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Executive Order 9861 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9861—Restoring Certain Land, and Granting an Easement in Certain Other Land, to the Territory of Hawaii

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Saturday, May 31, 1947
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5 min read (963 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (963 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The following parcels of land comprising a part of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, are hereby restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii for road purposes, subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated: Beginning at the north corner of the parcel of land located on the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street, between Richards and Punchbowl Streets, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, being also the present south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, the true azimuth and distance from a survey street monument near the south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, being 352°08'40", 25.99 feet; said survey street monument being set on an offset of…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 parcels of land comprising a part of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, are hereby restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii for road purposes, subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated: Beginning at the north corner of the parcel of land located on the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street, between Richards and…

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 parcels of land comprising a part of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, are hereby restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii for road purposes, subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated: Beginning at the north corner of the parcel of land located on the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street, between Richards and Punchbowl Streets, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, being also the present south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, the true azimuth and distance from a survey street monument near the south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, being 352°08'40", 25.99 feet; said survey street monument being set on an offset of…

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For the purpose of utilizing the above-described parcels of land for road purposes, the Territory of Hawaii shall have the right t remove or destroy any buildings or other improvements or portions thereof located on the above lands: Provided, however, That the Territory of Hawaii shall bear all expenses in connection therewith; shall repair, in a manner satisfactory to the Commanding Officer of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation any buildings or other improvements located on adjoining lands of the United States damaged in connection with such removal or destruction; and shall pay to the United States the value of any buildings or other improvements removed or destroyed to such an extent as to be no longer capable of repair or…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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)
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"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
963
5,745 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.2
High School
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 by Proclamation No. 22 of November 2, 1898, and by Proclamation No. 8 of November 10, 1899, certain lands in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, were reserved for naval purposes, portions of which land were by Executive Order No. 2323 of February 21, 1916, transferred and placed under the control of the War Department; and WHEREAS certain other lands in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, were set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 2335 of March 6, 1916; and WHEREAS all of the said lands now comprise a portion of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation; and WHEREAS it is deemed advisable and in the public interest that a part of such lands, hereinafter described, be restored to the Territory of Hawaii;

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. 447, and the act of June 19, 1930, 46 Stat. 789, it is ordered as follows: The following parcels of land comprising a part of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, are hereby restored to their previous status for the use of the Territory of Hawaii for road purposes, subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated: Beginning at the north corner of the parcel of land located on the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street, between Richards and Punchbowl Streets, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, being also the present south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, the true azimuth and distance from a survey street monument near the south corner of Halekauwila and Richards Streets, being 352°08'40", 25.99 feet; said survey street monument being set on an offset of 10.00 feet to the southwest side of Halekauwila Street and on an offset of 23.04 feet to the southeast side of Richards Street, and the coordinates of said survey street monument referred to Government Survey triangulation station "Punchbowl" being 2,446.43 feet south and 4,588.23 feet west, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true south: 1. 329°31' 642.50 feet along the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street; 2. 77°51'30" 92.79 feet along the present northwest side of Punchbowl Street; 3. 205°35' 19.27 feet along the perimeter of the land described as Tract 2 in Executive Order No. 2323 of February 21, 1916; 4. Thence along same on a curve to the left with a radius of 50.00 feet, the chord azimuth and distance being 177°33', 47.00 feet. 5. 149°31' 502.21 feet along the perimeter of the land described as Tract 2 in Executive Order No. 2323 of February 21, 1916; 6. Thence along same on a curve to the left with a radius of 50.00 feet, the chord azimuth and distance being 102°02'30", 73.70 feet; 7. 234°34' 104.71 feet along the present southeast side of Richards Street to the pint of beginning. Area 33,093 square feet. Beginning at the north corner of the parcel of land located on the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street, between Alakea and Richards Streets, Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, being also the present south corner of Halekauwila and Alakea Streets, the true azimuth and distance from a survey street monument near the west corner of Halekauwila and Alakea Streets being 342°18'20:, 45.16 feet; said survey street monument being set on an offset of 10.00 feet to the southwest side of Halekauwila Street (running southeasterly) and on an offset of 44.05 feet to the southeast side of Alakea Street (running southwesterly) and the coordinates of said survey street monument referred to Government Survey triangulation station "Punchbowl" being 2,184.60 feet south and 4,742.33 feet west, thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true south: 1. 329°31' 219.00 feet along the present southwest side of Halekauwila Street; 2. 59°35' 100.06 feet along the present northwest side of Richards Street; 3. Thence on a curve to the left with a radius of 50.00 feet along the perimeter of the land described in Executive Order No. 2335 of March 6, 1916, the chord azimuth and distance being 194°33', 70.75 feet; 4. 149°31' 119.00 feet along the perimeter of the land described in Executive Order No. 2335 of March 6, 1916; 5. Thence along same on a curve to the left with a radius of 50.00 feet, the chord azimuth and distance being 104°33', 70.67 feet; 6. 239°35' 99.94 feet along the present southeast side of Alakea Street to the point of beginning. Area 12,025 square feet. The aggregate area of the two parcels is 45,118 square feet or 1.036 acres, more or less. For the purpose of utilizing the above-described parcels of land for road purposes, the Territory of Hawaii shall have the right t remove or destroy any buildings or other improvements or portions thereof located on the above lands: Provided, however, That the Territory of Hawaii shall bear all expenses in connection therewith; shall repair, in a manner satisfactory to the Commanding Officer of the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation any buildings or other improvements located on adjoining lands of the United States damaged in connection with such removal or destruction; and shall pay to the United States the value of any buildings or other improvements removed or destroyed to such an extent as to be no longer capable of repair or rehabilitation, such value to be determined by an impartial appraisal made at the time of removal or destruction. The said Executive Orders No. 2323 and No. 2335 are modified accordingly. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

May 31, 1947

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9861 (May 31, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9861-restoring-certain-land-and-granting-easement-certain-other-land-the.