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Executive Order 10665 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10665—Restoring Certain Lands of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation to the Jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii

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Monday, April 23, 1956
•
4 min read (726 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (726 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Subject to the conditions hereinafter stated, the following-described parcel of land comprising part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation, located on the Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, is hereby restored to the possession, use, and control of the Territory of Hawaii: Being a portion of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918).

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 April 23, 1956, this order concerns Restoring Certain Lands of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation to the Jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii. Subject to the conditions hereinafter stated, the following-described parcel of land comprising part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation, located on the Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, is hereby restored to the possession, use, and control of the Territory of Hawaii: Being a portion of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918).

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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Subject to the conditions hereinafter stated, the following-described parcel of land comprising part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation, located on the Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, is hereby restored to the possession, use, and control of the Territory of Hawaii: Being a portion of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918).

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Situate at Waianae-Uka, Wahiawa, Oahu, T. H. Beginning at the southwest corner of this piece of land, on the east side of Kamehameha Highway and on the north side of Land Court Application 1000, the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "Waipio Uka" being: 11,029.86 feet North and 5,661.83 feet West, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 170° 13' 50" 241.64 feet along the east side of Kamehameha Highway; 2. 164° 33' 100.49 feet along same; 3. 170° 13' 50" 170.00 feet along same; 4. 276° 20' 480.00 feet along the remainder of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918); 5. 249° 06' 44" 314.91 feet…

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The Territory of Hawaii shall have the right to relocate the said power line at no cost to the United States of America, provided that such relocation shall be acceptable to the Commanding General, United States Army, Pacific, and that the United States of America shall be furnished a map showing the new location of the power line, whereupon the right-of-way shall be deemed to be reestablished at such new location.

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Until and unless otherwise permitted by the Department of the Army, the parcel of land hereinabove described is to be used for National Guard purposes only, and in the event the said land is used for other purposes, in whole or in part, and such other uses shall continue for a period of sixty days after notice to cease and desist therefrom, then the parcel of land hereinabove described shall revert to the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Army as a part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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
34 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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
726
4,242 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.1
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS certain lands in Waianae-Uka, District of Waianae, and Waikaka-laua, District of Ewa, Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, which form a part of the public lands ceded and transferred to the United States under the joint resolution of annexation of July 7, 1898, 30 Stat. 750, were reserved for military purposes by Executive Order of July 20, 1899, as modified by Executive Orders No. 1137, of November 15, 1909, No. 1242 of August 23, 1910, No. 2800 of February 4, 1918, No. 5771 of January 4, 1932, No. 9995, of September 2, 1948 and No. 10454 of May 18, 1953; and WHEREAS the hereinafter-described parcel of such lands is desired by the Territory of Hawaii as a site for a National Guard Armory; and WHEREAS it is deemed advisable and in the public interest that it be restored to the possession, use, and control of the Territory of Hawaii, subject to the limitations hereinafter set forth:

NOW, THEREFORE, #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: Subject to the conditions hereinafter stated, the following-described parcel of land comprising part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation, located on the Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, is hereby restored to the possession, use, and control of the Territory of Hawaii: Being a portion of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918). Situate at Waianae-Uka, Wahiawa, Oahu, T. H. Beginning at the southwest corner of this piece of land, on the east side of Kamehameha Highway and on the north side of Land Court Application 1000, the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "Waipio Uka" being: 11,029.86 feet North and 5,661.83 feet West, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 170° 13' 50" 241.64 feet along the east side of Kamehameha Highway; 2. 164° 33' 100.49 feet along same; 3. 170° 13' 50" 170.00 feet along same; 4. 276° 20' 480.00 feet along the remainder of Schofield Barracks Military Reservation (Presidential Executive Order No. 2800 dated February 4, 1918); 5. 249° 06' 44" 314.91 feet along same; 6. 328° 59' 04" 133.90 feet along same; 7. 68° 59' 04" 867.71 feet along Land Court Application 1000 to the point of beginning and containing an area of 5.05 acres, reserving and excepting a perpetual easement for power lines over and under that strip of land described as follows: Being a strip of land ten (10.00) feet wide, extending five (5.00) feet on each side of the following described center line: Beginning at the north end of this center line, on the north side of the above described piece of land, the direct azimuth and distance to the end of course 3 of the above described piece of land being: 96° 20' 5.20 feet, and the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "Waipio Uka" being: 11,531.82 feet North and 5,753.28 feet West, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 350° 13' 50" 168.31 feet; 2. 344° 33' 100.49 feet; 3. 350° 13' 50" 50.25 feet, and containing an area of 0.073 acre. The Territory of Hawaii shall have the right to relocate the said power line at no cost to the United States of America, provided that such relocation shall be acceptable to the Commanding General, United States Army, Pacific, and that the United States of America shall be furnished a map showing the new location of the power line, whereupon the right-of-way shall be deemed to be reestablished at such new location. Until and unless otherwise permitted by the Department of the Army, the parcel of land hereinabove described is to be used for National Guard purposes only, and in the event the said land is used for other purposes, in whole or in part, and such other uses shall continue for a period of sixty days after notice to cease and desist therefrom, then the parcel of land hereinabove described shall revert to the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Army as a part of the Schofield Barracks Military Reservation. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 23, 1956.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,665 (Apr. 23, 1956), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10665-restoring-certain-lands-the-schofield-barracks-military-reservation.