By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 20 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 632, as amended by section 6 of the act of July 2, 1926, 44 Stat. 782, it is ordered that paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, prescribing regulations relating to aerial flights by personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard, be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: "12. A commanding officer shall suspend from flying any officer, warrant officer, or enlisted man under his command who, in his opinion, is unfit for flying, except as a result of an aviation accident. When the suspension is for a minor illness or injury not the result of an aviation accident, the suspension and subsequent revocation thereof may be ordered by the commanding officer of the person concerned without reference to higher authority. In all other cases such action shall be reported with the reasons therefor, for confirmation to the officer who issued the order requiring the person concerned to participate regularly and frequently in aerial flights. The confirmation of such action shall have the effect of suspending the order to participate regularly and frequently in aerial flights as to the person concerned from the date such suspension from flying was made. When any officer, warrant officer, or enlisted man so suspended from flying becomes, in the opinion of his commanding officer, again fit for flying, the commanding officer shall revoke his suspension from flying, and such action shall be reported with reasons therefor, for confirmation to the authority who confirmed the suspension from flying.. The confirmation of such revocation shall have the effect of terminating the suspension of the person concerned from the date of such revocation by his commanding officer: Provided , that in the case of suspension from flying by reason of sickness or injury incurred in line of duty and subsequent removal thereof, such suspension shall be considered as nullified from its beginning, and the person concerned shall be entitled to increased pay for flying provided the requirements of paragraph 10 above are complied with." FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, March 6, 1941.
Executive Order 8706 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 8706—Amending Paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, Prescribing Regulations Relating to Aerial Flights by Personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (371 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, prescribing regulations relating to aerial flights by personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard, be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: "12.
⚖️ 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
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 March 6, 1941, this order concerns Amending Paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, Prescribing Regulations Relating to Aerial Flights by Personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard. Paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, prescribing regulations relating to aerial flights by personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard, be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: "12.
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
▪
Paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 5865 of June 27, 1932, prescribing regulations relating to aerial flights by personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard, be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: "12.
▪
A commanding officer shall suspend from flying any officer, warrant officer, or enlisted man under his command who, in his opinion, is unfit for flying, except as a result of an aviation accident.
▪
When the suspension is for a minor illness or injury not the result of an aviation accident, the suspension and subsequent revocation thereof may be ordered by the commanding officer of the person concerned without reference to higher authority.
▪
In all other cases such action shall be reported with the reasons therefor, for confirmation to the officer who issued the order requiring the person concerned to participate regularly and frequently in aerial flights.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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
33 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
371
2,241 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.5
Post-Graduate Legal
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 • 1942-07-07
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 5865 Jun 27, 1932
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5865—Regulations Relating to Aerial Flights—Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 4610, approved March 10, 1927, as amended by Executive Order No. 4833, March 19, 1928, and by Executive Order No. 5001, November 23, 1928, is revoked effective July 1, 1932.
Herbert Hoover Post-Graduate Legal • 15m
EO 8705 Mar 5, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8705—Amending Certain Provisions of the Civil Service Rules
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Civil Service Rules are hereby amended as follows: Section 1 of Rule I is amended to read: 1. No interference with elections. —No person in the executive civil service shall use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or affecting…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 8704 Mar 4, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8704—Regulations Governing the Granting of Allowances for Quarters and Subsistence to Enlisted Men
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the granting of allowances for quarters and subsistence for enlisted men of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Public Health Service who are not furnished quarters or rations in kind…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 3m
EO 8703 Mar 4, 1941
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8703—Prescribing Regulations Governing the Exportation of Articles and Materials Designated in the President's Proclamation of March 4, 1941, Issued Pursuant to Section 6 of the Act of Congress Approved July 2, 1940, and Amending Regulations of January 15, 1941, Covering the Exportation of Certain Articles and Materials
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following additional regulations governing the exportation of the articles and materials named in my proclamation of March 4, 1941: 1.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 8702 Mar 4, 1941
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8702—Prescribing Regulations Governing the Exportation of Articles and Materials Designated in the President's Proclamation of March 4, 1941, Issued Pursuant to Section 6 of the Act of Congress Approved July 2, 1940, and Amending Regulations of January 15, 1941, Covering the Exportation of Certain Articles and Materials
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following additional regulations governing the exportation of the articles and materials named in my proclamation of March 4, 1941: 1.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 8701 Mar 4, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8701—Amendment of Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as Amended
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America , do hereby amend Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended, so as to extend all the provisions thereof to, and with respect to, property in which Bulgaria or any national thereof has at any time…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8706 (Mar. 6, 1941), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8706-amending-paragraph-12-executive-order-no-5865-june-27-1932.
