Executive Order 10764 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 10764—Suspension of the Eight-Hour Law as to Laborers and Mechanics Employed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration on Public Work Essential to the National Defense

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Wednesday, April 23, 1958

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2 min read (342 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 1958-04-23, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Suspension of the Eight-Hour Law as to Laborers and Mechanics Employed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration on Public Work Essential to the National Defense." 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

▪ 2914 of December 16, 1950, the President proclaimed the existence of a national emergency, which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible; and WHEREAS by section 1 of the act of August 1, 1892, 27 Stat.

▪ 340, as amended by the act of March 3, 1913, 37 Stat.

▪ This order shall continue in effect until terminated or revoked by the President.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Total Words

342

1,966 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

22.7

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

-0.19

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10764, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Apr 23, 1958). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10764-suspension-the-eight-hour-law-laborers-and-mechanics-employed-the.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

WHEREAS by Proclamation No. 2914 of December 16, 1950, the President proclaimed the existence of a national emergency, which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible; and WHEREAS by section 1 of the act of August 1, 1892, 27 Stat. 340, as amended by the act of March 3, 1913, 37 Stat. 726 (40 U.S.C. 321), the service or employment of all laborers and mechanics employed by the Government of the United States upon any public work of the United States is limited to eight hours in any one calendar day, except in case of extraordinary emergency; and WHEREAS it is essential to the national defense that the Nation's system of air-navigation facilities be modernized in a very short period of time, and that such system be operated and maintained at the highest level of efficiency; and WHEREAS I find that as to public work essential to the national defense being performed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration an extraordinary emergency exists: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1 of the said act of August 1, 1892, as amended by the said act of March 3, 1913, and as President of the United States, I hereby suspend the above-mentioned provisions of law prohibiting more than eight hours of labor in any one calendar day by laborers and mechanics employed by the Government of the United States as to all work performed by laborers and mechanics employed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration on any public work which is essential to the national defense: Provided, that the wages of all laborers and mechanics so employed shall be computed on a basic day rate of eight hours of work with overtime to be paid at a rate not less than time and one-half for all hours of work in excess of eight hours in any one day. This order shall continue in effect until terminated or revoked by the President. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER THE WHITE HOUSE, April 23, 1958.