Presidential Order Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order

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Friday, December 14, 1900

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1 min read (162 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

This executive order, signed by President William McKinley on 1900-12-14, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Executive Order." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ By virtue of the authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States of America, I hereby empower the Naval officer in command at the Island of Guam to act as Collector of Customs for said Island, with authority to appoint a deputy if necessary.

▪ In case the commandant shall make such appointment from civil life he shall require of the appointee good and sufficient security for the due performance of the duties of the office.

▪ Any authority heretofore exercised in the premises by the Naval Officer in command is hereby ratified as if said power to appoint had been conferred in said Executive Order of February 1, 1900.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises

Total Words

162

944 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

20.7

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order, "Executive Order," William McKinley (Dec 14, 1900). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-186.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States of America, I hereby empower the Naval officer in command at the Island of Guam to act as Collector of Customs for said Island, with authority to appoint a deputy if necessary. I further direct that any authority heretofore exercised under the direction of the commandant at said Naval Station in respect to the collection of customs be approved as if direct mention of such authority had been included in the Executive Order of February 1, 1900. In case the commandant shall make such appointment from civil life he shall require of the appointee good and sufficient security for the due performance of the duties of the office. Any authority heretofore exercised in the premises by the Naval Officer in command is hereby ratified as if said power to appoint had been conferred in said Executive Order of February 1, 1900. WILLIAM MCKINLEY