WHEREAS disputes exist between the carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, designated in List A attached hereto and made a part hereof, and certain of their employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, a labor organization; and WHEREAS these disputes have not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended; and WHEREAS these disputes, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive 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 these disputes. 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 disputes 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 carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the disputes arose. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House January 13, 1969 LIST A EASTERN RAILROADS Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Baltimore and Eastern Railroad Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (including former BR&P territory and Toledo Division Engineers) Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad Company Boston and Maine Corporation Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Central Vermont Railway, Inc. Chicago River & Indiana Railroad Cleveland Union Terminals Company Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corporation Detroit Terminal Railroad Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Erie Lackawanna Railroad Company Grand Trunk Western Railroad Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Indianapolis Union Railway Company Lehigh Valley Railroad Monongahela Railway Monon Railroad New York Dock Railway New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Norfolk and Western Railway Company (Lines of former New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company and lines of former Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway Company) Penn Central Company Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad (Including Lake Erie and Eastern Railroad) Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Reading Company Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company Toledo Terminal Railroad Company Youngstown and Southern Railway WESTERN RAILROADS Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company Belt Railway Company of Chicago Camas Prairie Railroad Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Chicago and North Western Railway Company Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company Colorado and Southern Railway Company Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company Fort Worth and Denver Railway Company Great Northern Railway Company Illinois Central Railroad Company Joint Texas Division of CRI&P–FW&D Kansas City Southern Railway Company King Street Passenger Station Louisiana & Arkansas Railway Company Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company Missouri Pacific Railroad Company Missouri Pacific Railroad Company (Gulf District) Minnesota Transfer Railway Company New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal Norfolk and Western Railway (Lines formerly operated by Wabash Railroad Company) Northern Pacific Railway Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company Ogden Union Railway and Depot Company Oregon, California & Eastern Railway Company Portland Terminal Railroad Company St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company (Except NEO District) St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway Company Soo Line Railroad South Omaha Terminal Railway Company Southern Pacific Company Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company (System Lines) Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Texas and Pacific Railway Company Abilene and Southern Railway Company Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Company Texas-New Mexico Railway Company Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwestern Railway Company Texas Mexican Railway Company Union Pacific Railroad Warren and Ouachita Valley Railway Company Western Pacific Railroad Company NOTES:1—Includes notice dated March 1, 1968, served by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers on the carrier of desire to revise the current rates of pay for locomotive engineers applicable to miles in excess of 100 to the extent that the rates presently applicable to those miles constituting a basic day will also be applied to all miles in excess of 100. 2—Includes Former El Paso and Southwestern System Engineers; Texas and Louisiana Lines Engineers; Former Pacific Electric Engineers and Firemen; Nogales, Arizona, Yard Engineers. SOUTHEASTERN RAILROADS Atlanta and West Point Rail Road Company The Western Railway of Alabama Atlanta Joint Terminals Central of Georgia Railway Company Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company Clinchfield Railroad Company Georgia Railroad Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Jacksonville Terminal Company Louisville and Nashville Railroad Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Norfolk and Western Railway Company (Atlantic and Pocahontas Region) Norfolk Southern Railway Company Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Southern Railway Company Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Company Harriman and Northeastern Railroad Company Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad Company New Orleans Terminal Company St. Johns River Terminal Company Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks
Executive Order 11444 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Executive Order 11444—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 4 min read (868 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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 January 13, 1969, this order concerns Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees. I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes. 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 disputes within thirty days from the date of this order.
Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes.
▪
The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the disputes 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 carriers represented by the National Railway Labor Conference, or by their employees, in the conditions out of which the disputes arose.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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 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
"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: Supportive of Execution
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)
Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.
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.
🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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%).
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
868
6,078 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
30.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Lyndon B. Johnson around this period.
EO 11445 Jan 13, 1969
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11445—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes. No member of the board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.
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EO 11443 Jan 13, 1969
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11443—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes. No member of the Board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.
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EO 11448 Amended Jan 16, 1969
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11448—Establishing the Meritorious Service Medal
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
There is hereby established a Meritorious Service Medal, with accompanying ribbons and appurtenances, for award by the Secretary of a military department or the Secretary of Transportation with regard to the Coast Guard when not operating as a service in the Navy, or by such…
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EO 11447 Jan 16, 1969
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11447—Interagency Advisory Committee on Compensation for Motor Vehicle Accident Losses
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The following are hereby appointed to the Interagency Advisory Committee on Compensation for Motor Vehicle Losses: Secretary of Transportation, Chairman Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Defense Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary of Housing and Urban…
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EO 11446 Amended Jan 16, 1969
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11446—Authorizing the Acceptance of Service Medals and Ribbons From Multilateral Organizations Other Than the United Nations
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, with respect to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the Secretary of Transportation, with respect to members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to prescribe regulations for…
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EO 11449 Jan 17, 1969
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11449—Participation in the International Coffee Organization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Secretary of State. Subject to the provisions of this order, the powers of the President involved in the participation of the United States of America in the Agreement, including so much of the functions conferred upon the President by the Act as is neither reserved nor…
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,444 (Jan. 13, 1969), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11444-creating-emergency-board-investigate-disputes-between-the-carriers.
