By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of March 3, 1917, ch. 171, 39 Stat. 1132, and the Second Deficiency Act, Fiscal Year 1931, 46 Stat. 1552, 1570, and as President of the United States, the last paragraph of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, transferring certain lands in the Virgin Islands from the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for use in the establishment, construction, and operation of aviation facilities, is hereby amended to read as follows: There is hereby excepted from the operation of this transfer the east beach and bath-house fronting on Lindbergh Bay, this area to be described more particularly hereafter by survey to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The use of this excepted area during seaplane operation shall be governed by such regulations as may be issued by the officer of the Navy Department charged by the Secretary of the Navy with the establishment, control, and operation of the aviation facilities in the Virgin Islands. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 5, 1937.
Executive Order 7686 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 7686—Amendment of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, Transferring Certain Lands in the Virgin Islands to the Control and Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (195 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The last paragraph of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, transferring certain lands in the Virgin Islands from the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for use in the establishment, construction, and operation of aviation facilities, is hereby amended to read as follows: There is hereby excepted from the operation of this transfer the east beach and bath-house fronting on Lindbergh Bay, this area to be described more particularly hereafter by survey to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
⚖️ 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 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 August 5, 1937, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, Transferring Certain Lands in the Virgin Islands to the Control and Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. The last paragraph of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, transferring certain lands in the Virgin Islands from the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for use in the establishment, construction, and operation of aviation facilities, is hereby amended to read as follows: There is hereby excepted from the operation of this…
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 last paragraph of Executive Order No. 7302 of February 21, 1936, transferring certain lands in the Virgin Islands from the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for use in the establishment, construction, and operation of aviation facilities, is hereby amended to read as follows: There is hereby excepted from the operation of this transfer the east beach and bath-house fronting on Lindbergh Bay, this area to be described more particularly hereafter by survey to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
▪
The use of this excepted area during seaplane operation shall be governed by such regulations as may be issued by the officer of the Navy Department charged by the Secretary of the Navy with the establishment, control, and operation of the aviation facilities in the Virgin Islands.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ 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
"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
195
1,151 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 • 1938-01-12
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 7302 Feb 21, 1936
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.33)
Executive Order 7302—Transferring Certain Lands to the Control and Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy, Virgin Islands
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
All the lands designated on the plat marked "Exhibit A" attached hereto and made a part hereof, the exact boundaries of which are to be determined hereafter by survey to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, be, and they are hereby, subject to valid existing rights…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 7685 Aug 5, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7685—Revocation of Executive Order No. 4699 of August 1, 1927, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
CALIFORNIA By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, ch. 369, 37 Stat. 497, Executive Order No. 4699 of August 1, 1927, withdrawing public lands in California pending…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
EO 7684 Aug 5, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7684—Revocation of Executive Order No. 6288 of September 14, 1933, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
WYOMING By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, ch. 369, 37 Stat. 497, Executive Order No. 6288 of September 14, 1933, withdrawing public lands in Wyoming pending…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 1m
EO 7683 Aug 5, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7683—Revocation of Executive Order No. 6192 of July 3, 1933, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
CALIFORNIA By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, ch. 369, 37 Stat. 497, Executive Order No. 6192 of July 3, 1933, withdrawing public lands in California pending…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
EO 7688 Aug 10, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7688—Amendment of Executive Order No. 3206 of December 30, 1919, as Amended, Creating the Federal Board of Surveys and Maps
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 3206 of December 30, 1919, as amended, creating the Federal Board of Surveys and Maps, is hereby further amended by adding the Division of Maps and Charts, The National Archives, to the list of organizations entitled to membership on the said Board.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 7687 Aug 10, 1937
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7687—Extending the Provisions of the Civil Service Retirement Act to Certain Federal Employees on the Isthmus of Panama
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
The provisions of the said Act are hereby extended to apply to all federal employees on the Isthmus of Panama who are citizens of the United States and to whom the Canal Zone Retirement Act of March 2, 1931 (46 Stat. 1471, U.S.C., title 48, sec. 1371), does not apply and whose…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7686 (Aug. 5, 1937), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7686-amendment-executive-order-no-7302-february-21-1936-transferring.
