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Barack Obama

Behavioral
SeverityHigh
7/10
ThenAugust 1, 2007
The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military action in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.

As presidential candidate, Obama explicitly limited the scope of presidential war powers

https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/02/08/171467519/death-by-drone-and-the-sliding-scale-of-presidential-power
NowFebruary 5, 2013
Obama ordered 563 drone strikes targeting Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during his two terms, ten times more strikes than Bush, including strikes that killed American citizens without trial.

Obama vastly expanded the drone program and authorized the killing of American citizens abroad without trial

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush

Analysis

Campaigned on limiting presidential war powers and criticizing Bush's approach to the war on terror, then expanded executive military action far beyond what Bush had done, including authorizing extrajudicial killing of American citizens

Detected: 3/26/2026ID: behavioral_016