for them to now wave around the constitution, which recently they were decrying as written by white supremacists and slave owners. They continue to sink into a party of hoaxes and no solutions, who really just want sound bites for fund raising, cheap labor and future voters.
Ralph Miller