_Power to "Receive" Foreign Ministers._--The President is also the authority designated by the Constitution for receiving ambassadors and ministers accredited by foreign governments to the government of the United States. To receive a foreign minister is to recognize him as the official representative to the United States of the government which has appointed him. When a new minister arrives at Washington, he is escorted to the White House by the secretary of state on a day agreed upon, and is received by the President. The new minister presents his credentials and delivers a short ceremonial address, to which the President responds. He is then recognized as the official organ of communication between the United States government and the government which he represents. The President, however, may refuse to recognize a minister from a country whose independence is in doubt, or one who is personally objectionable to the United States government. He may also request a foreign government to recall a minister accredited to the United States, or may dismiss one for conduct highly offensive to the government. =The Military Powers of the President.=--The Constitution declares that the President shall be commander in chief of the army and navy and also of the militia of the several states whenever it is called into the service of the United States. The power to declare war, however, belongs to Congress, though the President may through his management of the foreign affairs of the country bring about a situation which may make a declaration of war a virtual necessity. Congress also determines the strength of the army, the method of raising the forces, their terms of service, pay, subsistence, organization, equipment, location of forts, and indeed everything relating to its make-up. _Extent of the President's Power._--The President, as commander in chief, decides where the troops are to be located, and where the ships are to be stationed. It is upon his orders that the troops are mobilized, the fleets assembled, and the militia of the states called out. He may direct the campaigns and might, if he wished, take personal command of the army, the navy, or the militia, though in practice he never does, the army, in fact, being commanded by a military officer and the navy by a naval officer. He may do whatever, in his judgment, may conduce to the destruction of the power or the weakening of the strength of the enemy, so long as he acts within the accepted rules of international law. His power, in short, is limited only by the requirements of military necessity and the law of nations. Thus he may declare that any property used by the enemy for warlike purposes or which may in other respects be a source of strength to the enemy shall be subject to confiscation. It was in pursuance of this power that President Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation freeing the slaves in certain of the Southern states during the Civil War.