Executive Order 2042 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 2042—Taking Over High-Power Radio Station for Use of the Government

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Saturday, September 5, 1914

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1 min read (228 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 Woodrow Wilson on 1914-09-05, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Taking Over High-Power Radio Station for Use of the Government." 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

▪ The enforcement of this order and the preparation of regulations therefor is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Navy, who is authorized and directed to take such action in the premises as to him may appear necessary.

▪ This order shall take effect from and after this date.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Total Words

228

1,367 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

27.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 2042, Woodrow Wilson (Sep 5, 1914). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-2042-taking-over-high-power-radio-station-for-use-the-government.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

Whereas an order has been issued by me, dated August 5, 1914, declaring that all radio stations within the jurisdiction of the United States of America were prohibited from transmitting or receiving for delivery messages of an unneutral nature and from in any way rendering to any one of the belligerents any unneutral service; and Whereas it is desirable to take precautions to insure the enforcement of said order insofar as it relates to the transmission of code and cipher messages by high-powered stations capable of trans-Atlantic communication; Now, Therefore, it is ordered by virtue of authority vested in me by the radio Act of August 13, 1912, that one or more of the highpowered radio stations within the jurisdiction of the United States and capable of trans-Atlantic communication shall be taken over by the Government of the United States and used or controlled by it to the exclusion of any other control or use for the purpose of carrying on communication with land stations in Europe, including code and cipher messages. The enforcement of this order and the preparation of regulations therefor is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Navy, who is authorized and directed to take such action in the premises as to him may appear necessary. This order shall take effect from and after this date. WOODROW WILSON THE WHITE HOUSE, September 5, 1914.