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Executive Order 9611 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.50) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9611—Reestablishing the Advisory Board on Just Compensation

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Monday, September 10, 1945
•
2 min read (366 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (366 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Board established by the said Executive Order 9387 is hereby re-established to serve for a period of time as may be required for the completion of its functions, for the limited purpose of establishing fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability for the guidance of the War Shipping Administration in determining the just compensation to be paid for all vessels requisitioned pursuant to the act of June 6, 1941, 55 Stat. 242. 2.

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Harry S Truman on September 10, 1945, this order concerns Reestablishing the Advisory Board on Just Compensation. The Board established by the said Executive Order 9387 is hereby re-established to serve for a period of time as may be required for the completion of its functions, for the limited purpose of establishing fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability for the guidance of the War Shipping Administration in determining the just compensation to be paid for all vessels requisitioned…

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

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The Board established by the said Executive Order 9387 is hereby re-established to serve for a period of time as may be required for the completion of its functions, for the limited purpose of establishing fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability for the guidance of the War Shipping Administration in determining the just compensation to be paid for all vessels requisitioned pursuant to the act of June 6, 1941, 55 Stat. 242. 2.

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The Board, as hereby re-established, shall consist of the following members: Judge John J. Parker, Judge Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr., and Justice Irwin Untermyer. 3.

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The Board, as re-established, shall have all the power and authority conferred upon it by Executive Order 9387, and the War shipping Administration shall furnish assistance to, and shall be guided by, the determination of the Board to the extent provided by the said Executive order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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
38 / 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

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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%).
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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
366
2,261 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.50
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
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Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS by Executive Order 9387 of October 15, 1943, the Advisory Board on Just Compensation (hereinafter referred to as the Board) was established in order, among other things, to establish fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability for the guidance of the War Shipping Administration in determining the just compensation to be paid for all vessels requisitioned, purchased, chartered, or insured by the Administration; and WHEREAS the members of the Board were authorized to serve for a period of three months or for such shorter period of time as might be required for the completion of its functions; and WHEREAS in completion of its functions, the Board by its report on December 7, 1943, to the Administrator, War Shipping Administration, established such fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability; and WHEREAS certain specific problems have arisen in determining just compensation to be paid for vessels requisitioned pursuant to the act of June 6, 1941, 55 Stat. 242:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes, and particularly by the First War Powers Act, 1941, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Board established by the said Executive Order 9387 is hereby re-established to serve for a period of time as may be required for the completion of its functions, for the limited purpose of establishing fair and equitable standards, rules, and formulae of general applicability for the guidance of the War Shipping Administration in determining the just compensation to be paid for all vessels requisitioned pursuant to the act of June 6, 1941, 55 Stat. 242. 2. The Board, as hereby re-established, shall consist of the following members: Judge John J. Parker, Judge Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr., and Justice Irwin Untermyer. 3. The Board, as re-established, shall have all the power and authority conferred upon it by Executive Order 9387, and the War shipping Administration shall furnish assistance to, and shall be guided by, the determination of the Board to the extent provided by the said Executive order. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

September 10, 1945

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

References Executive Order 9627—Amending Executive Order 9611 of September 10, 1945, Reestablishing the Advisory Board On Just Compensation
Harry S Truman • 1945-09-24
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9611 (Sept. 10, 1945), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9611-reestablishing-the-advisory-board-just-compensation.