" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Notice something signficant there? The oath is not to defend the country, but to defend the Constitution. The Founders were too smart to fall into the trap of letting a President decide how to defend the country; they knew about martial law and abuse of the military."

The Founders weren't this "smart" and did let the President decide how to defend this country. Not only is the President the Commander in Chief but he has additional powers granted to him by the Constitution [e.g. Chief Executive and may grant pardons]. When a president is sworn in as President of United States, he/she should be fully aware that he/she is taking as one of his/her duties the position as the most supreme commander of all US miltary forces. In other words if you want the job which includes out ranking five star generals getting elected President is the ticket.

But the framers were smart enough that the gave the Congress the greatest power- the Power of the Purse.

[And as result we don't end up with many Presidency Palaces. But we do get Presidency libraries and of course the country littered with various forms of congressional *monuments*.]