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Executive Order 11161 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.14) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11161—Relating to Certain Relationships Between the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Agency

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Tuesday, July 7, 1964
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3 min read (585 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (585 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency are hereby directed to prepare and develop plans, procedures, policies, programs, and courses of action in anticipation of the probable transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department of Defense in the event of war.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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 July 7, 1964, this order concerns Relating to Certain Relationships Between the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Agency. The Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency are hereby directed to prepare and develop plans, procedures, policies, programs, and courses of action in anticipation of the probable transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department of Defense in the event of war.

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

▪

The Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency are hereby directed to prepare and develop plans, procedures, policies, programs, and courses of action in anticipation of the probable transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department of Defense in the event of war.

▪

Those plans, policies, procedures, programs, and courses of action shall be prepared and developed in conformity with the following-described standards and conditions— (A) The Federal Aviation Agency will function as an adjunct of the Department of Defense with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency being responsible directly to the Secretary of Defense and subject to his authority, direction, and control to the extent deemed by the Secretary to be necessary for the discharge of his responsibilities as Secretary of Defense.

▪

In furtherance of the objectives of the foregoing provisions of this order, the Secretary and the Administrator shall, to the extent permitted by law, make such arrangements and take such actions as they deem necessary to assure— (A) That the functions of the Federal Aviation Agency are performed during any period of national emergency short of war in a manner that will assure that essential national defense requirements will be satisfied during any such period of national emergency'.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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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

"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
55 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

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%).
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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
585
3,658 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
28.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.14
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (2 sections)

WHEREAS Section 302(e) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 provides, in part, that in the event of war the President by Executive order may transfer to the Department of Defense any functions (including powers, duties, activities, facilities, and parts of functions) of the Federal Aviation Agency; and WHEREAS it appears that the defense of the United States would require the transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department WHEREAS if any such transfer were to be made it would be essential to the defense of the United States that the transition be accomplished promptly and with maximum ease and effectiveness; and WHEREAS these objectives require that the relationships that would obtain in the event of such a transfer as between the Federal Aviation Agency and the Department of Defense be understood in advance by the two agencies concerned and be developed in necessary detail by them in advance of transfer:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 302(e) (72 Stat. 746; 49 U.S.C. 1343(c)), and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

The Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency are hereby directed to prepare and develop plans, procedures, policies, programs, and courses of action in anticipation of the probable transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department of Defense in the event of war. Those plans, policies, procedures, programs, and courses of action shall be prepared and developed in conformity with the following-described standards and conditions— (A) The Federal Aviation Agency will function as an adjunct of the Department of Defense with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency being responsible directly to the Secretary of Defense and subject to his authority, direction, and control to the extent deemed by the Secretary to be necessary for the discharge of his responsibilities as Secretary of Defense. (B) To the extent deemed by the Secretary of Defense to be necessary for the accomplishment of the military mission, he will be empowered to direct the Administrator to place operational elements of the Federal Aviation Agency under the direct operational control of appropriate military commanders. (C) While functioning as an adjunct of the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Agency will remain organizationally intact and the Administrator thereof will retain responsibility for administration of his statutory functions, subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense to the extent deemed by the Secretary to be necessary for the discharge of his responsibilities as Secretary of Defense.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

In furtherance of the objectives of the foregoing provisions of this order, the Secretary and the Administrator shall, to the extent permitted by law, make such arrangements and take such actions as they deem necessary to assure— (A) That the functions of the Federal Aviation Agency are performed during any period of national emergency short of war in a manner that will assure that essential national defense requirements will be satisfied during any such period of national emergency'. (B) Consistent with the provisions of paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of Section 1 of this order, that any transfer of the Federal Aviation Agency to the Department of Defense, in the event of war, will be accomplished smoothly and rapidly and effective operation of the agencies and functions affected by the transfer will be achieved after the transfer. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, July 7, 1964

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,161 (July 7, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11161-relating-certain-relationships-between-the-department-defense-and.