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Executive Order 9758 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9758—Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to Take Possession of and to Operate Certain Coal Mines

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, July 19, 1946
•
4 min read (826 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (826 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to take possession of any and all of the said mines of the Carter Coal Company and, to the extent that he deems necessary, of any real or personal property, franchises, rights, facilities, funds, and other assets used in connection with the operation of such mines in such manner as he may deem necessary in the interest of the war effort; and to do all things necessary for, or incidental to, the production, sale, and distribution of the coal produced, prepared, or handled by said mines. 2.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 July 19, 1946, this order concerns Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to Take Possession of and to Operate Certain Coal Mines. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to take possession of any and all of the said mines of the Carter Coal Company and, to the extent that he deems necessary, of any real or personal property, franchises, rights, facilities, funds, and other assets used in connection with the operation of such mines in such manner as he may deem necessary in the interest of the war effort; and to do all things…

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 Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to take possession of any and all of the said mines of the Carter Coal Company and, to the extent that he deems necessary, of any real or personal property, franchises, rights, facilities, funds, and other assets used in connection with the operation of such mines in such manner as he may deem necessary in the interest of the war effort; and to do all things necessary for, or incidental to, the production, sale, and distribution of the coal produced, prepared, or handled by said mines. 2.

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The Secretary of the Interior shall operate the said mines in accordance with such terms and conditions of employment as are in effect at the time of possession thereof is taken subject to the provisions of section 5 of the War Labor Disputes Act. 3.

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Subject to the national wage and price stabilization policies as determined by the National Wage Stabilization Board and the Economic Stabilization Director, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the War Labor Disputes Act, following such negotiations as he may deem necessary with the duly constituted representatives of the employees, to apply to the National Wage Stabilization Board for appropriate changes in the terms and conditions of employment for the period of the operation of the said mines by the Government. 4.

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In carrying out this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall act through or with the aid of such public or private instrumentalities or persons as he may designate.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Labor & Employment 🏷️ Energy & Environment 🏷️ 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 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
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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
48 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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%).
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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
826
4,919 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS the Secretary of the Interior on May 22, 1946, pursuant to Executive Order No. 9728 issued by me on May 21, 1946, took possession of certain bituminous coal mines, including the mines of the Carter Coal Company located in McDowell County, West Virginia; and WHEREAS the effectiveness of Government possession and control of said mines of the Carter Coal Company has been questioned because of the issuance by the Deputy Coal Mines Administrator of Order No.CMAN T-4,3 which, as of June 3, 1946, terminated Government possession and control of certain coal mines; and WHEREAS after investigation I find and proclaim that there are interruptions or threatened interruptions in the said coal mines of the Carter Coal Company as a result of existing or threatened strikes and other labor disturbances; that the coal produced by such mines in required for the war effort and is necessary for the continued operation of the national economy during the transition from war to peace; that the war effort will be unduly impeded or delayed by such interruptions; and that the exercise, as hereinafter specified, of the powers vested in me is necessary to insure the operation of such mines in the interest of the war effort and to preserve the national economic structure in the present emergency:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including section 9 of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 892) as amended by the War Labor Disputes Act (57 Stat. 163), as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United State, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to take possession of any and all of the said mines of the Carter Coal Company and, to the extent that he deems necessary, of any real or personal property, franchises, rights, facilities, funds, and other assets used in connection with the operation of such mines in such manner as he may deem necessary in the interest of the war effort; and to do all things necessary for, or incidental to, the production, sale, and distribution of the coal produced, prepared, or handled by said mines. 2. The Secretary of the Interior shall operate the said mines in accordance with such terms and conditions of employment as are in effect at the time of possession thereof is taken subject to the provisions of section 5 of the War Labor Disputes Act. 3. Subject to the national wage and price stabilization policies as determined by the National Wage Stabilization Board and the Economic Stabilization Director, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of the War Labor Disputes Act, following such negotiations as he may deem necessary with the duly constituted representatives of the employees, to apply to the National Wage Stabilization Board for appropriate changes in the terms and conditions of employment for the period of the operation of the said mines by the Government. 4. In carrying out this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall act through or with the aid of such public or private instrumentalities or persons as he may designate. All federal agencies are directed to cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior to the fullest extent possible in carrying out the purposes of this order. 5. The Secretary of the Interior shall make employment available and provide protection to all employees working at such mines and to all persons seeking employment so far as they may be needed; and upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of War shall take such action, if any, as he may deem necessary or desirable to provide protection to all such persons and mines. 6. The Secretary of the Interior shall permit the managements of the mines taken under the provisions of this order to continue with their managerial function to the maximum degree possible consistent with the aims of this order. 7. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to maintain customary working conditions in the mines and customary procedures for the adjustment of workers' grievances. He shall recognized the right of the workers to continue their membership in any labor organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to en gage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, provided that such concerted activities do not interfere with the operation of the mines. 8. Possession of any mine or mines taken under this order shall be terminated by the Secretary of the Interior as soon as practicable, but in no event more sixty days after the restoration of the productive efficiency of any such mine or mines prevailing prior to the taking of possession thereof. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

July 19, 1946

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9758 (July 19, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9758-authorizing-the-secretary-the-interior-take-possession-and-operate.