WHEREAS, there exist certain labor disputes between employers (or associations by which such employers are represented in collective bargaining conferences) who are (1) steamship companies or who are engaged as operators or agents for ships engaged in service from or to Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports from Searsport, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, or from or to other ports of the United States or its territories or possessions, (2) contracting stevedores, (3) contracting marine carpenters, (4) lighterage operators, or (5) other employers engaged in related or associated pier activities and certain of their employees represented by the International Longshoremen's Association, AFL–CIO; and WHEREAS, such disputes have resulted in a threatened strike which if permitted to occur, will, in my opinion, affect a substantial part of the maritime industry, an industry engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States and with foreign nations, and which strike will, if permitted to occur, imperil the national health and safety. Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 206 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 1947 (61 Stat. 155; 29 U.S.C. 176), I hereby create a Board of Inquiry, consisting of: Honorable David L. Cole, as Chairman, Honorable Peter Seitz, and The Right Reverend Monsignor George G. Higgins, as Members, whom I hereby appoint to inquire into the issues involved in such disputes. The Board shall have powers and duties as set forth in Title II of such Act. The Board shall report to the President in accordance with the provisions of Section 206 of such Act on or before October 2, 1968. Upon the submission of its report, the Board shall continue in existence to perform such other functions as may be required under such Act. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House September 30, 1968
Executive Order 11431 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 11431—Creating a Board of Inquiry to Report on Certain Labor Disputes Affecting the Maritime Industry of the United States
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (298 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby create a Board of Inquiry, consisting of: Honorable David L. Cole, as Chairman, Honorable Peter Seitz, and The Right Reverend Monsignor George G. Higgins, as Members, whom I hereby appoint to inquire into the issues involved in such disputes.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 30, 1968, this order concerns Creating a Board of Inquiry to Report on Certain Labor Disputes Affecting the Maritime Industry of the United States. I hereby create a Board of Inquiry, consisting of: Honorable David L. Cole, as Chairman, Honorable Peter Seitz, and The Right Reverend Monsignor George G. Higgins, as Members, whom I hereby appoint to inquire into the issues involved in such disputes. The Board shall have powers and duties as set forth in Title II of such Act.
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 Inquiry, consisting of: Honorable David L. Cole, as Chairman, Honorable Peter Seitz, and The Right Reverend Monsignor George G. Higgins, as Members, whom I hereby appoint to inquire into the issues involved in such disputes.
▪
The Board shall have powers and duties as set forth in Title II of such Act.
▪
The Board shall report to the President in accordance with the provisions of Section 206 of such Act on or before October 2, 1968.
▪
Upon the submission of its report, the Board shall continue in existence to perform such other functions as may be required under such Act.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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
34 / 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
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
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
298
1,879 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.9
College Level
Text size:
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,431 (Sept. 30, 1968), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11431-creating-board-inquiry-report-certain-labor-disputes-affecting-the.
