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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 6493 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 6493—Restoring to the Territory of Hawaii for Highway Purposes a Portion of the Site of the Naval Radio Station, Wailupe, Honolulu, Oahu

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Tuesday, December 12, 1933
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3 min read (691 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (691 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The following-described parcels of land, heretofore transferred by executive order of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States for the use of the Navy, be, and the same are hereby, restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii: PARCEL I Being a portion of R.P. 3578, L.C.A. 10613, Ap. 3, to A. Paki, a portion of which is included in Governor's Executive Order No. 79.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities

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 December 12, 1933, this order concerns Restoring to the Territory of Hawaii for Highway Purposes a Portion of the Site of the Naval Radio Station, Wailupe, Honolulu, Oahu. The following-described parcels of land, heretofore transferred by executive order of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States for the use of the Navy, be, and the same are hereby, restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii: PARCEL I Being a portion of R.P. 3578, L.C.A. 10613, Ap. 3, to A. Paki, a portion of which is included in Governor's Executive Order No. 79.

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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The following-described parcels of land, heretofore transferred by executive order of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States for the use of the Navy, be, and the same are hereby, restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii: PARCEL I Being a portion of R.P. 3578, L.C.A. 10613, Ap. 3, to A. Paki, a portion of which is included in Governor's Executive Order No. 79.

▪

BEGINNING at a "copper pin" in concrete monument. at the southwest corner of this parcel of land, on the present north side of Kalanianole Highway, the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to a "+" in concrete monument on the boundary of Waialae-iki and Wailupe being 287.30 ft. north and 403.37 ft. west, and the coordinates of said "+" in concrete monument referred to Government survey triangulation station "Koko Head" being 4,250.0 ft. north and 19,002.60 ft. west, and running by azimuths measured clockwise from true south: 1. 169°48' 9.94 ft. along the west boundary of Governor's Executive Order No. 79; 2. 261°57'15" 151.59 ft. along the proposed north side of Kalanianaole Highway; 3. thence on a curve to the left along the…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"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

"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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
691
4,094 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
10
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

HAWAII Whereas the Territory of Hawaii is desirous of widening and improving certain portions of the Kalonianaole Highway from Kealaolu Arenue to Koko Head Park; and Whereas in order to complete the proposed project the Territory of Hawaii has requested that the hereinafter-described two parcels of land heretofore transferred by executive order of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States for the use of the Navy be restored to their previous status; and Whereas the widening and improving of the aforesaid road will better serve the interests of the Federal Government and the Territorial government; and Whereas the two parcels of land are no longer required for the purpose for which they were set apart for the uses of the Nary; Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of April 30, 1900 (ch. 339, 31 Stat. 141, 159), as amended by section 7 of the act of May 27, 1910 (ch. 258, 36 Stat. 443, 447), it is hereby ordered that the following-described parcels of land, heretofore transferred by executive order of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States for the use of the Navy, be, and the same are hereby, restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii: PARCEL I Being a portion of R.P. 3578, L.C.A. 10613, Ap. 3, to A. Paki, a portion of which is included in Governor's Executive Order No. 79. Situate on the north side of Kalanianaole Highway, at Waialae-iki, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. BEGINNING at a "copper pin" in concrete monument. at the southwest corner of this parcel of land, on the present north side of Kalanianole Highway, the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to a "+" in concrete monument on the boundary of Waialae-iki and Wailupe being 287.30 ft. north and 403.37 ft. west, and the coordinates of said "+" in concrete monument referred to Government survey triangulation station "Koko Head" being 4,250.0 ft. north and 19,002.60 ft. west, and running by azimuths measured clockwise from true south: 1. 169°48' 9.94 ft. along the west boundary of Governor's Executive Order No. 79; 2. 261°57'15" 151.59 ft. along the proposed north side of Kalanianaole Highway; 3. thence on a curve to the left along the proposed north side of Kalanianaole Highway with a radius 2,830.0 ft., the direct azimuth and distance being 260°26'33.5", 149.30 ft.; 4. 351°11' 25.89 ft. along the boundary of Waialae-iki and Wailupe; 5. 84°14'30" 301.05 ft. along the present north side of Kalanianaole Highway to the point of beginning: Area 4,989 sq. ft. PARCEL II Being a portion of R.P. 3578, L.CA. 10613, Ap. 3, to A. Paki, which is included in Governor's Executive Order No. 79. Situate on the south side of Kalaninnaole Highway at Wainlae-iki, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. BEGINNING at a "copper pin" in concrete monument at the northwest corner of this parcel of land, on the present south side of Kalaninnaole Highway, the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to a "+" in concrete monument on the boundary of Waialae-iki and Wailupe being 237.71 ft. north and 396.74 ft. west, and the coordinates of said "+" in concrete monument referred to Government survey triangulation station "Koko Head" being 4,250.0 ft. north and 19,002.60 ft. west, and running by azimuths measured clockwise from true south: 1. 264°14'30" 227.14 ft. along the present south side of Kulanianaole Highway; thence on a curve to the right along the proposed south side of Kalaninnaole Highway with a radius of 2,900.0 ft., the direct azimuth and distance being 81°12'34.7", 75.37 ft.; 2. thence on a curve to the right along the proposed south side of Kalanianaole Highway with a radius of 2,900.0 It., the direct azimuth and distance being 3. 81°57'15" 152.10 ft. along the proposed south side of Kalanianaole Highway to the west boundary of Governor's Executive Order No. 79; 4. 174°48' 10.05 ft. along the west boundary of Governor's Executive Order No. 79 to the point of beginning. Area 1,230.0 sq. ft. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, December 12, 1933.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6493 (Dec. 12, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6493-restoring-the-territory-hawaii-for-highway-purposes-portion-the-site.