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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 11179 Revoked ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11179—Providing for the National Defense Executive Reserve

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Tuesday, September 22, 1964
•
3 min read (648 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (648 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

There shall be in the Executive Branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government for training for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government in the event of the occurrence of an emergency that requires such employment.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 Lyndon B. Johnson on September 22, 1964, this order concerns Providing for the National Defense Executive Reserve. There shall be in the Executive Branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government for training for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government in the event of the occurrence of an emergency that requires such employment. Sec. 2.

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

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There shall be in the Executive Branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government for training for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government in the event of the occurrence of an emergency that requires such employment.

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The Director of the Office of Emergency Planning (hereinafter referred to as the Director) shall administer the Executive Reserve program; coordinate the activities of other agencies in establishing units of the Reserve; provide for appropriate standards of recruitment and training; approve prospective members of the Executive Reserve; and issue necessary rules and regulations in connection with the program.

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The head of any department or agency of the Government (hereinafter referred to as a Secretary), designated by the Director after appropriate consultation, may establish a unit of the Executive Reserve (hereinafter referred to as Executive Reserve Units) in his respective department or agency.

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Executive Reserve Units existing under Executive Order No. 10660 of February 15,1956, as amended, on the date of this order shall henceforth be deemed to be Executive Reserve Units under this order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Labor & Employment
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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 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
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

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

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

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
648
4,052 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (8 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 3Sec. 4Sec. 5Sec. 6Sec. 7Sec. 8

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Sections 703(a) and 710(e) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 TJ.S.C. App. 2153 (a); 2160(e)), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

There shall be in the Executive Branch of the Government a National Defense Executive Reserve composed of persons selected from various segments of the civilian economy and from government for training for employment in executive positions in the Federal Government in the event of the occurrence of an emergency that requires such employment.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The Director of the Office of Emergency Planning (hereinafter referred to as the Director) shall administer the Executive Reserve program; coordinate the activities of other agencies in establishing units of the Reserve; provide for appropriate standards of recruitment and training; approve prospective members of the Executive Reserve; and issue necessary rules and regulations in connection with the program.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

The Director, in carrying out his responsibilities under this order, may utilize the services of other departments and agencies in the maintenance of agency and centralized rosters and in the development of training programs and materials.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

(a) The head of any department or agency of the Government (hereinafter referred to as a Secretary), designated by the Director after appropriate consultation, may establish a unit of the Executive Reserve (hereinafter referred to as Executive Reserve Units) in his respective department or agency. (b) Executive Reserve Units existing under Executive Order No. 10660 of February 15,1956, as amended, on the date of this order shall henceforth be deemed to be Executive Reserve Units under this order.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Membership in Executive Reserve Units shall be subject to the following: (1) Subject to the provisions of this order, particularly paragraph (4) of this section, an individual who on the date of this order was a member of an Executive Reserve Unit under Executive Order No. 10660 may continue to serve therein without further designation. (2) A Secretary desiring to designate an individual to serve as a member of an Executive Reserve Unit of his department or agency shall submit the name of the prospective designee to the Director for approval. Upon approval of the prospective designee by the Director, the Secretary concerned may designate the individual as a member of the Executive Reserve Unit of his department or agency. (3) An individual whose membership in an Executive Reserve Unit has at any time expired, or is at any time about to expire, under the terms of this order may be redesignated as a member under the procedure set forth in paragraph (2) of this section. (4) Without limiting the authority of the respective Secretaries to terminate the membership of any individual in an Executive Reserve Unit at any time, it is directed that continued service of a member under paragraph (1) of this section, and the designation or redesignation of a member under paragraph (2) or (3) of this section, respectively (including any designation of an individual occurring at the expiration of his continued service under paragraph (1)), shall be for a period not to exceed three years.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

Activities of any person by reason of his continuance, designation, or redesignation as an Executive Reservist under this order shall not include acting or advising on any matter pending before any department or agency but shall be limited to receiving training for mobilization assignments under the Reserve program.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

The Director shall report to the President annually, and at such other times as may be appropriate, on the status and operation of the Executive Reserve program.

Sec. 8. #sec-8

Executive Order No. 10660 of February 15, 1956, entitled "Providing for the Establishment of a National Defense Executive Reserve," as amended, is hereby superseded. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, September 22, 1964.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

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

References Executive Order 12919—National Defense Industrial Resources Preparedness
William J. Clinton • 1994-06-03
Amends Executive Order 12148—Federal Emergency Management
Jimmy Carter • 1979-07-20
References Executive Order 11725—Transfer of Certain Functions of the Office of Emergency Preparedness
Richard Nixon • 1973-06-27
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,179 (Sept. 22, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11179-providing-for-the-national-defense-executive-reserve.