By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 301 (a) of Title 37, United States Code, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, Section 108 (c) of Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, is hereby amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: "The minimum requirements may be waived by the commanding officer of a member for any period that the member is unable to perform the required jumps by reason of being engaged in combat operations in a hostile fire area designated under Section 310 of Title 37 of the United States Code." This Order shall be effective December 1, 1965. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House December 3, 1965
Executive Order 11259 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11259—Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as it Relates to Incentive Pay For Hazardous Duty Involving Parachute Jumping
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (130 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
08 (c) of Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, is hereby amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: "The minimum requirements may be waived by the commanding officer of a member for any period that the member is unable to perform the required jumps by reason of being engaged in combat operations in a hostile fire area designated under Section 310 of Title 37 of the United States Code." This Order shall be effective December 1, 1965.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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 December 3, 1965, this order concerns Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as it Relates to Incentive Pay For Hazardous Duty Involving Parachute Jumping. 08 (c) of Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, is hereby amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: "The minimum requirements may be waived by the commanding officer of a member for any period that the member is unable to perform the required jumps by reason of being engaged in combat operations in a hostile fire area designated under Section 310 of Title 37 of the United States Code."…
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
▪
08 (c) of Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, is hereby amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: "The minimum requirements may be waived by the commanding officer of a member for any period that the member is unable to perform the required jumps by reason of being engaged in combat operations in a hostile fire area designated under Section 310 of Title 37 of the United States Code." This Order shall be effective December 1, 1965.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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
"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
45 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
High Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
130
720 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.9
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11157 Revoked Jun 22, 1964
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.23)
Executive Order 11157—Prescribing Regulations Relating to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty, Special Pay for Sea Duty and Duty at Certain Places, Basic Allowances for Subsistence and Basic Allowances for Quarters
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Pay For Hazardous Duty Section 101. For the purposes of these regulations: (a) The term "aerial flight" shall be construed to mean flight in an aircraft or glider; and a flight shall be deemed to begin when the aircraft or glider takes off from rest at any point of support and…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 25m
EO 11261 Dec 11, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11261—Amending Executive Order No. 10973 of November 3, 1961, Providing for the Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 10973 of November 3, 1961, be, and it is hereby, amended by substituting for Section 304 thereof the following: "Sec. 304.. United States Information Agency.
Lyndon B. Johnson High School • 1m
EO 11260 Dec 11, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11260—Amending Executive Order No. 11185 Relating to Facilities Coordination of Federal Education Programs
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 11185 of October 16, 1964, entitled "To Facilitate Coordination of Federal Education Programs," be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: (1) By substituting for the text "Commissioner of Education (hereinafter referred to as the Commissioner)" in Section 1…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11262 Dec 13, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11262—Placing Additional Positions in Levels IV and V of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
By virtue of the authority vested in me by subsection (f) of section 303 of the Government Employees Salary Reform Act of 1964, and as President of the United States, Executive. Order No. 11248 of October 10, 1965, as amended, is further amended as follows: SECTION 1.
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 1m
EO 11258 Nov 17, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11258—Prevention, Control, and Abatement of Water Pollution by Federal Activities
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Policy. The heads of the departments, agencies, and establishments of the Executive Branch of the Government shall provide leadership in the nationwide effort to improve water quality through prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution from Federal Government…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 10m
EO 11263 Dec 20, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11263—Further Amending Executive Order No. 10713, Providing for Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The High Commissioner may appoint a Chief Executive who shall serve until a successor is elected by the legislative body. "(3) The incumbent Chief Executive at the end of the term of a legislative body shall continue in office until a successor takes office pursuant to either…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,259 (Dec. 3, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11259-amending-executive-order-no-11157-it-relates-incentive-pay-for.
