By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 of the War Department Civil Appropriation Act, 1944 (Public Law 64, 78th Congress), section 7 of the Military Appropriation Act, 1944, and section 108 of the Naval Appropriation Act, 1944, relating to certain kinds of employment in the Canal Zone, and deeming such course to be in the public interest, I hereby suspend, from and including the respective effective dates of said acts, compliance with the provisions of the said sections during the continuance of any of the wars in which the United States is now engaged. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, July 1, 1943.
Executive Order 9359 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 9359—Suspending Certain Statutory Provisions Relating to Employment in the Canal Zone
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (107 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby suspend, from and including the respective effective dates of said acts, compliance with the provisions of the said sections during the continuance of any of the wars in which the United States is now engaged.
⚖️ 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 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 July 1, 1943, this order concerns Suspending Certain Statutory Provisions Relating to Employment in the Canal Zone. I hereby suspend, from and including the respective effective dates of said acts, compliance with the provisions of the said sections during the continuance of any of the wars in which the United States is now engaged.
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
▪
I hereby suspend, from and including the respective effective dates of said acts, compliance with the provisions of the said sections during the continuance of any of the wars in which the United States is now engaged.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ 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
41 / 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
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
High Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.
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
107
625 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 9358 Jul 1, 1943
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9358—Providing for the Functions of the Board of Legal Examiners
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Pending action by the Congress with respect to the continuance of the Board of Legal Examiners created in the Civil Service Commission by Executive Order No. 8743 of April 23, 1941 and until further order, the administration of the civil service laws in their application to…
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EO 9357 Jun 30, 1943
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Executive Order 9357—Transferring the Functions of the Public Works Administration to the Federal Works Administrator
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
All functions, powers, and duties of the Public Works Administration and of the Commissioner of Public Works, in the Federal Works Agency, together with all records, property (including office equipment, contracts, and other assets), and personnel of the Public Works…
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EO 9360 Jul 7, 1943
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9360—Suspension of Eight-hour Law as to Laborers and Mechanics Employed by the Department of the Interior on Public Works Within the United States
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby suspend for the duration of the emergencies proclaimed by me on September 8, 1939, and May 27, 1941, the above-mentioned provisions of law prohibiting more than eight hours of labor in any one day by laborers and mechanics employed by the Government of the United…
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EO 9356 Jun 24, 1943
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9356—Regulations Governing the Furnishing of Clothing in Kind or Payment of Cash Allowances in Lieu Thereof to Enlisted Personnel of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the furnishing of clothing in kind, or payment of cash allowances in lieu thereof, to enlisted personnel of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 6m
EO 9355 Jun 24, 1943
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9355—Amendment of Executive Order No. 9226 of August 19, 1942, Prescribing Regulations Governing the Furnishing of Clothing in Kind or Payment of Cash Allowances in Lieu Thereof to Enlisted Men of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve, is hereby amended to read as follows: "5. (a) Members of the Naval Reserve undergoing flight training leading to a commission shall be entitled to an issue of clothing in kind not to exceed $180 in value.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 9354 Jun 23, 1943
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 9354—Designating the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission as Member of the Economic Stabilization Board
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is hereby designated as an additional member of the Economic Stabilization Board established by section 2 of Title I of Executive Order 9250 of October 3, 1942, and the said order is amended accordingly.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9359 (July 1, 1943), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9359-suspending-certain-statutory-provisions-relating-employment-the-canal.
