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Executive Order 10858 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.29) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 10858—The President's Committee for Traffic Safety

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Wednesday, January 13, 1960

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3 min read (509 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (509 words) • ● In Effect

🎯 Primary Mandate

There is hereby continued, subject to the provisions of this order, the President's Committee for Traffic Safety, established on April 13, 1954.

View all 4 directives ↓

⚖️ Constitutional Footing

🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority

Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Framers' constitutional debate ↓

🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors

Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 January 13, 1960, this order concerns The President's Committee for Traffic Safety. There is hereby continued, subject to the provisions of this order, the President's Committee for Traffic Safety, established on April 13, 1954. (b) The President's Committee for Traffic Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) shall be composed of not more than twelve members appointed by the President, including individuals active in agriculture, business, labor, public-information media, civic, service…

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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There is hereby continued, subject to the provisions of this order, the President's Committee for Traffic Safety, established on April 13, 1954.

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The President's Committee for Traffic Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) shall be composed of not more than twelve members appointed by the President, including individuals active in agriculture, business, labor, public-information media, civic, service, and women's organizations, and such other groups as the President may determine.

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The Chairman of the Governors' Conference shall be a member of the Committee during his term as Chairman of the Governors' Conference.

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The Committee, on behalf of the President, shall promote State and community application of the Action Program of traffic safety measures established by the President's Highway Safety Conference in 1946, and revised in 1949, and shall further revise and perfect that Action Program in accordance with the findings of further research and experience.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation

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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

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)

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

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny

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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

55 / 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

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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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

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%).

ℹ️

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

509

3,337 characters

Estimated Read Time

3 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

18.2

Post-Graduate Legal

Language Tone Score

+0.29

Constitutional Fidelity

How is this scored?

Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and in order to advance the cause of street and highway safety, it Is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) There is hereby continued, subject to the provisions of this order, the President's Committee for Traffic Safety, established on April 13, 1954. (b) The President's Committee for Traffic Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) shall be composed of not more than twelve members appointed by the President, including individuals active in agriculture, business, labor, public-information media, civic, service, and women's organizations, and such other groups as the President may determine. The Chairman of the Governors' Conference shall be a member of the Committee during his term as Chairman of the Governors' Conference. SEC. 2. (a) The Committee, on behalf of the President, shall promote State and community application of the Action Program of traffic safety measures established by the President's Highway Safety Conference in 1946, and revised in 1949, and shall further revise and perfect that Action Program in accordance with the findings of further research and experience. It shall also develop effective citizen organization in the States and communities in support of public officials with Action Program responsibilities. (b) The Committee shall cooperate with Federal, State, and local officials and interested national organizations, including the Council of State Governments, the American Municipal Association, and the National Association of County Officials, and shall encourage them to study traffic-safety needs, adopt uniform traffic laws and ordinances, and conduct balanced traffic-safety programs. (c) The Committee may establish or continue such advisory groups (including the Advisory Council which it has heretofore established) as may be necessary to assist it in carrying out its activities, shall prescribe such regulations as it deems appropriate for such groups, and shall appoint the member organizations. Through such advisory groups and their member organizations, the Committee shall aid citizen leaders in developing effective support organizations, assist public officials in determining specific needs and applying remedial measures, plan and guide nationwide traffic safety educational efforts, and advance all areas of highway safety. SEC. 3. (a) The Chairman of the Committee shall be designated by the President and shall direct the work of the Committee. The Chairman may designate a Vice Chairman to serve as Chairman in his absence. The Chairman may from time to time prescribe such necessary rules, procedures, and policies relating to the Committee and the conduct of its affairs as are not Inconsistent with law or with the provisions of this order. (b) The Committee shall meet annually, and at such other times and places as the Chairman may deem necessary. (c) Members of the Committee shall serve without compensation. SEC. 4. The Secretary of Commerce may make available to the Committee, within the limitations of section 313 of title 23 of the United States Code and subject to the availability of appropriations, such office space, staff, equipment, supplies, and services as may be necessary for the operations of the Committee. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

January 13, 1960.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

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

Revokes Executive Order 11382—Amendment of Executive Orders Relating to Functions of the Department of Transportation

Lyndon B. Johnson • 1967-11-28

References Executive Order 10968—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10858, Relating to the President's Committee for Traffic Safety

John F. Kennedy • 1961-10-10

References Executive Order 10898—Establishing the Interdepartmental Highway Safety Board

Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1960-12-02

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,858 (Jan. 13, 1960), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10858-the-presidents-committee-for-traffic-safety.