Executive Order 10478 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 10478—Delegating to the Secretary of Defense the Authority of the President To Order Certain Members of Reserve Components of the Armed Forces Into Active Federal Service and To Prescribe Regulations Governing the Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion of Such Members

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Wednesday, August 5, 1953

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3 min read (522 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

This executive order, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 1953-08-05, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Delegating to the Secretary of Defense the Authority of the President To Order Certain Members of Reserve Components of the Armed Forces Into Active Federal Service and To Prescribe Regulations Governing the Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion of Such Members." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1.

▪ Except as otherwise provided in paragraph 3 hereof, there is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense (a) the authority vested in the President by subsection 4 (a) of the act of September 9, 1950, 64 Stat.

▪ 826), as amended, and those persons who would be, but for such membership, liable for registration under the provisions of the said section 4 (i), as amended.

▪ Persons ordered to active duty in the armed forces of the United States pursuant to subsection 4 (c) of the said act of September 9, 1950, as amended, shall, so far as practicable, be ordered to active duty in accordance with the priorities established under subsection 4 (i) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (64 Stat.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Total Words

522

2,857 characters

Estimated Read Time

3 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

24.9

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10478, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Aug 5, 1953). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10478-delegating-the-secretary-defense-the-authority-the-president-order.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph 3 hereof, there is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense (a) the authority vested in the President by subsection 4 (a) of the act of September 9, 1950, 64 Stat. 826, as amended by section 3 of the act of June 29, 1953, Public Law 84, 83d Congress, to prescribe regulations with respect to the appointment, reappointment, and promotion of any person liable for induction under the act of September 9, 1950, as amended, or any member of a reserve component who has been or shall be ordered to active duty on or before July 1, 1955, as a physician, dentist, or in an allied specialist category in the armed forces (including the Public Health Service) of the United States; and (b) the authority vested in the President by subsection 4 (c) of the said act of September 9, 1950, as amended by section 3 of the said act of June 29, 1953, to order to active duty in the armed forces of the United States, with or without their consent, those members of the reserve components of the armed forces of the United States who are registered under section 4 (i) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (64 Stat. 826), as amended, and those persons who would be, but for such membership, liable for registration under the provisions of the said section 4 (i), as amended. 2. Persons ordered to active duty in the armed forces of the United States pursuant to subsection 4 (c) of the said act of September 9, 1950, as amended, shall, so far as practicable, be ordered to active duty in accordance with the priorities established under subsection 4 (i) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (64 Stat. 826), as amended by the said act of June 29, 1953. The period of active duty that any such person may be required to perform shall not exceed (a) twenty-four months if he has had less than nine months of active service, as defined in paragraphs 4 (i) (4) and (5) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended; (b) twenty-one months if he has had at least nine but less than twelve months of such service; (c) eighteen months if he has had at least twelve but less than fifteen months of such service; and (d) fifteen months If he has had at least fifteen or more months of such service; since September 16, 1940, but prior to the date of his order to active duty under subsection 4 (c) of the said act of September 9, 1950, as amended. 3. So much of the said authority of the President as relates to members of the Coast Guard Reserve may be exercised by the Secretary of the Treasury when the Coast Guard is operating as a service In the Department of the Treasury. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER THE WHITE HOUSE, August 5, 1953.