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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 10660 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10660—Providing for the Establishment of a National Defense Executive Reserve

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Wednesday, February 15, 1956
•
2 min read (383 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (383 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There is hereby established in the executive branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve to be composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government to be trained for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government during periods of emergency.

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
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 15, 1956, this order concerns Providing for the Establishment of a National Defense Executive Reserve. There is hereby established in the executive branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve to be composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government to be trained for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government during periods of emergency. SEC. 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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There is hereby established in the executive branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve to be composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government to be trained for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government during periods of emergency.

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The Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization is hereby directed to institute and administer the Executive Reserve program; to coordinate the activities of other agencies in establishing units of the Reserve; to provide for appropriate standards of recruitment and training; and to issue necessary rules and regulations in connection with such program.

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Heads of departments and agencies of the Government designated by the Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization, after appropriate consultation, are authorized to establish units of the Executive Reserve and to select and designate persons to serve as members of the units.

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Activities of persons by reason of designation as Executive Reservists under this order shall not include acting or advising on any matter pending before any department or agency but shall be limited to receiving training for mobilization assignments under the Reserve program.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Labor & Employment
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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)
§

"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
43 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

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
383
2,388 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
20.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including sections 703 (a) and 710 (e) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2153 (a); 2160 (e)), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. There is hereby established in the executive branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve to be composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government to be trained for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government during periods of emergency. SEC. 2. The Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization is hereby directed to institute and administer the Executive Reserve program; to coordinate the activities of other agencies in establishing units of the Reserve; to provide for appropriate standards of recruitment and training; and to issue necessary rules and regulations in connection with such program. SEC. 3. The Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization in carrying out his responsibilities under this order may utilize the services of other departments and agencies in the maintenance of agency and centralized rosters and in the development of training programs and materials. SEC. 4. Heads of departments and agencies of the Government designated by the Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization, after appropriate consultation, are authorized to establish units of the Executive Reserve and to select and designate persons to serve as members of the units. SEC. 5. Activities of persons by reason of designation as Executive Reservists under this order shall not include acting or advising on any matter pending before any department or agency but shall be limited to receiving training for mobilization assignments under the Reserve program. With respect to activities as so limited, reservists who are not full-time Government employees shall be exempt from the operation of sections 281, 283, 284, 434, and 1914 of Title 18, United States Code, and section 190 of the Revised Statutes (5 U.S.C. 99). SEC. 6. The Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization shall report to the President annually, and at such other times as may be appropriate, on the progress made in the development and operation of the Executive Reserve program. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

February 15, 1956.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Amends Executive Order 11179—Providing for the National Defense Executive Reserve
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1964-09-22
References Executive Order 11051—Prescribing Responsibilities of the Office of Emergency Planning in the Executive Office of the President
John F. Kennedy • 1962-09-27
References Executive Order 10773—Delegating and Transferring Certain Functions and Affairs to the Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1958-07-01
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,660 (Feb. 15, 1956), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10660-providing-for-the-establishment-national-defense-executive-reserve.