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Executive Order 11180 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations

Executive Order 11180—Creating an Emergency Board To Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Thursday, September 24, 1964
•
5 min read (1,033 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,033 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby create a board, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes.

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
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 24, 1964, this order concerns Creating an Emergency Board To Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees. I hereby create a board, 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. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the disputes within thirty days from the date of this order.

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

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I hereby create a board, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes.

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The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the disputes within thirty days from the date of this order.

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As provided by Section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, from this date and for thirty days after the board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement, shall be made by the carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the disputes arose.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Branch Departments 🏛️ General Body of the People

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation 🏷️ 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

"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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

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

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

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
1,033
7,285 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
30.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS disputes exist between the carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, designated in List A attached hereto and made a part hereof, and certain of their employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, a labor organization; and WHEREAS these disputes have not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended; and WHEREAS these disputes, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive the country of essential transportation service:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 160), I hereby create a board, 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. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the disputes within thirty days from the date of this order. As provided by Section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, from this date and for thirty days after the board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement, shall be made by the carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the disputes arose. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, September 24, 1964. List A EASTERN RAILROADS Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Company Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Company Ann Arbor Railroad Company Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Buffalo Division Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad Company Curtis Bay Railroad Company Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company Strouds Creek and Muddlety Railroad Company Bangor and Aroostook Railroad Company Bessamer and Lake Erie Railroad Boston and Maine Railroad Buffalo Creek Railroad Bush Terminal Railroad Company Canadian National Railways, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Regions—Lines in the United States Central Railroad Company of New Jersey New York & Long Branch Railroad Company Central Vermont Railway, Inc. Cincinnati Union Terminal Company Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corporation Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad Company Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Company Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Grand Trunk Western Railroad Indianapolis Union Railway Company Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Company Lehigh Valley Railroad Maine Central Railroad Company Portland Terminal Company Monon Railroad Monongahela Railway Company Montour Railroad Company NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM New York Central Railroad Company Chicago River & Indiana Railroad Cleveland Union Terminals Company Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, including Lake Erie & Eastern Railroad New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company *New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad Baltimore & Eastern Railroad Company Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway Company Pittsburgh, Chartlers & Youghiogheny Railroad Company, Reading Company Toledo Terminal Railroad Company Union Freight Railroad Washington Terminal Company Western Maryland Railway Company Youngstown and Northern Railroad Company WESTERN RAILROADS Alton and Southern Railroad Bauxite and Northern Railway Company Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway Company Belt Railway Company of Chicago Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway Camas Prairie Railroad Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Chicago & Illinois Midland Railway Company Chicago and North Western Railway Company Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company Chicago Great Western Railway, including South St. Paul Terminal Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Chicago Short Line Railway Company Chicago, West Pullman & Southern Railroad Colorado and Southern Railway Company Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway Company Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company Des Moines Union Railway Company Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway East St. Louis Junction Railroad Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Fort Worth and Denver Railway Company Fort Worth Belt Railway Company Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Company Great Northern Railway Company Green Bay and Western Railroad Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company Illinois Central Railroad Company Illinois Northern Railway Illinois Terminal Railroad Company Joint Texas Division of the CRI&P Railroad and Ft W & D Railway Kansas City Southern Railway Company Kansas City Terminal Railway Company Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Midland Valley Railroad Company King Street Passenger Station Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad Company Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railway Longview, Portland & Northern Railway Company Los Angeles Junction Railway Company Louisiana & Arkansas Railway Company (L&A and Texas Districts) Manufacturers Railway Company Memphis Union Station Company Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway Minnesota, Dakota and Western Railway Company Minnesota Transfer Railway Company Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company Missouri Pacific Railroad Company Missouri-Illinois Railroad Company Northern Pacific Railway Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company Ogden Union Railway and Depot Company Oregon, California and Eastern Railway Company Pacific Coast Railroad Company Peoria and Pekin Union Railway Company Port Terminal Railroad Association St. Joseph Terminal Railroad Company St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company Saint Paul Union Depot Company Sioux City Terminal Railway Company Soo Line Railway Company South Omaha Terminal Railway Company Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) (Former El Paso & Southwestern System) Southern Pacific Company (Texas and Louisiana Lines) Spokane International Railroad Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company Oregon Trunk Railway Oregon Electric Railway Company Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Texas and Pacific Railway Company Texas-New Mexico Railway Company Texas Mexican Railway Company Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company Union Pacific Railroad Union Railway Company (Memphis) Union Terminal Railway Company St. Joseph Belt Railway Company Union Terminal Company (Dallas) Wabash Railroad (Lines West of Detroit and Toledo) Wabash Railroad (Lines East of Detroit) Western Pacific Railroad Company Wichita Terminal Association SOUTHEASTERN RAILROADS Atlanta & West Point Railroad Company Western Railway of Alabama Atlanta Joint Terminals Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Birmingham Southern Railroad Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Clinchfield Railroad Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad Jacksonville Terminal Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Louisville & Nashville Railroad Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Norfolk & Western Railway Norfolk Southern Railway Seaboard Air Line Railway * Subject to approval of the courts.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,180 (Sept. 24, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11180-creating-emergency-board-investigate-disputes-between-the-carriers.