Executive Order 9679 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
Executive Order 9679—Amendment of Executive Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, Entitled "Providing for Representation of the United States in Preparing and Prosecuting Charges of Atrocities and War Crimes Against Leaders of the European Axis Powers and Their Principal Agents and Accessories"
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 1946-01-16, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Amendment of Executive Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, Entitled "Providing for Representation of the United States in Preparing and Prosecuting Charges of Atrocities and War Crimes Against Leaders of the European Axis Powers and Their Principal Agents and Accessories"." 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
▪By virtue of the authority vested in me as President and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, under the Constitution and statutes of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1.
▪9574 of May 2, 1945, as amended by this order, shall be vested in a Chief of Counsel for War Crimes to be appointed by the United States Military Governor for Germany or by his successor.
▪9574 of May 2, 1945, is amended accordingly.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
Total Words
325
1,922 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.5
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9679, Harry S Truman (Jan 16, 1946). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9679-amendment-executive-order-no-9547-may-2-1945-entitled-providing-for.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, under the Constitution and statutes of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1. In addition to the authority vested in the Representative of the United States and its Chief of Counsel by Paragraph 1 of Executive Order No. 9547 of May 2, 1945, to prepare and prosecute charges of atrocities and war crimes against such of the leaders of the European Axis powers and their accessories as the United States may agree with any of the United Nations to bring to trial before an international military tribunal, such Representative and Chief of Counsel shall have the authority to proceed before United States military or occupation tribunals, in proper cases, against other Axis adherents, including but not limited to cases against members of groups and organizations declared criminal by the said international military tribunal. 2. The present Representative and Chief of Counsel is authorized to designate a Deputy Chief of Counsel, to whom he may assign responsibility for organizing and planning the prosecution of charges of atrocities and war crimes, other than those now being prosecuted as Case. No. 1 in the international military tribunal, and, as he may be directed by the Chief of Counsel, for conducting the prosecution of such charges of atrocities and war crimes. 3. Upon vacation of office by the present Representative and Chief of Counsel, the functions, duties, and powers of the Representative of the United States and its Chief of Counsel, as specified in the said Executive Order No. 9574 of May 2, 1945, as amended by this order, shall be vested in a Chief of Counsel for War Crimes to be appointed by the United States Military Governor for Germany or by his successor. 4. The said Executive Order No. 9574 of May 2, 1945, is amended accordingly. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, January 16, 1946
