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Executive Order 10716 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 10716—Administration of the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Monday, June 17, 1957
•
5 min read (1,097 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,097 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Except in respect of the functions delegated by section 2 (c), or reserved by section 4, of this order, the Director of the United States Information Agency shall coordinate the functions provided for in the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and shall be responsible for advising the President and keeping him informed with respect to the said functions: (b) The following-designated functions conferred upon the President by the Act are hereby delegated to the Director of the United States Information Agency: (1) The functions so conferred by the provisions of section 3 (2) of the Act (the provisions of section 2 (b) of this order notwithstanding).

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 June 17, 1957, this order concerns Administration of the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956. United States Information Agency. (a) Except in respect of the functions delegated by section 2 (c), or reserved by section 4, of this order, the Director of the United States Information Agency shall coordinate the functions provided for in the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and shall be responsible for advising the President and…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Except in respect of the functions delegated by section 2 (c), or reserved by section 4, of this order, the Director of the United States Information Agency shall coordinate the functions provided for in the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and shall be responsible for advising the President and keeping him informed with respect to the said functions: (b) The following-designated functions conferred upon the President by the Act are hereby delegated to the Director of the United States Information Agency: (1) The functions so conferred by the provisions of section 3 (2) of the Act (the provisions of section 2 (b) of this order notwithstanding).

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The functions so conferred by section 11 of the Act, except to the extent that such functions are delegated by section 2 (c) of this order.

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The functions so conferred by sections 4, 6, and 7 of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the functions delegated by the foregoing provisions of this section.

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The Director of the United States Information Agency, with such assistance of the Department of State and the Department of Commerce as may be appropriate, shall prepare and transmit to the President the reports which the President is required to transmit to the Congress by section 9 of the Act.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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
40 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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
1,097
6,437 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.1
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 International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956 (70 Stat. 778), by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. United States Information Agency. (a) Except in respect of the functions delegated by section 2 (c), or reserved by section 4, of this order, the Director of the United States Information Agency shall coordinate the functions provided for in the International Cultural Exchange and Trade Fair Participation Act of 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and shall be responsible for advising the President and keeping him informed with respect to the said functions: (b) The following-designated functions conferred upon the President by the Act are hereby delegated to the Director of the United States Information Agency: (1) The functions so conferred by the provisions of section 3 (2) of the Act (the provisions of section 2 (b) of this order notwithstanding). (2) The functions so conferred by section 3 (4) of the Act (the provisions of sections 2 (d) and 3 (b) of this order notwithstanding). (3) The functions so conferred by section 11 of the Act, except to the extent that such functions are delegated by section 2 (c) of this order. (4) The functions so conferred by sections 4, 6, and 7 of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the functions delegated by the foregoing provisions of this section. (c) The Director of the United States Information Agency, with such assistance of the Department of State and the Department of Commerce as may be appropriate, shall prepare and transmit to the President the reports which the President is required to transmit to the Congress by section 9 of the Act. (d) The Director of the United States Information Agency shall consult with the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Commerce, or both, in connection with the establishment of any inter-agency committees under the authority delegated by section 1 (b) (3) of this order the activities of which will pertain to functions delegated by section 2 or section 3 of this order, or both, respectively. (e) Funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the President to carry out the purposes of the Act shall be allocated by the Director of the United State Information Agency to the Department of State as may be necessary to carry out the functions delegated under section 2 of this order; to the Department of Commerce as may be necessary to carry out the functions delegated under section 3 of this order; and to such other departments or agencies of the Government as may be deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of the Act. The agencies to which funds are so allocated shall obtain apportionments thereof directly from the Bureau of the Budget. SEC. 2. Department of State. Subject to the provisions of sections 1 (a) and 4 of this order, the following-designated functions conferred upon the President by the Act are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State: (a) The functions so conferred by sections 3 (1), 10 (b), and 10 (c) (3) of the Act. (b) The functions so conferred by section 3 (2) of the Act (the provisions of section 1 (b) (1) of this order notwithstanding). (c) The functions so conferred by section 3 (3) of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the Universal and International Exhibition of Brussels, 1958, together with the functions so conferred by section 11 of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the said Exhibition. (d) The functions so conferred by sections 3 (4), 4, 6, and 7 of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the functions delegated by the foregoing provisions of this section. SEC. 3. Department of Commerce. Subject to the provisions of sections 1 (a) and 4 of this order, the following-designated functions conferred upon the President by the Act are hereby delegated to the Secretary of Commerce: (a) The functions so conferred by section 3 (3) of the Act, exclusive of functions pertaining to the Universal and International Exhibition of Brussels, 1958. (b) The functions so conferred by sections 3 (4), 4, 6, and 7 of the Act to the extent that they pertain to the functions delegated by the foregoing provisions of this section. SEC. 4. Functions reserved to the President. There are hereby excluded from the functions delegated by the provisions of this order the functions conferred upon the President (a) with respect to the appointment of officers authorized to be appointed by the first proviso of section 3 (3) of the Act, (b) with respect to the transmittal of periodic reports to the Congress under section 9 of the Act, and (c) with respect to the waiver of provisions of law or limitations of authority under section 8 of the Act. SEC. 5. Procedures for coordination abroad. The provisions of Part II of Executive Order No. 10575 of November 6, 1954 (19 F. R. 7249), are hereby extended and made applicable to the functions provided for in the Act and to United States agencies and personnel concerned with the administration abroad of the said functions. SEC. 6. Definition. As used in this order, the word "functions" embraces duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, and discretion. SEC. 7. Prior directives and actions. This order supersedes the provisions of the letters of the President to the Director of the United States Information Agency dated August 16, 1955, and August 21, 1956, and the letter of the President to the Secretary of State dated December 27, 1956 (22 P. R. 101-103); provided that this order shall not operate to terminate any authority to perform functions without regard to the provisions of law and limitations of authority specified in those letters. Except to the extent that they may be inconsistent with law or with this order, other directives, regulations, and actions relating to the functions delegated by this order and in force immediately prior to the issuance of this order shall remain in effect until amended, modified, or revoked by appropriate authority. SEC. 8. Effective date. Without prejudice to anything done under proper authority with respect to any function under the Act at any time subsequent to the approval of the Act and prior to the issuance of this order, the effective date of this order shall be deemed to be the date on which the Act was approved. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

June 17, 1957.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

Supersedes Executive Order 11034—Administration of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961
John F. Kennedy • 1962-06-25
References Executive Order 10912—Amending Executive Order 10716 of June 17, 1957
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1961-01-18
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,716 (June 17, 1957), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10716-administration-the-international-cultural-exchange-and-trade-fair.