Executive Order 7910 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 7910—Establishing an Airspace Reservation Over a Portion of the District of Columbia

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Thursday, June 16, 1938

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1 min read (184 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1938-06-16, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing an Airspace Reservation Over a Portion of the District of Columbia." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Establishing an Airspace Reservation Over a Portion of the District of Columbia.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

184

1,121 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

18.5

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7910, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jun 16, 1938). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7910-establishing-airspace-reservation-over-portion-the-district-columbia.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 4 of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 (44 Stat. 568, 570), the airspace above the following-described portion of the District of Columbia is hereby reserved and set apart for national defense and other governmental purposes, and for public safety purposes, as an airspace reservation within which civil aircraft are forbidden to be operated except by special permission of the Secretary of Commerce: All that area within the City of Washington, D.C., lying within the following-described boundary, together with all the area in the horizontal plane extending one-quarter of a mile outward from all points on such boundary: Beginning at Union Station, thence to the Capitol, thence to the Naval Hospital, thence to the Executive Mansion, and thence to Union Station, the point of beginning. Persons operating aircraft within this airspace reservation in violation of the provisions of this order or of the said Air Commerce Act of 1926 will be subject to the penalties prescribed by section 11 of that act. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, June 16, 1938.