By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of April 30, 1900, 31 Stat. 141, 159, as amended by section 7 of the act of May 27, 1910, 36 Stat. 443, 447, it is ordered that the following-described parcel of land situate in the City and County of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and comprising a part of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation, be, and it is hereby, restored to the Territory of Hawaii for its use in connection with the improvement of its highway system— reserving, however, to the United States tile right to construct on the said land a railroad from the Fort De Russy Military Reservation to the existing line of the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company: Beginning at an iron pin in the makai side of Kalakaua Avenue, which, pin is 294.6 feet north and 1,345.6 feet east of a copper bolt set in a concrete monument on the makai side of Kalia Road, and from which iron pin the azimuth (measured clockwise from true south) and distance to the center of a concrete culvert is 154°20', 84.4 feet. Thence from said initial point, by true azimuths and distances, as follows: 29°10', 1,154.0 feet, to a point on the mauka side of Kalia Road; 308°10', 40.5 feet, along Kalia Road to a point; 209°10', 1,135.0 feet, to a point on the makai side of Kalakaua Avenue; 151°30', 47.35 feet, along said Kalakaua Avenue, to the point of beginning. The tract as described contains an area of 45,780 square feet. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, July 15, 1937.
Executive Order 7658 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 7658—Restoring to the Territory of Hawaii a Portion of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (273 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The following-described parcel of land situate in the City and County of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and comprising a part of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation, be, and it is hereby, restored to the Territory of Hawaii for its use in connection with the improvement of its highway system— reserving, however, to the United States tile right to construct on the said land a railroad from the Fort De Russy Military Reservation to the existing line of the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company: Beginning at an iron pin in the makai side of Kalakaua Avenue, which, pin is 294.6 feet north and 1,345.6 feet east of a copper bolt set in a concrete monument on the makai side of Kalia Road, and from which iron pin the azimuth (measured…
⚖️ 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
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 15, 1937, this order concerns Restoring to the Territory of Hawaii a Portion of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation. The following-described parcel of land situate in the City and County of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and comprising a part of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation, be, and it is hereby, restored to the Territory of Hawaii for its use in connection with the improvement of its highway system— reserving, however, to the United States tile right to construct on the said land a railroad from the Fort De Russy…
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 parcel of land situate in the City and County of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, and comprising a part of the Fort De Russy Military Reservation, be, and it is hereby, restored to the Territory of Hawaii for its use in connection with the improvement of its highway system— reserving, however, to the United States tile right to construct on the said land a railroad from the Fort De Russy Military Reservation to the existing line of the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company: Beginning at an iron pin in the makai side of Kalakaua Avenue, which, pin is 294.6 feet north and 1,345.6 feet east of a copper bolt set in a concrete monument on the makai side of Kalia Road, and from which iron pin the azimuth (measured…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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
"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
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
273
1,510 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
10.1
High School
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.
Harry S Truman • 1947-07-15
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 7659 Jul 15, 1937
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7659—Exemption of Walter B. Luna From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Exempt Walter B. Luna from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until March 1, 1938.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7657 Jul 14, 1937
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7657—Exemption of George C. DeHart From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Exempt George C. DeHart from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until August 1, 1938.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7667 Jul 17, 1937
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7667—Exemption of William H. Griffin From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Exempt William H. Griffin from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until August 1, 1938.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7666 Jul 17, 1937
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7666—Exemption of Albert F. Woods From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Exempt Albert F. Woods from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until September 1, 1938.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7665 Jul 17, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7665—Correcting Description of Boundaries of Kawaihae Lighthouse Reservation
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The description of the boundaries of the Kawaihae Lighthouse Reservation be, and it is hereby, corrected to read as follows: Beginning at a point marked by a drill hole in the center of a cross on rock (+) at the north corner of the parcel of land, the coordinates of said point…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 3m
EO 7664 Jul 17, 1937
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7664—Modifying the Seney Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
All lands owned or controlled by the United States within the following-described area in Michigan, subject to any existing valid rights, are hereby included in and reserved as a part of the Seney Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, established by Executive Order No. 7246 of December…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 3m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7658 (July 15, 1937), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7658-restoring-the-territory-hawaii-portion-the-fort-de-russy-military.
