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Executive Order 13098 Revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 13098—Blocking Property of UNITA and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to UNITA

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Tuesday, August 18, 1998
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5 min read (1,015 words)
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63 Fed. Reg. 44771

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,015 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, of UNITA, or of those senior officials of UNITA, or adult members of their immediate families, who are designated pursuant to section 5 of this order, are hereby blocked.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President William J. Clinton on August 18, 1998, this order concerns Blocking Property of UNITA and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to UNITA. Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come…

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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Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, of UNITA, or of those senior officials of UNITA, or adult members of their immediate families, who are designated pursuant to section 5 of this order, are hereby blocked.

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Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

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The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including designating senior officials of UNITA and adult members of their immediate families for purposes of section 1 of this order, designating points of entry in Angola and areas of Angola to which State administration has not been extended for purposes of section 2 of this order, establishing exemptions from the prohibitions set forth in this order for medical and humanitarian purposes, and promulgating rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and UNPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order.

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All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order, including suspension or termination of licenses or other authorizations in effect as of the effective date of this order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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)
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"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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
62 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

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

High Friction

Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.

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 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%).
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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
1,015
6,242 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.23
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (7 sections)

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, in view of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1173 of June 12, 1998, and 1176 of June 24, 1998, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the national emer- gency declared in Executive Order 12865, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, hereby order:

Section 1. #sec-1

Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, of UNITA, or of those senior officials of UNITA, or adult members of their immediate families, who are designated pursuant to section 5 of this order, are hereby blocked.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Except to the extent provided in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding the existence of any rights or obligations conferred or imposed by any international agreement or any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order, the following are prohibited: (a) the direct or indirect importation into the United States of all diamonds exported from Angola on or after the effective date of this order that are not controlled through the Certificate of Origin regime of the Angola Government of Unity and National Reconciliation; (b) the sale or supply by United States persons or from the United States or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of equipment used in mining, regardless of origin, to the territory of Angola other than through a point of entry designated pursuant to section 5 of this order; (c) the sale or supply by United States persons or from the United States or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of motorized vehicles, watercraft, or spare parts for the foregoing, regardless of origin, to the territory of Angola other than through a point of entry designated pursuant to section 5 of this order; and (d) the sale or supply by United States persons or from the United States or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of mining services or ground or waterborne transportation services, regardless of origin, to persons in areas of Angola to which State administration has not been extended, as designated pursuant to section 5 of this order.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

For the purposes of this order: (a) the term "person" means an individual or entity; (b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, or other organization; (c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States; (d) the term "UNITA" includes: (i) the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA), known in English as the "National Union for the Total Independence of Angola;" (ii) the Forcas Armadas para a Liberacao de Angola (FALA), known in English as the "Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola;" and (iii) any person acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, including the Center for Democracy in Angola (CEDA); (e) the term "controlled through the Certificate of Origin regime of the Angolan Government of Unity and National Reconciliation" means accompanied by any documentation that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the United States Customs Service that the diamonds were legally exported from Angola with the approval of the Angolan Government of Unity and National Reconciliation.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including designating senior officials of UNITA and adult members of their immediate families for purposes of section 1 of this order, designating points of entry in Angola and areas of Angola to which State administration has not been extended for purposes of section 2 of this order, establishing exemptions from the prohibitions set forth in this order for medical and humanitarian purposes, and promulgating rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and UNPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order, including suspension or termination of licenses or other authorizations in effect as of the effective date of this order.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

Nothing contained in this order shall create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

(a) This order is effective at 12:01 a.m., eastern daylight time on August 19, 1998. (b) This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register. William J. Clinton The White House, August 18, 1998. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:39 a.m., August 19, 1998]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,098, 63 Fed. Reg. 44,771 (Aug. 18, 1998).