An application having been duly made, pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, for my approval of a Code of Fair Competition for the Cigarette, Snuff, Chewing, and Smoking Tobacco Manufacturing Industry; and hearings having been duly held thereon; and the annexed report on said Code, containing findings with respect thereto, having been made and directed to me: Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by said Title of said Act, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve said report and findings; incorporate the same herein by reference; find further that the approval of said Code will be in the public interest; and order that said Code of Fair Competition be and it hereby is approved. I further order that the Division of Research and Planning of the National Recovery Administration be and it hereby is directed to make a study of conditions in the Industry relating to wages and hours of labor of employees to determine the extent of the contribution made by the Industry toward reemployment and increased purchasing power, and submit its report thereon together with its recommendations with respect thereto to the National Industrial Recovery Board as soon as practicable in order that said Board may, after due notice and hearing, take such action in connection therewith as it may deem necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of said Title of said Act. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, Feb. 9th, 1935.
Executive Order 6969 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 6969—Code of Fair Competition for the Cigarette, Snuff, Chewing, and Smoking Tobacco Manufacturing Industry
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (264 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by said Title of said Act, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve said report and findings; incorporate the same herein by reference; find further that the approval of said Code will be in the public interest; and order that said Code of Fair Competition be and it hereby is approved.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 February 9, 1935, this order concerns Code of Fair Competition for the Cigarette, Snuff, Chewing, and Smoking Tobacco Manufacturing Industry. I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by said Title of said Act, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve said report and findings; incorporate the same herein by reference; find further that the approval of said Code will be in the public interest; and order that said Code of Fair Competition be and it hereby is approved.
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
▪
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by said Title of said Act, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve said report and findings; incorporate the same herein by reference; find further that the approval of said Code will be in the public interest; and order that said Code of Fair Competition be and it hereby is approved.
▪
I further order that the Division of Research and Planning of the National Recovery Administration be and it hereby is directed to make a study of conditions in the Industry relating to wages and hours of labor of employees to determine the extent of the contribution made by the Industry toward reemployment and increased purchasing power, and submit its report thereon together with its recommendations with respect thereto to the National Industrial Recovery Board as soon as practicable in order that said Board may, after due notice and hearing, take such action in connection therewith as it may deem necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of said Title of said Act.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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
30 / 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
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
264
1,593 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
29.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under sections 1 and 4 of title I of the act of March 20, 1933, 48 Stat. 8, 9 (Public No. 2, 73d Congress), and section 30 of the act of March 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 509, 525 (Public No. 141, 73d Congress), the following…
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby approve said amendment and modify my previous approval of the Code of Fair Competition for the Brewing Industry to include an approval of said Code in its entirety as hereby amended.
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6969 (Feb. 9, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6969-code-fair-competition-for-the-cigarette-snuff-chewing-and-smoking.
