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Executive Order 7697 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 7697—Interchange of Land Between the Army and the Navy at Bolling Field, District of Columbia

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Monday, August 23, 1937
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6 min read (1,246 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,246 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

That the above-mentioned portion of new Bolling Field be, and it is hereby, transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, and (2) that the description of such land and the above-mentioned land at Bolling Field, in the District of Columbia, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department by the said Executive Order No. 7215 shall be as follows: Beginning at a point in the outer face of seawall along the easterly bank of the Anacostia River from which point a brass plate set in top of seawall 1'9", measured at right angles from said outer face, and inscribed A point "G" P.W.D., N.A.S., ANA., D.C., 25 Feb. 1937, bears N. 76°21'20" E., 2.15 feet…

⚖️ 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 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 August 23, 1937, this order concerns Interchange of Land Between the Army and the Navy at Bolling Field, District of Columbia. That the above-mentioned portion of new Bolling Field be, and it is hereby, transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, and (2) that the description of such land and the above-mentioned land at Bolling Field, in the District of Columbia, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department by the said Executive Order No.…

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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That the above-mentioned portion of new Bolling Field be, and it is hereby, transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, and (2) that the description of such land and the above-mentioned land at Bolling Field, in the District of Columbia, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department by the said Executive Order No. 7215 shall be as follows: Beginning at a point in the outer face of seawall along the easterly bank of the Anacostia River from which point a brass plate set in top of seawall 1'9", measured at right angles from said outer face, and inscribed A point "G" P.W.D., N.A.S., ANA., D.C., 25 Feb. 1937, bears N. 76°21'20" E., 2.15 feet…

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That part of Bolling Field transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, more particularly described above, with the installations and facilities thereon, shall be vacated by the Army as soon as practicable after its new facilities on the adjoining area are sufficiently advanced to meet its requirements.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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
26 / 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

Low Friction

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

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
1,246
7,118 characters
Estimated Read Time
6 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
8.7
Grade 9
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Whereas by Executive Order No. 7215, dated October 26, 1935, that part of a tract of reclaimed land located at Anacostia, District of Columbia, more particularly described in the act of June 5, 1920, 41 Stat. 948, 954, as Bolling Field, Sections A and B, was transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, with the provision that the metes and bounds thereof should be determined and be acceptable to the Army and the Navy; and Whereas the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy have determined and agreed upon the boundary of the area so transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, and have also agreed that a small portion of new Bolling Field which lies outside of the boundary of Sections A and B, above referred to, should be transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department: Now, Therefore , by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of July 11, 1919, 41 Stat. 131, 132, and otherwise, and in the interest of the national defense, it is hereby ordered (1) that the above-mentioned portion of new Bolling Field be, and it is hereby, transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, and (2) that the description of such land and the above-mentioned land at Bolling Field, in the District of Columbia, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department by the said Executive Order No. 7215 shall be as follows: Beginning at a point in the outer face of seawall along the easterly bank of the Anacostia River from which point a brass plate set in top of seawall 1'9", measured at right angles from said outer face, and inscribed A point "G" P.W.D., N.A.S., ANA., D.C., 25 Feb. 1937, bears N. 76°21'20" E., 2.15 feet distant; from said point "G" the bearings to prominent landmarks are: To center line of tower Masonic Memorial to George Washington at Alexandria, Va., S. 40°57'20" W. To center of high radio tower at Arlington, Va., N. 69°18'40" W. To the right tangent of the right column on the portico of the Amphitheatre In Arlington National Cemetery, Va., N. 56°53'40" W. To the right tangent of the right column on the Lee Mansion In Arlington National Cemetery, Va., N. 52°14'40" W. To the center line of the Washington Monument, N. 17°08'40" W. To U.S. Engineer Department Triangulation Station "Wireless" (¼" brass pipe leaded into and located 1'9" from outer face of seawall) N. 22°08'20" E., 2,884.08 feet; Thence from said initial point by metes and bounds, along the outer face of said seawall the following 6 courses: N. 22°08'20" E., 2,931.24 feet, to a point; On a curve to the right, with a radius of 1,841.89 feet, 1,165.87 feet along the arc, the chord of which bears N. 40°16'20" E., 1,146.50 feet; N. 58°24'20" E., 1,245.40 feet, to a point; On a curve to the left, with a radius of 1,804.74 feet, 976.98 feet along the arc; the chord of which bears N. 42°54'05" E., 965.11 feet; N. 27°23'50" E., 2,306.62 feet, to a point; On a curve to the right with a radius of 693.37 feet, 394.92 feet along the arc, the chord of which bears N. 43°42'50" E., 389.60 feet, to a point from which a concrete monument bears S. 0°00'20" W., 50 feet, more or less; Thence along the lands of the District of Columbia, the following 4 courses: S. 0°00'20" W., 1,232.95 feet to a stone monument; S. 82°31'50" W., 63.70 feet to a concrete monument; S. 29°19'20" W., 184.07 feet to a concrete monument; S. 34°02'20" E., 115.00 feet to a concrete monument; Thence continuing along the lands of the District of Columbia, being the original high water line of the Anacostia River, the following 5 courses: S. 11°24'20" E., 407.33 feet to a stone monument; S. 4°21'30" E., 23021 feet to a stone monument; S. 6°35'10" W., 467.00 feet to a stone monument; S. 3°18'40" W., 510.50 feet to a stone monument; S. 3°37'40" W., 402.00 feet crossing the right of way of the Alexandria Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (66 feet wide) to a stone monument located 5 feet northerly from the north boundary wall of the St. Elizabeth's Hospital Reservation; Thence continuing along the original high water line of the Anacostia River, being also the westerly boundary of the said hospital, the following 18 courses: S. 14°51'10" W., 189.63 feet, to a point; S. 35°37'40" W., 166.23 feet, to a point; S. 64°11'00" W., 206.73 feet, to a point; N. 38°58'40" W., 111.74 feet, to a point; S. 49°44'40" W., 113.09 feet, to a point; S. 16°07'40" w., 234.67 feet, to a point; S. 33°50'20" W., 197.69 feet, to a point; S. 11°39'55" W., 470.65 feet, to a point; S. 8°12'35" E., 168.69 feet, to a point; S. 30°38'40" E., 118.83 feet, to a point; S. 6°24'55" E., 286.73 feet, to a point; S. 8°37'20" W., 168.31 feet, to a point; S. 22°16'50" W., 232.21 feet, to a point; S. 3°04'00" E., 67.41 feet, to a point; S. 75°33'00" W., 31.54 feet, to a point; S. 46°42'40" W., 162.37 feet, to a point; S. 11°11'25" W., 100.88 feet, to a point; S. 30°11'40" W., 235.73 feet, to a 6-lnch diameter sheet metal form filled with concrete with brass plate inscribed A Public Buildings and Public Parks; N. 52°04'00" W., 121.29 feet, along a brick wall to a stone pillar; On a curve to the right with a radius of 1,075.14 feet, 253.62 feet along the arc, the chord of which bears S. 21°24'29" W., 252.98 feet to a concrete monument, said curve being the easterly boundary of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company's right-of-way (66 feet wide); S. 57°49'30" W., 148.50 feet, recrosslng the said right-of-way to a point In the westerly boundary of same, from which the bearings to prominent landmarks are: To center line of tower Masonic Memorial to George Washington at Alexandria, Va., S. 48°03'20" W.; To center of high radio tower at Arlington, Va., N. 74°44'40" W. To the right tangent of the right column on the portico at the Amphitheatre in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., N. 64°10'40" W. To the right tangent of the right column on the Lee Mansion In Arlington National Cemetery, Va., N. 59°58'40" W. To the center line of the Washington Monument, N. 30°08'40" W. S. 76°21'20" W., 3,574.62 feet, to the point of beginning. The directions of the lines refer to the true meridian. The tract as described contains an area of 328.76 acres, more or less, including a right-of-way 66 feet wide of 5.15 acres, more or less, owned in fee by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and a 90-foot strip of land set aside for the public thoroughfare Firth-Sterling Avenue, by sec. 2, act of March 4, 1909, 35 Stat. 1062, under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia. That part of Bolling Field transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, more particularly described above, with the installations and facilities thereon, shall be vacated by the Army as soon as practicable after its new facilities on the adjoining area are sufficiently advanced to meet its requirements. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 23, 1937.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7697 (Aug. 23, 1937), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7697-interchange-land-between-the-army-and-the-navy-bolling-field-district.