By virtue of the authority conferred upon me by Public Resolution No. 96, 76th Congress, approved August 27, 1940, and the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended (39 Stat. 166), and as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, I hereby order into the active military service of the United States, effective October 15, 1940, the following units and members of the National Guard of the United States to serve in the active military service of the United States for a period of twelve consecutive months, unless sooner relieved: UNITS All Federally recognized elements of: 27th Division, less 27th Tank Company 37th Division, less 37th Tank Company and Companies F & I, 112th Medical Regiment 32nd Division, less 32nd Tank Company 102nd Observation Squadron 153rd Observation Squadron 107th Observation Squadron 295th Infantry 296th Infantry Hq. and Hq. Company, 92nd Infantry Brigade 1st Battalion, 253rd Coast Artillery (155mm Gun) 1st Battalion, 162nd Field Artillery (75mm Gun, Trk-d) 1st Battalion, 201st Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) 1st Battalion, 130th Engineers (Combat) 298th Infantry 299th Infantry MEMBERS All members, both active and inactive, of the units listed above. All persons so ordered into the active military service of the United States are, from the effective date of this order, relieved from duty in the National Guard of their respective States so long as they shall remain in the active military service of the United States, and during such time shall be subject to such laws and regulations for the government of the Army of the United States as may be applicable to members of the Army whose permanent retention in the active military service is not contemplated by law. Commissioned officers and warrant officers appointed in the National Guard of the United States and commissioned or holding warrants in the Army of the United States, and affected by this order, are hereby ordered to active duty under such appointments and commissions or warrants. All officers and warrant officers of the National Guard, appointed in the National Guard, who shall have been Federally recognized or examined and found qualified for Federal recognition, and shall have been assigned to units ordered to active duty under this order prior to the effective date hereof, who do not hold appointments in the National Guard of the United States in the same grade and arm or service in which they respectively have been most recently Federally recognized or have been most recently examined and found qualified for Federal recognition, are hereby tendered appointments in the National Guard of the United States in the same grade and arm or service in which they shall have been most recently Federally recognized or examined and found qualified for Federal recognition. Warrant officers and enlisted men of the National Guard who hold appointments as officers in the National Guard of the United States and commissions In the Army of the United States, and are assigned to units ordered to active duty under this order prior to the effective date hereof, are hereby ordered to active military service as commissioned officers of the Army of the United States under those appointments and commissions. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, September 25, 1940.
Executive Order 8551—Ordering Certain Units and Members of the National Guard of the United States Into the Active Military Service of the United States
Executive Brief • At a Glance
All persons so ordered into the active military service of the United States are, from the effective date of this order, relieved from duty in the National Guard of their respective States so long as they shall remain in the active military service of the United States, and during such time shall be subject to such laws and regulations for the government of the Army of the United States as may be applicable to members of the Army whose permanent retention in the active military service is not contemplated by law.
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 September 25, 1940, this order concerns Ordering Certain Units and Members of the National Guard of the United States Into the Active Military Service of the United States. Into the active military service of the United States, effective October 15, 1940, the following units and members of the National Guard of the United States to serve in the active military service of the United States for a period of twelve consecutive months, unless sooner relieved: UNITS All Federally recognized elements of: 27th Division, less 27th Tank Company 37th Division, less 37th Tank Company and…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
All persons so ordered into the active military service of the United States are, from the effective date of this order, relieved from duty in the National Guard of their respective States so long as they shall remain in the active military service of the United States, and during such time shall be subject to such laws and regulations for the government of the Army of the United States as may be applicable to members of the Army whose permanent retention in the active military service is not contemplated by law.
Commissioned officers and warrant officers appointed in the National Guard of the United States and commissioned or holding warrants in the Army of the United States, and affected by this order, are hereby ordered to active duty under such appointments and commissions or warrants.
All officers and warrant officers of the National Guard, appointed in the National Guard, who shall have been Federally recognized or examined and found qualified for Federal recognition, and shall have been assigned to units ordered to active duty under this order prior to the effective date hereof, who do not hold appointments in the National Guard of the United States in the same grade and arm or service in which they respectively have been most recently Federally recognized or have been most recently examined and found qualified for Federal recognition, are hereby tendered appointments in the National Guard of the United States in the same grade and arm or service in which they shall have been most recently Federally recognized or…
Warrant officers and enlisted men of the National Guard who hold appointments as officers in the National Guard of the United States and commissions In the Army of the United States, and are assigned to units ordered to active duty under this order prior to the effective date hereof, are hereby ordered to active military service as commissioned officers of the Army of the United States under those appointments and commissions.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8551 (Sept. 25, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8551-ordering-certain-units-and-members-the-national-guard-the-united.