By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and for the purpose of assuring the most effective prosecution of war procurement and production, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. In addition to the responsibilities and duties described in paragraph 2 of Executive Order No. 9024, of January 16, 1942, the Chairman of the War Production Board, with the advice and assistance of the members of the Board, shall: a. Perform the functions and exercise the powers heretofore vested in the Office of Production Management. b. Perform the functions and exercise the powers vested in the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board, by Executive Order No. 8942, of November 19, 1941. c. Perform the functions and exercise the authority vested in the President by Section 120 of the National Defense Act of 1916, (39 Stat. 213). 2. Paragraph 1 of said Executive Order No. 9024 of January 16, 1942, is amended to provide that the Lieutenant General in charge of War Department Production, and the Director of the Labor Division of the War Production Board shall be members of the War Production Board vice the Director General and Associate Director General of the Office of Production Management. 3. The Chairman of the War Production Board may exercise the powers, authority, and discretion conferred upon him by this or any other Order through such officials or agencies and in such manner as he may determine; and his decisions shall be final. 4. The Office of Production Management, established by Executive Order No. 8629 of January 7, 1941, is abolished and its personnel, records, property, and funds are transferred to the War Production Board. 5. Executive Order No. 8629, of January 7, 1941, is rescinded, and Executive Order No. 9024, of January 16, 1942, and any other Executive Orders the provisions of which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order, are amended accordingly. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, January 24, 1942.
Executive Order 9040 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 9040—Defining Additional Functions and Duties of the War Production Board
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (341 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
In addition to the responsibilities and duties described in paragraph 2 of Executive Order No. 9024, of January 16, 1942, the Chairman of the War Production Board, with the advice and assistance of the members of the Board, shall: a.
⚖️ 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 Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 January 24, 1942, this order concerns Defining Additional Functions and Duties of the War Production Board. In addition to the responsibilities and duties described in paragraph 2 of Executive Order No. 9024, of January 16, 1942, the Chairman of the War Production Board, with the advice and assistance of the members of the Board, shall: a. Perform the functions and exercise the powers heretofore vested in the Office of Production Management. b.
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
▪
In addition to the responsibilities and duties described in paragraph 2 of Executive Order No. 9024, of January 16, 1942, the Chairman of the War Production Board, with the advice and assistance of the members of the Board, shall: a.
▪
Paragraph 1 of said Executive Order No. 9024 of January 16, 1942, is amended to provide that the Lieutenant General in charge of War Department Production, and the Director of the Labor Division of the War Production Board shall be members of the War Production Board vice the Director General and Associate Director General of the Office of Production Management. 3.
▪
The Chairman of the War Production Board may exercise the powers, authority, and discretion conferred upon him by this or any other Order through such officials or agencies and in such manner as he may determine; and his decisions shall be final. 4.
▪
The Office of Production Management, established by Executive Order No. 8629 of January 7, 1941, is abolished and its personnel, records, property, and funds are transferred to the War Production Board. 5.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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
📐
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
50 / 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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
High Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
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
341
2,053 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.8
High School
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (5)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1943-01-04
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-12-05
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-05-02
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-04-17
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-04-07
Related Executive Orders
3 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 9024 Jan 16, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9024—Establishing the War Production Board in the Executive Office of the President and Defining Its Functions and Duties
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
There is established within the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President a War Production Board, hereinafter referred to as the Board.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 3m
EO 8942 Nov 19, 1941
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8942—Providing for the Administration of the Requisitioning of Property Required for National Defense
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Office of Production Management, in addition to the responsibilities and duties described in Executive Order No. 8629 of January 7, 1941, and Executive Order No. 8875 of August 28, 1941, shall, except as may otherwise be provided hereinafter, exercise the powers and…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 5m
EO 8629 Jan 7, 1941
⚖️⚠️ Zone 3 (Lowest Ebb) Friction (-0.19)
Executive Order 8629—Establishing the Office of Production Management in the Executive Office of the President and Defining Its Functions and Duties
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief / War Prerogative Tension
There shall be in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, an Office of Production Management which shall consist of (1) a Director General, and (2) an Associate Director General, each to be appointed by the President, (3) the Secretary of…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 5m
EO 9039 Jan 24, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9039—Authorizing Sick and Rest Leave for Alien Employees of the Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad Company
📜 Art. II §2: Diplomatic & Foreign Policy Prerogative
The Governor of The Panama Canal is hereby authorized to grant, under such regulations as he may prescribe, sick and rest leave to alien employees of The Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad Company who are not entitled to leave privileges under the conditions of employment…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 9038 Jan 24, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9038—Amending Executive Order No. 9017 of January 12, 1942, To Provide for the Appointment of Associate Members of the National War Labor Board
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 9017 of January 12, 1942, entitled "Establishment of the National War Labor Board", be, and it is hereby, amended so as to provide for the appointment of associate members of the National War Labor Board.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 9037 Jan 23, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9037—Exemption of Clarence E. Ingling From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby further exempt the said Clarence E. Ingling from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending April 30, 1943.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9040 (Jan. 24, 1942), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9040-defining-additional-functions-and-duties-the-war-production-board.
