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Executive Order 10436 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10436—Reserving Kahoolawe Island, Territory of Hawaii, for the Use of the United States for Naval Purposes and Placing it Under the Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Friday, February 20, 1953
•
2 min read (489 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (489 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Island of Kahoolawe, Territory of Hawaii, except that portion taken by the United States for lighthouse purposes by Proclamation No. 1827 of February 3, 1928, is hereby taken and reserved for the use of the United States for naval purposes, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. 2.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on February 20, 1953, this order concerns Reserving Kahoolawe Island, Territory of Hawaii, for the Use of the United States for Naval Purposes and Placing it Under the Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. The Island of Kahoolawe, Territory of Hawaii, except that portion taken by the United States for lighthouse purposes by Proclamation No. 1827 of February 3, 1928, is hereby taken and reserved for the use of the United States for naval purposes, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. 2.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The Island of Kahoolawe, Territory of Hawaii, except that portion taken by the United States for lighthouse purposes by Proclamation No. 1827 of February 3, 1928, is hereby taken and reserved for the use of the United States for naval purposes, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. 2.

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The Secretary of the Navy shall, within a reasonable period following the date of this order, eradicate from the island all cloven-hooved animals, or shall within such period and at all times thereafter while the area hereby reserved or any portion thereof is under his jurisdiction take such steps as may be. necessary to assure that the number of such animals on the island at any given time shall not exceed two hundred. 3.

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The Territory of Hawaii shall have the right, at its expense and risk, at reasonable intervals to enter and inspect the island to ascertain the extent of forest cover, erosion, and animal life thereon, and to sow or plant suitable grasses and plants under a program of soil conservation: Provided, that such entrance and inspection shall not interfere unreasonably with activities of the Department of the Navy or of the United States Coast Guard. 4.

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When there is no longer a need for the use of the area hereby reserved, or any portion thereof, for naval purposes of the United States, the Department of the Navy shall so notify the Territory of Hawaii, and shall, upon seasonable request of the Territory, render such area, or such portion thereof, reasonably safe for human habitation, without cost to the Territory.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Energy & Environment
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
489
2,825 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS it appears necessary and in the public interest that the Island of Kahoolawe, Territory of Hawaii, which comprises an area of approximately forty-five square miles, and which forms a part of the public lands ceded and transferred to the United States by the Republic of Hawaii under the joint resolution of annexation of July 7, 1898, 30 Stat. 750, be taken and reserved for the use of the United States for naval purposes, except that portion comprising an area of 23.3 acres, more or less, heretofore taken for lighthouse purposes by Proclamation No. 1827 of the President of the United States dated February 3, 1928 (45 Stat. 2937); and WHEREAS it is deemed desirable and in the public interest that provision be made for the conducting of a program of soil conservation on the island while the reservation made hereby is in force, and that the area within such reservation be restored to a condition reasonably safe for human habitation when it is no longer needed for naval purposes: NOW. THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of April 30, 1900, 31 Stat. 159, as amended by section 7 of the act of May 27, 1910, 36 Stat. 447, it is ordered as follows: 1. The Island of Kahoolawe, Territory of Hawaii, except that portion taken by the United States for lighthouse purposes by Proclamation No. 1827 of February 3, 1928, is hereby taken and reserved for the use of the United States for naval purposes, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. 2. The Secretary of the Navy shall, within a reasonable period following the date of this order, eradicate from the island all cloven-hooved animals, or shall within such period and at all times thereafter while the area hereby reserved or any portion thereof is under his jurisdiction take such steps as may be. necessary to assure that the number of such animals on the island at any given time shall not exceed two hundred. 3. The Territory of Hawaii shall have the right, at its expense and risk, at reasonable intervals to enter and inspect the island to ascertain the extent of forest cover, erosion, and animal life thereon, and to sow or plant suitable grasses and plants under a program of soil conservation: Provided, that such entrance and inspection shall not interfere unreasonably with activities of the Department of the Navy or of the United States Coast Guard. 4. When there is no longer a need for the use of the area hereby reserved, or any portion thereof, for naval purposes of the United States, the Department of the Navy shall so notify the Territory of Hawaii, and shall, upon seasonable request of the Territory, render such area, or such portion thereof, reasonably safe for human habitation, without cost to the Territory. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

February 20, 1953.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,436 (Feb. 20, 1953), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10436-reserving-kahoolawe-island-territory-hawaii-for-the-use-the-united.