United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. - Significance

Using broad language to describe executive power in the area of foreign affairs, the Court provided a justification not only for the exercise of presidential authority under immediate consideration, but for many future presidential decisions concerning U.S. activity abroad.

In the mid-1930s, Bolivia and Paraguay went at war over the Chaco region of South America after oil was found there. The House of Representatives and the Senate together passed legislation authorizing the president to place an embargo on shipments of arms to warring countries. President Franklin Roosevelt then proclaimed the embargo, prohibiting arms sales to Bolivia and Paraguay.

Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation was later indicted for violating the embargo. Claiming that the embargo was an illegitimate exercise because Congress had delegated legislative power to the executive branch, Curtiss-Wright prevailed in federal district court. The government then asked the Supreme Court to review this decision.