Executive Order 10271 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 10271—Delegating the Authority of the President to Order Members and Units of Reserve Components of the Armed Forces Into Active Federal Service

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Saturday, July 7, 1951

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1 min read (248 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 1951-07-07, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Delegating the Authority of the President to Order Members and Units of Reserve Components of the Armed Forces Into Active Federal Service." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ 621), as amended, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is ordered as follows: There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense the authority vested in the President by section 21 of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (64 Stat.

▪ 318), as amended by the 1951 Amendments to the Universal Military Training and Service Act (65 Stat.

▪ The Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized to redelegated, subject to such conditions as the Secretary may deem appropriate, to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force such functions under this order as affect their respective services.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Total Words

248

1,435 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

20.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10271, Harry S Truman (Jul 7, 1951). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10271-delegating-the-authority-the-president-order-members-and-units.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 10(c) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (62 Stat. 621), as amended, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is ordered as follows: There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense the authority vested in the President by section 21 of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (64 Stat. 318), as amended by the 1951 Amendments to the Universal Military Training and Service Act (65 Stat. 87; Public Law 51, 82d Congress), to order into the active military or naval service of the United States for a period not to exceed twenty-four months, with or without their consent, any or all members and units of any or all Reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States and retired personnel of the Regular Armed Forces: Provided, that so much of the authority of the President under the said section 21, as amended, as relates to any Reserve component of the United States Coast Guard or to retired personnel of the Regular Coast Guard is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized to redelegated, subject to such conditions as the Secretary may deem appropriate, to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force such functions under this order as affect their respective services. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, July 7, 1951