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Executive Order 9860 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9860—Restoring Certain Land, and Granting an Easement in Certain Other Land, to the Territory of Hawaii

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Saturday, May 31, 1947
•
4 min read (754 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (754 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The following-described parcel of land at Sand Island, Oahu, Hawaii, comprising a part of the above-mentioned Tract No. 1, is hereby restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii: Beginning at the North corner of this piece of land on the Northeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D" and also on the boundary between Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Governor's Executive Order No. 1016), and Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358 (formerly Koholaloa Fishery) the true azimuth and distance from a concrete monument marking the end of course No. 17 of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358, the end of course No. 31 of Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Mokauea…

View all 2 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 Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 May 31, 1947, this order concerns Restoring Certain Land, and Granting an Easement in Certain Other Land, to the Territory of Hawaii. The following-described parcel of land at Sand Island, Oahu, Hawaii, comprising a part of the above-mentioned Tract No. 1, is hereby restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii: Beginning at the North corner of this piece of land on the Northeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D" and also on the boundary between Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Governor's Executive…

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 following-described parcel of land at Sand Island, Oahu, Hawaii, comprising a part of the above-mentioned Tract No. 1, is hereby restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii: Beginning at the North corner of this piece of land on the Northeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D" and also on the boundary between Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Governor's Executive Order No. 1016), and Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358 (formerly Koholaloa Fishery) the true azimuth and distance from a concrete monument marking the end of course No. 17 of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358, the end of course No. 31 of Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Mokauea…

▪

Thence following along shore line, the direct azimuth and distance being 89°03'45" 929.15 feet; 4. 195°55' 393.00 feet along the perimeter of the land described in Governor's Executive Order No. 1016 (Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696) to the point of beginning and containing an area of 7.25 Acres.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 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
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

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

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%).
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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
754
4,538 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
8.2
Grade 8
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS by Executive Order No. 3358 of November 24, 1920, two tracts of land on Sand and Quarantine Islands, Oahu, Hawaii, designated as Tract No. 1 and Tract No. , respectively, were set aside for military purposes; and WHEREAS a certain parcel contained in the said Tract No. 1 is no longer needed for the use of the War Department, and it is deemed advisable and in the public interest that it be restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii for use in connection with the construction of the Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Harbor; and WHEREAS the War Department has a continuing need for the use of another parcel contained in the said Tract No. 1, but such parcel may be made subject to an easement to the Territory of Hawaii for the construction and maintenance of a breakwater without interference with the use for which the parcel is needed by the War Department:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of April 30, 1900, 31 Stat. 159, as amended by section 7 of the act of May 27, 1910, 36 Stat. 4476, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1. The following-described parcel of land at Sand Island, Oahu, Hawaii, comprising a part of the above-mentioned Tract No. 1, is hereby restored to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii: Beginning at the North corner of this piece of land on the Northeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D" and also on the boundary between Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Governor's Executive Order No. 1016), and Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358 (formerly Koholaloa Fishery) the true azimuth and distance from a concrete monument marking the end of course No. 17 of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358, the end of course No. 31 of Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Mokauea Fishery), and the end of course No. 60 of Governor's Executive Order No. 1016 (Keehi Lagoon), being 15° 55' 2707.96 feet and the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "U.S.E. North Base" being 106.38 feet South and 4,627.32 feet West, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 334°00'10" 645.17 feet along the remainder of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358; 2. 64°00'10" 579.16 feet along same; 3. 195°55' 866.99 feet along the remainder of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D", along the perimeter of the land described in Governor's Executive Order No. 1016 (Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696) to the point of beginning, and containing an area of 4,289 Acres. 2. The following-described parcel of land at Sand Island, Oahu, Hawaii, comprising a part of the above-mentioned Tract No. 1, is hereby made subject to an easement in favor of the Territory of Hawaii for the construction and maintenance of a breakwater: Beginning at the Northwest corner of this piece of land on the Southeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D" and also on the boundary between Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Governor's Executive Order No. 1016), and Tract No. 1 of Presidential executive Order No. 3358 (formerly Koholaloa Fishery) the true azimuth and distance from a concrete monument marking the end of course No. 17 of Tract No. 1, Presidential Executive Order No. 3358, the end of course No. 31 of Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696 (Mokauea Fishery), and the end of course No. 60 of Governor's Executive Order No. 1016 (Keehi Lagoon, being 15°55' 3,574.95 feet and the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "U.S.E. North Base" being 940.13 feet South and 4,865.08 feet West, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 244°00'10" 579.16 feet along the Southeast boundary of Keehi Lagoon Seaplane Runway "D", along the remainder of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 38358; 2. 334°00'10" 686.00 feet along the remainder of Tract No. 1 of Presidential Executive Order No. 3358, to shore line; 3. Thence following along shore line, the direct azimuth and distance being 89°03'45" 929.15 feet; 4. 195°55' 393.00 feet along the perimeter of the land described in Governor's Executive Order No. 1016 (Mokauea Fishery, Territorial Condemnation, Law No. 16696) to the point of beginning and containing an area of 7.25 Acres. The said Executive Order No. 3358 of November 24, 1920, is modified accordingly. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

May 31, 1947

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9860 (May 31, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9860-restoring-certain-land-and-granting-easement-certain-other-land-the.