AWARDS FOR SPECIAL CAPABILITY IN' THE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS AND IN CREATIVE WRITING By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11155 is hereby amended by adding thereto the following paragraph: "(5) In addition to the Presidential Scholars provided for in paragraphs (3) and (4) above, the Commission may choose other Presidential Scholars not exceeding twenty in any one year. These Scholars shall be chosen at large, from the jurisdictions referred to in paragraph (3), on the basis of outstanding scholarship and demonstrated ability and accomplishment in the visual and performing arts or in creative writing.". JIMMY CARTER The White House, September 18, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:48 a.m., September 19, 1979]
Executive Order 12158 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 12158—Presidential Scholars
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (135 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
These Scholars shall be chosen at large, from the jurisdictions referred to in paragraph (3), on the basis of outstanding scholarship and demonstrated ability and accomplishment in the visual and performing arts or in creative writing.".
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Jimmy Carter on September 18, 1979, this order concerns Presidential Scholars. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11155 is hereby amended by adding thereto the following paragraph: "(5) In addition to the Presidential Scholars provided for in paragraphs (3) and (4) above, the Commission may choose other Presidential Scholars not exceeding twenty in any one year.
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
▪
These Scholars shall be chosen at large, from the jurisdictions referred to in paragraph (3), on the basis of outstanding scholarship and demonstrated ability and accomplishment in the visual and performing arts or in creative writing.".
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
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
35 / 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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
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
135
849 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.1
College Level
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Barack Obama • 2015-06-22
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11155 Amended May 23, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11155—Providing for the Recognition of Certain Students as Presidential Scholars
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There is hereby established the Commission on Presidential Scholars (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). The Commission shall be composed of such members as the President may appoint from time to time from among appropriately qualified citizens of the United States.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 12159 Sep 20, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12159—Emergency Board To Investigate a Railway Labor Dispute
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
1-101. Establishment of Board. There is established a board of three members to be appointed by the President to investigate these disputes. No member of the board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier. 1-102.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 12157 Sep 14, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 12157—President's Management Improvement Council
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
1-1. Establishment of the Council. 1-101. There is hereby established the President's Management Improvement Council. 1-102. The Council shall be Co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 12160 Amended Sep 26, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12160—Federal Consumer Programs
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-1. Establishment of the Consumer Affairs Council. 1-101. There is hereby established the Consumer Affairs Council (hereinafter referred to as the "Council"). 1-102.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 7m
EO 12156 Sep 10, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12156—Federal Emergency Management Agency; Department of Energy
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
1-101. Section 5-211 of Executive Order No. 12148 of July 20, 1979, is corrected and amended to read: "Section 1-102 of Executive Order No. 12083, as amended by Executive Order No. 12121, is further amended by adding in alphabetical order "(z) The Director of the Federal…
Jimmy Carter College Level • 1m
EO 12155 Sep 10, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12155—Strategic and Critical Materials
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Effective July 30, 1979, as follows: 1-101. The functions vested in the President by Section 3 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, as amended, hereinafter referred to as the Act, (50 U.S.C. 98b), are delegated to the Director of the Federal Emergency…
Jimmy Carter High School • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,158 (Sept. 18, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12158-presidential-scholars.
