The National Research Council was created at the request of President Wilson in 1916 and perpetuated by Executive Order No. 2859, signed by President Wilson on May 11, 1918. In order to carry out to the fullest extent the intent of the above Executive Order there is hereby created a Science Advisory Board with authority, acting through the machinery and under the jurisdiction of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, to appoint committees to deal with specific problems in the various departments. The Science Advisory Board of the National Research Council will consist of the following members who are hereby appointed for a period of two years: Karl T. Compton, Chairman, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. W. W. Campbell, President, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. Isaiah Bowman, Chairman, National Research Council; Director, American Geographical Society, New York City. Gano Dunn, President, J. G. White Engineering Corporation, New York City. Frank B. Jewett, Vice-President, American Telephone and Telegraph Company; President, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York City. Charles F. Kettering, Vice-President, General Motors Corporation; President, General Motors Research Corporation, Detroit, Michigan. C. K. Leith, Professor of Geology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. John C. Merriam, President, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. R. A. Millikan, Director, Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics, and Chairman of the Executive Council, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, July 31, 1933.
Executive Order 6238 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 6238—Establishment of Science Advisory Board Under the National Research Council
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (238 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The National Research Council was created at the request of President Wilson in 1916 and perpetuated by Executive Order No. 2859, signed by President Wilson on May 11, 1918.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 31, 1933, this order concerns Establishment of Science Advisory Board Under the National Research Council. The National Research Council was created at the request of President Wilson in 1916 and perpetuated by Executive Order No. 2859, signed by President Wilson on May 11, 1918. In order to carry out to the fullest extent the intent of the above Executive Order there is hereby created a Science Advisory Board with authority, acting through the machinery and under the jurisdiction of the National Academy of Sciences and…
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
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The National Research Council was created at the request of President Wilson in 1916 and perpetuated by Executive Order No. 2859, signed by President Wilson on May 11, 1918.
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In order to carry out to the fullest extent the intent of the above Executive Order there is hereby created a Science Advisory Board with authority, acting through the machinery and under the jurisdiction of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, to appoint committees to deal with specific problems in the various departments.
▪
The Science Advisory Board of the National Research Council will consist of the following members who are hereby appointed for a period of two years: Karl T. Compton, Chairman, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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
26 / 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
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
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
238
1,691 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.2
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.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1934-05-28
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 2859 May 11, 1918
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 2859—National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The functions of the Council shall be as follows: (a) In general, to stimulate research in the mathematical, physical, and biological sciences, and in the application of these sciences to engineering, agriculture, medicine, and other useful arts, with the object of increasing…
Woodrow Wilson Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 6237 Jul 30, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6237-A—Vesting Certain Power and Authority in the Alien Property Custodian
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
I hereby make the following order, rule, and regulation: I hereby vest in the Alien Property Custodian, and in the event of his death, resignation, absence, or disability, in the General Counsel, and in the event of his death, resignation, absence, or disability during his…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6239 Aug 2, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6239—Organization of Executive Agencies
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Under the provisions of section 22 of Executive Order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, issued pursuant to section 16 of the act of March 3, 1933 (Public, No. 428, 47 Stat. 1517), the effective date for the abolition of the Federal Coordinating Service, as directed in section 17…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6241 Aug 3, 1933
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6241—Inspection of Tax Returns by Special Committee to Investigate Foreign and Domestic, Ocean and Air Mail Contracts, United States Senate
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Returns shall be open to inspection by the Special Committee to Investigate Foreign and Domestic, Ocean and Air Mail Contracts, appointed under Senate Resolution 349, Seventy-second Congress, such inspection to be in accordance and upon compliance with the rules and regulations…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6240 Aug 3, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6240—Central Statistical Board
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby designate Winfield W. Riefler as a member of the Central Statistical Board established by Executive Order Number 6225, dated July 27, 1933, and assign him as Economic Adviser to the Executive Council.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6237 Jul 28, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6237—Purchase of National Park Lands
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Whereas the area east of the Mississippi River authorized by the Act of Congress of May 22, 1926 (44 Stat. 616) to be established as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and yet to be completed, affords excellent opportunities for the employment of citizens of the eastern…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6238 (July 31, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6238-establishment-science-advisory-board-under-the-national-research.
