The correct answer is: B. Twice
The President of the United States has declared national emergencies 59 times since 1976. The first national emergency was declared by President Harry S. Truman in 1950 in response to the Korean War. The most recent national emergency was declared by President Donald Trump in 2019 in response to the threat of Iranian aggression.
The National Emergencies Act of 1976 authorizes the President to declare a national emergency in order to deal with a threat to national security, foreign policy, or the economy. Once a national emergency has been declared, the President can use a variety of powers to address the threat, including:
- Suspending certain laws
- Imposing controls on trade and travel
- Using the military to protect the homeland
The National Emergencies Act also requires the President to report to Congress every six months on the status of each national emergency. Congress can terminate a national emergency by passing a joint resolution.
The following are the 59 national emergencies that have been declared since 1976:
- Korean War (1950)
- Communist China (1950)
- Berlin Crisis (1951)
- Middle East Crisis (1957)
- Communist Threat in Latin America (1957)
- Cuba (1962)
- Dominican Republic (1965)
- Southeast Asia (1964)
- Middle East (1967)
- Cyprus (1974)
- Angola (1975)
- Rhodesia (1976)
- South Africa (1978)
- Iran (1979)
- Afghanistan (1979)
- Nicaragua (1981)
- El Salvador (1981)
- Lebanon (1983)
- Libya (1986)
- Panama (1989)
- Iraq (1990)
- Yugoslavia (1992)
- Haiti (1994)
- Rwanda (1994)
- Sudan (1997)
- Afghanistan (2001)
- Al-Qaida (2001)
- Iraq (2002)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction (2002)
- Liberia (2003)
- Somalia (2003)
- Sudan (2003)
- North Korea (2003)
- Darfur (2004)
- Lebanon (2006)
- Guinea (2008)
- Ivory Coast (2009)
- Pakistan (2009)
- Yemen (2009)
- Somalia (2009)
- Libya (2011)
- Syria (2011)
- Central African Republic (2013)
- Mali (2013)
- Ukraine (2014)
- ISIL (2014)
- Boko Haram (2014)
- South Sudan (2015)
- Yemen (2015)
- Venezuela (2017)
- Iran (2018)
- Nicaragua (2018)
- Russia (2018)
- Ethiopia (2019)
- Sudan (2019)
- Venezuela (2019)
- Hong Kong (2019)
- Turkey (2019)
- Iran (2019)
- China (2019)
- Myanmar (2021)
- Belarus (2021)
- Russia (2022)
As you can see, the President has declared national emergencies on a wide range of issues. Some of these emergencies have been short-lived,
while others have lasted for many years. The decision of whether or not to declare a national emergency is a complex one that involves balancing a variety of factors.