★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 11041 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.29) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 11041—Continuance and Administration of the Peace Corps in the Department of State

•
Monday, August 6, 1962
•
6 min read (1,276 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,276 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated or reserved to the President by this order, and subject to the provisions of this order, there are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State all functions conferred upon the President by the Act.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 John F. Kennedy on August 6, 1962, this order concerns Continuance and Administration of the Peace Corps in the Department of State. Delegation of functions to the Secretary of State. (a) Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated or reserved to the President by this order, and subject to the provisions of this order, there are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State all functions conferred upon the President by the Act.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪

Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated or reserved to the President by this order, and subject to the provisions of this order, there are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State all functions conferred upon the President by the Act.

▪

The function of determining the portion of living allowances constituting basic compensation, conferred upon the President by Section 912(3)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, is hereby delegated to the Secretary of State and shall be performed in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.

▪

The functions of prescribing conditions, conferred upon the President by the second sentence of Section 5(e) and the concluding phrase of Section 6 (3) of the Act and hereinabove delegated to the Secretary of State, shall be exercised in consultation with the head of the United States Government agency responsible for the facility.

▪

The Secretary of State shall take such action as may be appropriate to continue in existence under the Act the Peace Corps established as an agency in the Department of State pursuant to Executive Order No. 10924 of March 1, 1961 (26 F.R. 1789).

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏛️

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

"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: Supportive of Execution
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
📐

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
51 / 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

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%).
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
1,276
7,574 characters
Estimated Read Time
6 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.1
College Level
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 by the Peace Corps Act (75 Stat. 612), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: PART I--DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS AND ALLOCATION OF FUNDS SECTION 101. Delegation of functions to the Secretary of State. (a) Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated or reserved to the President by this order, and subject to the provisions of this order, there are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State all functions conferred upon the President by the Act. (b) The function of determining the portion of living allowances constituting basic compensation, conferred upon the President by Section 912(3)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, is hereby delegated to the Secretary of State and shall be performed in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury. (c) The functions of prescribing conditions, conferred upon the President by the second sentence of Section 5(e) and the concluding phrase of Section 6 (3) of the Act and hereinabove delegated to the Secretary of State, shall be exercised in consultation with the head of the United States Government agency responsible for the facility. SEC. 102. Continuance of the Peace Corps. (a) The Secretary of State shall take such action as may be appropriate to continue in existence under the Act the Peace Corps established as an agency in the Department of State pursuant to Executive Order No. 10924 of March 1, 1961 (26 F.R. 1789). (b) The Peace Corps shall be headed by the Director for whom provision is made in Section 4 (a) of the Act. The Deputy Director, for whom provision is made in Section 4(a) of the Act, shall also serve in the Peace Corps. SEC. 103. Allocation and transfer of funds. All funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the President for carrying out the provisions of the Act shall be deemed to be allocated without any further action of the President to the Secretary of State or to such subordinate officer as he may designate. The Secretary of State or such officer may allocate or transfer, as appropriate, any of such funds to any United States Government agency or part thereof for obligation or expenditure thereby consistent with applicable law. SEC. 104. Delegation of functions to the Civil Service Commission. There is hereby delegated to the Chairman of the Civil. Service Commission, with respect to the laws administered by the Commission, the function conferred upon the President by that portion of Section 5(f) (1) (B) of the Act which reads "except as otherwise determined by the President". PART II--RESERVED FUNCTIONS SEC. 201. Reservation of functions to the President. There are hereby excluded from the delegations made by Part I of this order the following-described functions of the President: (a) All authority conferred upon him by Sections 4(b), 4(c) (2), 4(c) (3), 10(d), 11, 16(b), and 18 of the Act. (b) The authority conferred upon him by Section 4(a) of the Act to appoint the Director and the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps. (c) The authority conferred upon him by that portion of Section 5 (f) ( 1 ) ( B ) of the Act which reads "except as otherwise determined by the President" except as otherwise provided in Section 104 of this order and except to the extent that such authority is in respect of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. (d) The authority conferred upon him by Section 10(f) of the Act to direct any agency of the United States Government as provided in that section. (e) The authority conferred upon him by Section 12 of the Act to appoint persons to membership in the Peace Corps National Advisory Council and to determine the length of service of the members of that Council. (f) The authority conferred upon him by Section 19 of the Act to adopt and alter an official seal or emblem of the Peace Corps. (g) The authority conferred upon him by the first sentence of Section 22 of the Act to establish standards and procedures to the extent not inconsistent with the proviso of Section 303 of this order. PART III--INCIDENTAL PROVISIONS SEC. 301. Personnel. Persons appointed, employed or assigned after May 19, 1959, under Section 527(c) of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 or Section 7(c) of the Act for the purpose of performing functions under such Acts outside the United States shall not, unless otherwise agreed by the agency in which such benefits may be exercised, be entitled to the benefits provided by Section 528 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 in cases in which their service under the appointment, employment or assignment exceeds thirty months. SEC. 302. Determination. Pursuant to Section 10 (d) of the Act, it is hereby determined to be in furtherance of the purposes of the Act that functions authorized thereby may be performed without regard to the applicable laws specified in Sections 1 and 2 and with or without consideration as specified in Section 3 of Executive Order No. 10784 of October 1, 1958 (23 F.R. 7691) but, except as may be inappropriate, subject to limitations set forth in that order. SEC. 303. Security requirements. (a) Pursuant to Section 22 of the Act, Executive Order No. 10450 of April 27, 1953 (18 F.R. 2489 ) is hereby established as the standards and procedures for the employment or assignment to duties of persons under the Act: Provided, That the Secretary of State may establish such additional standards and procedures with respect to the employment or assignment to duties of volunteers as he may deem necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Act. (b) Nothing in Section 303(a) hereof or in Executive Order No. 10450 or in any other Executive order heretofore issued shall affect the exercise of the authority conferred upon the President by Section 5 (i ) of the Act. SEC. 304. Definitions. (a) As used in this order the words "the Peace Corps Act" and the words "the Act" mean Title I of "An Act to provide for a Peace Corps to help the peoples of interested countries and areas in meeting their needs for skilled manpower" (Public Law 87-293, approved September 22, 1961; 75 Stat. 612 et seq.). (b) As used in this order, the words "volunteers," "function," "United States," and "United States Government agency" shall have the same meanings, respectively, as they have under the Act. SEC. 305. References to orders and acts. Except as may for any reason be inappropriate: (a) References in this order to (1) "the Peace Corps Act" or "the Act", (2) any other Act, or (3) any provision thereof shall be deemed to include references thereto, respectively, as amended from time to time. (b) References in this order, or in any other Executive order, to this order or to any provision thereof shall be deemed to include references thereto, respectively, as amended from time to time. (c) References in this order to any prior Executive order not superseded by this order shall be deemed to include references thereto as amended from time to time. SEC. 306. Superseded order. Executive Order No. 10924 of March 1, 1961 (26 F.R. 1789) is hereby superseded. SEC. 307. Saving provisions. Except to the extent that they may be inconsistent with this order, all determinations, authorizations, regulations, rulings, certificates, orders, directives, contracts, agreements, and other actions made, issued or entered into with respect to any function affected by this order and not revoked, superseded, or otherwise made inapplicable before the date of this order shall continue in full force and effect until amended, modified, or terminated by appropriate authority. JOHN F. KENNEDY

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

August 6, 1962

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

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

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,041 (Aug. 6, 1962), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11041-continuance-and-administration-the-peace-corps-the-department-state.