By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, with respect to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to prescribe regulations under which the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon may be accepted by members of the armed forces who have been determined eligible for consideration in accordance with the Regulations for the United Nations Medal, promulgated by the United Nations Organization on July 30, 1959. A determination that service with the United Nations in a particular geographic area or for a particular purpose constitutes a justifiable basis for authorizing acceptance of the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon by eligible members of the armed forces of the United States shall be made with the concurrence of the Secretary of State. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, January 7, 1964.
Executive Order 11139 Amended ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11139—Authorizing Acceptance of the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (184 words) •
● Amended
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, with respect to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to prescribe regulations under which the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon may be accepted by members of the armed forces who have been determined eligible for consideration in accordance with the Regulations for the United Nations Medal, promulgated by the United Nations Organization on July 30, 1959.
⚖️ 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 Sovereign State Governments & Localities Foreign Nations & International Entities Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Legal Status & Amendment History
AmendedActions on this order
- Amended by EO 13286
Source: Office of the Federal Register executive order disposition notes. Orders before 1994 show only actions recorded by later orders.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 7, 1964, this order concerns Authorizing Acceptance of the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon. I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, with respect to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to prescribe regulations under which the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon may be accepted by members of the armed forces who have been determined eligible for…
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
▪
I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, with respect to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to prescribe regulations under which the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon may be accepted by members of the armed forces who have been determined eligible for consideration in accordance with the Regulations for the United Nations Medal, promulgated by the United Nations Organization on July 30, 1959.
▪
A determination that service with the United Nations in a particular geographic area or for a particular purpose constitutes a justifiable basis for authorizing acceptance of the United Nations Medal and Service Ribbon by eligible members of the armed forces of the United States shall be made with the concurrence of the Secretary of State.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating 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
37 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
High Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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%).
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
184
1,091 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
28.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Lyndon B. Johnson around this period.
EO 11138 Jan 7, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11138—Modifying Executive Order No. 9721, as Amended by Executive Order No. 10103, Providing for the Transfer of Personnel to Certain Public International Organizations
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order No. 9721 of May 10,1946, as amended by Executive Order No. 10103 of February 1,1950, providing for the transfer of personnel to public international organizations in which the United States Government participates be, and it is hereby, modified as follows: The…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11137 Jan 7, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11137—Relating to Certain Allowances and Benefits for Civilian Employees of Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities of the Armed Forces
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
And Differentials In Foreign Areas Section 101. The term "employee", as denned in Section 111(3) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(3)), is hereby further defined as including civilian employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of the…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11136 Jan 3, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11136—Establishing the President's Committee on Consumer Interests and the Consumer Advisory Council
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There is hereby established the President's Committee on Consumer Interests (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee"). (b) The Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 5m
EO 11135 Jan 3, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11135—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the Eastern, Western and Southeastern Carriers' Conference Committee, and Certain of Their Employees
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes. No member of the board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11134 Dec 20, 1963
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11134—Extension of the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Section 8 of Executive Order No. 11100 of March 30, 1963, be, and it is hereby, amended by substituting for the last sentence thereof the following: "The Commission shall terminate not later than March 30,1964."
Lyndon B. Johnson High School • 1m
EO 11133 Dec 17, 1963
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11133—Inspection of Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Returns by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Any income, estate, or gift tax return for the years 1959 to 1963, inclusive, shall, during the Eighty-eighth Congress, be open to inspection by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in connection with its study and…
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,139 (Jan. 7, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11139-authorizing-acceptance-the-united-nations-medal-and-service-ribbon.
