Whereas a dispute exists between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, Lines East and West, and certain of their employees represented by the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, a labor organization; and Whereas this dispute has not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended; and Whereas this dispute, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive a section of the country of essential transportation service: 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 of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate this dispute. 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 dispute 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 carrier or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the dispute arose. LYNDON B. JOHNSON THE WHITE HOUSE September 11, 1965
Executive Order 11243 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 11243—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Dispute Between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, Lines East and West, and Certain of Their Employees
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (230 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate this dispute.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
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 11, 1965, this order concerns Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Dispute Between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, Lines East and West, and Certain of Their Employees. I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate this dispute. 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 dispute 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
▪
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate this dispute.
▪
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 carrier or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the dispute arose.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
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
"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
📐
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
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
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
230
1,365 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Other executive actions signed by Lyndon B. Johnson around this period.
EO 11245 Sep 16, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11245—Placing a Position in Level V of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
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The following office and position is placed in level IV of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule: (1) Special Assistant to the Secretary (for Enforcement), Treasury Department.
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EO 11247 Sep 24, 1965
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11247—Providing for the Coordination by the Attorney General of Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
The Attorney General shall assist Federal departments and agencies to coordinate their programs and activities and adopt consistent and uniform policies, practices, and procedures with respect to the enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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EO 11246 Revoked Sep 24, 1965
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Executive Order 11246—Equal Employment Opportunity
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
PART I—NONDISCRIMINATION IN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT SECTION 101. It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in Federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, or…
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EO 11242 Aug 28, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11242—Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as it Relates to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, be, and it is hereby, amended by adding to section 109 of Part I the following new subsection: "(f) The term 'duty involving frequent and regular participation in flight operations on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier' shall be…
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EO 11241 Aug 26, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11241—Amending the Selective Service Regulations
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the Selective Service Regulations prescribed by Executive Orders No. 10735 of October 17, 1957, No. 10984 of January 5, 1962, No. 11098 of March 14, 1963, and No. 11119 of September 10, 1963, and constituting portions of Chapter…
Lyndon B. Johnson High School • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,243 (Sept. 11, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11243-creating-emergency-board-investigate-dispute-between-the-atchison.
