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Executive Order 11326 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11326—Providing for the Regulation of Air Transportation in the Ryukyu Islands

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Monday, February 13, 1967
•
2 min read (397 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (397 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

As used in this order, (a) "Ryukyu Islands" means the territory, including territorial waters and overlying airspace, to which Executive Order No. 10713 of June 5, 1957, as amended, applies.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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 February 13, 1967, this order concerns Providing for the Regulation of Air Transportation in the Ryukyu Islands. As used in this order, (a) "Ryukyu Islands" means the territory, including territorial waters and overlying airspace, to which Executive Order No. 10713 of June 5, 1957, as amended, applies. (b) "Act" means the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 731, 49 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), as amended. (c) "Board" means the Civil Aeronautics Board. (d) "High Commissioner" means the High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands.

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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As used in this order, (a) "Ryukyu Islands" means the territory, including territorial waters and overlying airspace, to which Executive Order No. 10713 of June 5, 1957, as amended, applies.

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"Act" means the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 731, 49 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), as amended.

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The provisions of Titles IV, VIII, IX, X, and Section 1108 (b) of the Act, together with the related definitions in Section 101 thereof, are extended to the Ryukyu Islands insofar as applicable to the economic regulation by the Board of civil air transportation originating in the Ryukyu Islands and terminating elsewhere, or terminating in the Ryukyu Islands and originating elsewhere, or transiting the Ryukyu Islands.

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The provisions of Title VII of the Act are extended to the Ryukyu Islands for all purposes.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation 🏷️ National Security & Defense
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
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

High Friction

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

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
397
2,422 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.7
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.33
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including Section 1110 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 800, 49 U.S.C. 1510), and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, and having determined that such action would be in the national interest, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. As used in this order, (a) "Ryukyu Islands" means the territory, including territorial waters and overlying airspace, to which Executive Order No. 10713 of June 5, 1957, as amended, applies. (b) "Act" means the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 731, 49 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), as amended. (c) "Board" means the Civil Aeronautics Board. (d) "High Commissioner" means the High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands. SEC. 2. The provisions of Titles IV, VIII, IX, X, and Section 1108 (b) of the Act, together with the related definitions in Section 101 thereof, are extended to the Ryukyu Islands insofar as applicable to the economic regulation by the Board of civil air transportation originating in the Ryukyu Islands and terminating elsewhere, or terminating in the Ryukyu Islands and originating elsewhere, or transiting the Ryukyu Islands. SEC. 3. The provisions of Title VII of the Act are extended to the Ryukyu Islands for all purposes. SEC. 4. Before taking action on any application filed pursuant to the Act as extended by this order, the Board shall obtain and consider the views of the High Commissioner concerning such application. The High Commissioner shall promptly provide such views to the Board on request. SEC. 5. All presently outstanding orders, authorizations, and regulations applicable to the Ryukyu Islands, heretofore entered by the Board under the Act or by a predecessor agency under the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 973), are hereby ratified and confirmed. SEC. 6. The High Commissioner shall control and regulate aviation within the Ryukyu Islands except as provided in Sections 2 and 3. The Board and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency shall furnish the High Commissioner such technical advice and assistance, pursuant to interagency agreement, as he shall require to carry out this responsibility. SEC. 7. The Ryukyu Islands are removed from the applicability of Executive Order No. 10854 of November 27, 1959. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House February 13, 1967

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

Amends Executive Order 11382—Amendment of Executive Orders Relating to Functions of the Department of Transportation
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1967-11-28
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,326 (Feb. 13, 1967), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11326-providing-for-the-regulation-air-transportation-the-ryukyu-islands.