★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 9366 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9366—Relating to the Operation and Disposition of Electric Energy at the Denison Dam, the Grand River Dam, and the Norfork Dam, in the States of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas

•
Friday, July 30, 1943
•
5 min read (1,056 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,056 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of the Interior is hereby designated as agent for the sale and distribution of electric power and energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the operation of that Project. 2.

⚖️ 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 Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

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 30, 1943, this order concerns Relating to the Operation and Disposition of Electric Energy at the Denison Dam, the Grand River Dam, and the Norfork Dam, in the States of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby designated as agent for the sale and distribution of electric power and energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the operation of that Project. 2.

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

▪

The Secretary of the Interior is hereby designated as agent for the sale and distribution of electric power and energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the operation of that Project. 2.

▪

The Denison Dam Project (including facilities for the generation of electric energy) shall be completed, maintained, and operated under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers, subject to the provisions of the Flood Control Act, approved June 28, 1938, as amended, and this order. 3.

▪

The Secretary of War shall (a) provide and maintain for the use of the Secretary of the Interior at the Denison Dam Project adequate station space and equipment, including such switches, switchboards, instruments, and dispatching facilities as may be required by the Secretary of the Interior for proper reception, handling, and dispatch of the electric energy generated at the Project, together with transformers and other equipment required by the Secretary of the Interior for the transmission of such energy from that place at suitable voltage to the markets which the Secretary of the Interior desires to serve; (b) deliver to the Secretary of the Interior the electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the…

▪

The Secretary of the Interior, acting for and on behalf of the United States, through such person or persons as he may designate, is hereby authorized and directed (a) to sell and dispose of electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project to war plants and establishments, public bodies and cooperatives, and other persons, in that order of preference, at such rates as may be approved by the Federal Power Commission; and (b) to construct such facilities and to make such other arrangements as he deems necessary to interconnect the Denison Dam Project with other utility systems in the area and interchange electric energy with and purchase electric energy from such systems, and to sell and distribute electric energy, in accordance with…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
🏛️

The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating 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

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

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
1,056
6,458 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
29.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Whereas the United States, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers of the War Department, is constructing the Denison Dam Project at Denison, Texas, for the purpose of improving navigation, regulating the flow of the Red River, controlling floods, and for other beneficial uses, and in connection therewith will install, operate, and maintain facilities for the generation of electric power and energy; and Whereas it is essential to the prosecution of the war, and in the interest of the public, that the electric power and energy to be generated at the Denison Dam Project be distributed and made available to war plants and establishments, public bodies and cooperatives, and other persons, in the order named, with the ultimate purpose of providing a dependable market for such power and energy; and Whereas it is essential that there be unified administrative control over the disposition of electric energy generated at this and other adjacent power projects under Federal control: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, particularly by section 16 of the Federal Power Act, Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941 (55 Stat. 838), and by Title III of the Second War Powers Act, 1942 (56 Stat. 176), and as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: I. 1. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby designated as agent for the sale and distribution of electric power and energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the operation of that Project. 2. The Denison Dam Project (including facilities for the generation of electric energy) shall be completed, maintained, and operated under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers, subject to the provisions of the Flood Control Act, approved June 28, 1938, as amended, and this order. 3. The Secretary of War shall (a) provide and maintain for the use of the Secretary of the Interior at the Denison Dam Project adequate station space and equipment, including such switches, switchboards, instruments, and dispatching facilities as may be required by the Secretary of the Interior for proper reception, handling, and dispatch of the electric energy generated at the Project, together with transformers and other equipment required by the Secretary of the Interior for the transmission of such energy from that place at suitable voltage to the markets which the Secretary of the Interior desires to serve; (b) deliver to the Secretary of the Interior the electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project and not required for the operation thereof; and (c) schedule the operations of the electric generating unit or units and appurtenant equipment of the Denison Dam Project in accordance with the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior, so far as those requirements are consistent with requirements for the storage or discharge of water for improving navigation, regulating the flow of the Red River, controlling floods, and for other beneficial uses. 4. The Secretary of the Interior, acting for and on behalf of the United States, through such person or persons as he may designate, is hereby authorized and directed (a) to sell and dispose of electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project to war plants and establishments, public bodies and cooperatives, and other persons, in that order of preference, at such rates as may be approved by the Federal Power Commission; and (b) to construct such facilities and to make such other arrangements as he deems necessary to interconnect the Denison Dam Project with other utility systems in the area and interchange electric energy with and purchase electric energy from such systems, and to sell and distribute electric energy, in accordance with the provisions of this order. 5. Being satisfied that the fulfilment of the military requirements of the United States will result in a shortage in the supply of copper and other materials and facilities for the transmission and distribution of electric energy required for the prosecution of the war, I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to allocate transmission and distribution lines and appurtenant facilities in the area for the purpose of transmitting and distributing electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project, to such extent as, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, will not substantially interfere with the other uses of such lines and facilities, and upon such terms as the owners thereof and the Secretary of the Interior may thereafter agree upon or, in the absence of such agreement, as may be fixed by the Federal Power Commission. 6. All receipts from the sale and disposition of the electric energy generated at the Denison Dam Project shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of "Miscellaneous Receipts". 7. The Secretary of the Interior may employ such personnel, without compliance with the requirements of the Civil Service Rules, and take such other steps, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Order. II. 1. Subject to the limitations and restrictions contained therein, all authority and power vested in the Federal Works Administrator by Executive Order No. 8944 of November 19, 1941 with respect to the Grand River Dam Authority, Vinita, Oklahoma, Project No. 1494 (Pensacola Project) are hereby transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, to be exercised through such person or persons as he may designate. 2. Subject to the limitations and restrictions contained therein, all authority and power vested in the Federal Works Administrator by Executive Order 9353 of June 19, 1943 with respect to the Norfork Project on the North Fork River in the White River Basin in the States of Arkansas and Missouri, are hereby transferred to the Secretary of the Interior to be exercised through such person or persons as he may designate. 3. All property, personnel, records, contracts, funds, and accounts used by the Federal Works Administrator in the administration of the functions transferred by this Order are hereby transferred to the Secretary of the Interior for use In the administration of such functions. This Order shall become effective September 1, 1943. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, July 30, 1943.

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9366 (July 30, 1943), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9366-relating-the-operation-and-disposition-electric-energy-the-denison.