By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and particularly by Title VI of the Second War Powers Act, 1942 (Public Law 507, 77th Congress), as President of the United States, and in order to secure the use oi the resources of the country in the most effective manner for the successful prosecution of the war, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. In addition to the authority conferred upon the Chairman of the War Production Board and the heads of certain departments and agencies by Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, and Executive Order No. 9040 of January 24, 1942, such officials shall exercise in the manner provided in such Executive orders the authority conferred by Title VI of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, except that the determination described in paragraph 4 b (4) of Executive Order No. 8942 shall not be required. 2. Paragraph 4 b (4) of Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, is hereby revoked. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, April 17, 1942.
Executive Order 9138 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 9138—Providing Further for the Administration of the Requisitioning of Property Required for the Prosecution of the War
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (179 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
In addition to the authority conferred upon the Chairman of the War Production Board and the heads of certain departments and agencies by Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, and Executive Order No. 9040 of January 24, 1942, such officials shall exercise in the manner provided in such Executive orders the authority conferred by Title VI of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, except that the determination described in paragraph 4 b (4) of Executive Order No. 8942 shall not be required. 2.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 April 17, 1942, this order concerns Providing Further for the Administration of the Requisitioning of Property Required for the Prosecution of the War. In addition to the authority conferred upon the Chairman of the War Production Board and the heads of certain departments and agencies by Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, and Executive Order No. 9040 of January 24, 1942, such officials shall exercise in the manner provided in such Executive orders the authority conferred by Title VI of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, except that the determination…
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 authority conferred upon the Chairman of the War Production Board and the heads of certain departments and agencies by Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, and Executive Order No. 9040 of January 24, 1942, such officials shall exercise in the manner provided in such Executive orders the authority conferred by Title VI of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, except that the determination described in paragraph 4 b (4) of Executive Order No. 8942 shall not be required. 2.
▪
Paragraph 4 b (4) of Executive Order No. 8942 of November 19, 1941, is hereby revoked.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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
37 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
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
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
179
1,021 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.3
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
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 9040 Jan 24, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9040—Defining Additional Functions and Duties of the War Production Board
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
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.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 2m
EO 9141 Apr 18, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9141—Possession and Operation of Plants of Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , pursuant to the powers vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, as President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of the Navy…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 9139 Apr 18, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9139—Establishing the War Manpower Commission in the Executive Office of the President and Transferring and Coordinating Certain Functions to Facilitate the Mobilization and Utilization of Manpower
📜 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 Manpower Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 6m
EO 9137 Apr 16, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9137—Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department for Flood Control Purposes
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Subject to valid existing rights and to withdrawals and classifications for power purposes, the following-described public lands in Arkansas be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from all forms of appropriation tinder the public-land laws, including the mining laws, for use in…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
EO 9136 Apr 16, 1942
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9136—Modifying Executive Orders No. 1919½ of April 21, 1914, No. 2728 of October 8, 1917, and No. 3672 of May 8, 1922, and Reserving Public Lands for the Use of the War Department
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Orders No. 1919 ½ of April 21, 1914, No. 2728 of October 8, 1917, and No. 3672 of May 8, 1922, withdrawing certain lands for townsite purposes, are hereby modified to the extent necessary to permit the reservation described in Section 2 of this order. Section 2.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9138 (Apr. 17, 1942), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9138-providing-further-for-the-administration-the-requisitioning-property.
