By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1455 of title 10 of the United States Code (as added by section 1 of the act entitled "An Act To amend chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, to establish a Survivor Benefit Plan, and for other purposes"), section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION I. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation are hereby severally authorized and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification or other action of the President, the function vested in the President by section 1455 of title 10 of the United. States Code of prescribing regulations for the administration of subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10 of the United States Code. The regulations prescribed by any such Secretary shall relate only to the Department of which the Secretary is the head. However, the regulations prescribed by the Secretaries shall be uniform to the extent practicable, and, in order to achieve that purpose, the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation shall be issued only after consultation with the Secretary of Defense. SEC. 2. The regulations shall be in accordance with the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10 of the United States Code, shall be designed to achieve the uniform, equitable, and economical administration of that subchapter, and shall include, along with any other regulations deemed necessary, procedures for: (1) informing the member and his spouse (when required by section 1448 (a) of title 10 of the United States Code), before the date the member becomes entitled to retired or retainer pay, of the elections available and the effects of such elections; (2) submitting elections and claims; (3) depositing the amounts referred to in section 1452(d) of title 10 of the United States Code; and; (4) correcting administrative deficiencies in accordance with section 1454 of title 10 of the United States Code. SEC. 3. This order shall be effective as of the date of approval of the act entitled "An Act To amend chapter 73 of title 10 of the United States Code, to establish a Survivor Benefit Plan, and for other purposes." RICHARD NIXON The White House, October 11, 1972
Executive Order 11687 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11687—Delegating Functions Conferred Upon the President by Section 1455 of Title 10 of the United States Code, Establishing the Retired Serviceman's Survivor Benefit Plan
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (403 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation are hereby severally authorized and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification or other action of the President, the function vested in the President by section 1455 of title 10 of the United.
⚖️ 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 Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Public Health & Medical Institutions
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Richard Nixon on October 11, 1972, this order concerns Delegating Functions Conferred Upon the President by Section 1455 of Title 10 of the United States Code, Establishing the Retired Serviceman's Survivor Benefit Plan. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation are hereby severally authorized and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification or other action of the President, the function vested in the President by section 1455 of title 10 of the United.
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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The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation are hereby severally authorized and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification or other action of the President, the function vested in the President by section 1455 of title 10 of the United.
▪
States Code of prescribing regulations for the administration of subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10 of the United States Code.
▪
The regulations prescribed by any such Secretary shall relate only to the Department of which the Secretary is the head.
▪
However, the regulations prescribed by the Secretaries shall be uniform to the extent practicable, and, in order to achieve that purpose, the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary of Transportation shall be issued only after consultation with the Secretary of Defense.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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
📐
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
403
2,416 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Richard Nixon around this period.
EO 11686 Oct 7, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The heads of all executive departments and agencies shall take appropriate action to assure their ability to comply with the provisions of the act. SEC. 2.
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Executive Order 11685—Amending Executive Order No. 10973, Relating to Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions, and Executive Order No. 11501, Relating to Administration of Foreign Military Sales
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 10973 of November 3, 1961, as amended, is hereby amended as follows: 1. Section 101 is amended by redesignating clause (5) as clause (6) and inserting after the comma at the end of clause (4) a new clause (5), as follows: "(5) Section 8(d) of the Act of…
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The number of Navy and Marine Corps officers below the appropriate promotion zone who may be recommended as best fitted for promotion to the grade concerned, is hereby suspended until June 30, 1974."
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EO 11683 Aug 29, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 11677 of August 1, 1972, issued under the authority of the act of October 6, 1917, as amended (12 U.S.C. 95a), is hereby revoked, except that this revocation shall not affect any violation of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, and other forms of…
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EO 11682 Aug 29, 1972
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11682—Inspection by the Department of the Treasury of Tax Returns Made Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 for Economic Stabilization Purposes
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Returns described in section 6103 (a) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 shall be open to inspection by the Department of the Treasury as may be needed in the administration of the provisions of the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-379, 84 Stat. 799), as…
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11688—Amending Executive Order No. 11399 with Respect to the Membership of the National Council on Indian Opportunity
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 11399 of March 6, 1968, as amended by Executive Order No. 11551 of August 11, 1970, provides that the National Council on Indian Opportunity shall consist of the Vice President of the United States, who serves as the Chairman of the Council, the Attorney…
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,687 (Oct. 11, 1972), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11687-delegating-functions-conferred-upon-the-president-section-1455-title.
