The defensive sea area off the coast of North Carolina, heretofore existing under the provisions of Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby discontinued.
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on February 24, 1965, this order concerns Discontinuing the Defensive Sea Area Off the Coast of North Carolina. The defensive sea area off the coast of North Carolina, heretofore existing under the provisions of Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby discontinued. Sec. 2. Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby revoked.
The defensive sea area off the coast of North Carolina, heretofore existing under the provisions of Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby discontinued.
Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby revoked.
Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 2152 of Title 18 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:
The defensive sea area off the coast of North Carolina, heretofore existing under the provisions of Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby discontinued.
Executive Order No. 5786 of January 30, 1932, is hereby revoked. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, February 24, 1965.
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
I hereby declare the following bounded waters off the coast of North Carolina and southeast of Kittyhawk Coast Guard Station, comprising approximately two-thirds of a square mile, to be a defensive sea area for purposes of national defense: Beginning at a point latitude 36° 03'…
Herbert Hoover Designation of areas for 1965. (a) All areas administered by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the United States Section of the…
Lyndon B. Johnson Any income, excess-profits, estate, or gift tax return for the years 1947 to 1966, inclusive, shall, during the Eighty-ninth Congress, be open to inspection by the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in…
Lyndon B. Johnson The appointment of an employee occupying a Student Trainee position in a shortage occupation that is excepted from the competitive service under Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules shall be converted to a career-conditional or career appointment if he: (1) has successfully…
Lyndon B. Johnson Section 1. The provisions of section 4931 shall apply to acquisitions by commercial banks of debt obligations of foreign obligors to the extent set forth herein. Sec. 2.
Lyndon B. Johnson Any income, estate, or gift tax return for the years 1957 to 1965, inclusive, shall, during the Eighty-ninth Congress, be open to inspection by the Committee on Public Works, House of Representatives, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in connection with its…
Lyndon B. Johnson Exec. Order No. 11,199 (Feb. 24, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11199-discontinuing-the-defensive-sea-area-off-the-coast-north-carolina.
