Cite as: 539 U. S. 396 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
Wright Export Corp., 299 U. S. 304 (1936))); First Nat. City Bank v. Banco Nacional de Cuba, supra, at 767 (the President has "the lead role . . . in foreign policy" (citing Sabbatino, supra)); Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc., 509 U. S. 155, 188 (1993) (the President has "unique responsibility" for the conduct of "foreign and military affairs").
At a more specific level, our cases have recognized that the President has authority to make "executive agreements" with other countries, requiring no ratification by the Senate or approval by Congress, this power having been exercised since the early years of the Republic. See Dames & Moore v. Regan, 453 U. S. 654, 679, 682-683 (1981); United States v. Pink, 315 U. S. 203, 223, 230 (1942); United States v. Belmont, 301 U. S. 324, 330-331 (1937); see also L. Henkin, Foreign Affairs and the United States Constitution 219, 496, n. 163 (2d ed. 1996) ("Presidents from Washington to Clinton have made many thousands of agreements . . . on matters running the gamut of U. S. foreign relations"). Making executive agreements to settle claims of American nationals against foreign governments is a particularly longstanding practice, the first example being as early as 1799, when the Adams administration settled demands against the Dutch Government by American citizens who lost their cargo when Dutch privateers overtook the schooner Wilmington Packet. See Dames & Moore, supra, at 679-680, and n. 8; 5 Dept. of State, Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States 1075, 1078-1079 (H. Miller ed. 1937). Given the fact that the practice goes back over 200 years, and has received congressional acquiescence throughout its history, the conclusion "[t]hat the President's control of foreign relations includes the settlement of claims is indisputable." Pink, supra, at 240 (Frankfurter, J., concurring); see 315 U. S., at 223-225 (opinion of the Court); Belmont, supra, at 330-331; Dames & Moore, supra, at 682.
The executive agreements at issue here do differ in one respect from those just mentioned insofar as they address
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