Executive Order 9637 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 9637—Medal for Merit

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Wednesday, October 3, 1945

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2 min read (335 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

This executive order, signed by President Harry S Truman on 1945-10-03, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Medal for Merit." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ 662, I hereby prescribe the following rules and regulations for the award of the decoration of the Medal for Merit, created by the said act: 1.

▪ The decoration of the Medal for Merit shall be awarded only by the President of the United States or at his direction.

▪ Awards of the Medal for Merit made to civilians of foreign nations shall be for the performance of an exceptionally meritorious or courageous act or acts in furtherance of the war efforts of the United Nations.

▪ There is hereby established the Medal for Merit Board, which shall be composed of three members appointed by the President, one of whom shall be designated by the President to act as Chairman of the Board.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Total Words

335

1,949 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

15.7

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9637, Harry S Truman (Oct 3, 1945). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9637-medal-for-merit.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 2 of the act of July 20, 1942, 56 Stat. 662, I hereby prescribe the following rules and regulations for the award of the decoration of the Medal for Merit, created by the said act: 1. The decoration of the Medal for Merit shall be awarded only by the President of the United States or at his direction. Awards of the Medal for Merit may be made to such civilians of the nations prosecuting the war under the joint declaration of the United States and of other friendly foreign nations as have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in the furtherance of the prosecution of the war since the proclamation of an emergency by the President on September 8, 1939. Awards of the Medal for Merit made to civilians of foreign nations shall be for the performance of an exceptionally meritorious or courageous act or acts in furtherance of the war efforts of the United Nations. 2. There is hereby established the Medal for Merit Board, which shall be composed of three members appointed by the President, one of whom shall be designated by the President to act as Chairman of the Board. 3. The Medal for Merit Board shall receive and consider proposals for the award of the decoration of the Medal for Merit and submit to the President the recommendations of the Board with respect thereto. In the case of proposed awards to civilians of foreign nations, such recommendations shall include the recommendations of the Secretary of State. 4. The Medal for Merit Board is authorized to prescribe, with the approval of the President, such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this order as may be necessary to accomplish its purposes. 5. Executive Order 9331 of April 19, 1943, and the Medal for Merit Board created thereby, are superseded by this order. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, October 3, 1945