★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 8185 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 8185—Administration of the Foreign Service Under Reorganization Plan No. II

•
Thursday, June 29, 1939
•
3 min read (569 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (569 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby prescribe the following regulations pertaining to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel: 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities

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 June 29, 1939, this order concerns Administration of the Foreign Service Under Reorganization Plan No. II. I hereby prescribe the following regulations pertaining to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel: 1. The officer of the Department of Commerce who shall be added to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) (5) of section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. II shall sit as a member of the Board only when nominations and assignments of…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪

I hereby prescribe the following regulations pertaining to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel: 1.

▪

The officer of the Department of Commerce who shall be added to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) (5) of section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. II shall sit as a member of the Board only when nominations and assignments of commercial attaches, the selection or assignment of Foreign Service officers for specialized training in commercial work, or other matters of interest to the Department of Commerce are under consideration; 2.

▪

The officer of the Department of Agriculture who shall be added to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) (5) of section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. II shall sit as a member of the Board only when nominations and assignments of agricultural attaches, the selection or assignment of Foreign Service officers for specialized training in agricultural work, or other matters of interest to the Department of Agriculture are under consideration. 3.

▪

The officers of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture who shall be designated as members of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel shall also be members of the School Board directing the Foreign Service Officers' Training School, as established and provided for by section 8 of Executive Order No. 5642 of June 8, 1931, which is hereby amended accordingly, and each shall sit as a member of the School Board when matters of interest to his respective Department shall be under consideration. 4.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
🏛️

The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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
36 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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
569
3,411 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.8
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Under the authority vested In me by the act of May 24, 1924, 43 Stat. 140, 144, the act of February 23, 1931, 46 Stat. 1207, 1211, and Reorganization Plan. No. II, transmitted by the President to the Congress (H. Doc. 288) on May 9, 1939, and by Public Resolution No. 20, 76th Congress, 1st Session, approved June 7, 1939, I hereby prescribe the following regulations pertaining to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel: 1. The officer of the Department of Commerce who shall be added to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) (5) of section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. II shall sit as a member of the Board only when nominations and assignments of commercial attaches, the selection or assignment of Foreign Service officers for specialized training in commercial work, or other matters of interest to the Department of Commerce are under consideration; 2. The officer of the Department of Agriculture who shall be added to the membership of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) (5) of section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. II shall sit as a member of the Board only when nominations and assignments of agricultural attaches, the selection or assignment of Foreign Service officers for specialized training in agricultural work, or other matters of interest to the Department of Agriculture are under consideration. 3. The officers of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture who shall be designated as members of the Board of Foreign Service Personnel shall also be members of the School Board directing the Foreign Service Officers' Training School, as established and provided for by section 8 of Executive Order No. 5642 of June 8, 1931, which is hereby amended accordingly, and each shall sit as a member of the School Board when matters of interest to his respective Department shall be under consideration. 4. With reference to the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service, the first paragraph of section 3 of the said Executive Order No. 5642 of June 8, 1931, is hereby amended to read as follows: "3. Examination for the Foreign Service . There is hereby constituted a Board of Examiners, which shall conduct examinations to determine the eligibility of candidates for the Foreign Service, composed as follows: Three Assistant Secretaries of State designated by the Secretary of State, an officer of the Department of Commerce designated by the Secretary of Commerce and acceptable to the Secretary of State, an officer of the Department of Agriculture designated by the Secretary of Agriculture and acceptable to the Secretary of State, the Chief of the Division of Foreign Service Personnel, and the Chief Examiner of the Civil Service Commission. "Any member of the Board may, when he deems it necessary, designate another officer of his Department to serve for him on the Board, provided such officer as may be designated to represent a member of the Board shall be acceptable to the Secretary of State and approved by him. "The rules for the conduct of examinations as established in subsections (a) to (k), inclusive, of section 3 of the said Executive Order No. 5642 of June 8, 1931, shall remain in full force and effect." This order shall become effective on July 1, 1939. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, June 29, 1939 .

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8185 (June 29, 1939), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8185-administration-the-foreign-service-under-reorganization-plan-no-ii.