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Executive Orders Archive

Every President • 1789 to Present

Executive Order 9868 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 9868—Appointment of Members of a Military Tribunal Established for the Trial and Punishment of Major War Criminals in Germany

Tuesday, June 24, 1947
2 min read (440 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 1947-06-24, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Appointment of Members of a Military Tribunal Established for the Trial and Punishment of Major War Criminals in Germany." 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 by the Constitution and the statutes, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1.
Such members may, at the direction of the Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation, serve on any of the several military tribunals above mentioned, which tribunals are a component part of the military occupational forces of the United States, and upon which the members designated herein shall perform active service during the period of their designation.
The members herein designated shall receive such compensation and allowances for expenses as may be determined by the Secretary of War and as may be payable from appropriations or funds available to the War Department for such purposes.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
440
2,697 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
26.8
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9868, Harry S Truman (Jun 24, 1947). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9868-appointment-members-military-tribunal-established-for-the-trial-and.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)