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Executive Order 10621 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33)

Executive Order 10621—Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Friday, July 1, 1955
•
7 min read (1,484 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 Dwight D. Eisenhower on 1955-07-01, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense." 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

▪ 713), and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1.
▪ 693i), to approve or disapprove the proceedings and decisions of boards of review established under that section by the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, or the Secretary of the Navy, and to issue orders in such cases.
▪ 410b), to approve, in his discretion, the application of an officer of the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps or of the Reserve Components thereof for retirement after the completion of more than twenty years of active service, and to designate the month in which such retirement shall become effective.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
1,484
8,240 characters
Estimated Read Time
7 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.4
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.33
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10621, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jul 1, 1955). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10621-delegation-certain-functions-the-president-the-secretary-defense.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code (65 Stat. 713), and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. The Secretary of Defense, and, as designated by the said Secretary for this purpose, any of the Secretaries, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries of the military departments, are hereby designated and empowered to perform the following-described functions of the President without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by the act of March 3, 1901, c. 852, 31 Stat. 1107, 1133 (34 U.S.C. 451), to establish and modify, as the needs of the service may require, a classification of vessels of the Navy, and to formulate appropriate rules governing assignments to command of vessels and squadrons. (b) The authority vested in the President by the act of August 22, 1912, c. 335, 37 Stat. 328, 331 (34 U.S.C. 184, 195), to approve regulations of the Secretary of the Navy under which any enlisted man may be discharged within three months before the expiration of the term of his enlistment, and under which an enlisted man may voluntarily extend the term of his enlistment. (c) The authority vested in the President by the act of May 22, 1928, c. 688, 45 Stat. '712 (34 U.S.C. 885), to approve regulations governing the advancement of public funds to naval personnel when required to meet expenses of officers and men detailed on emergency shore duty. (d) The authority vested in the President by the act of June 22, 1938, c. 567, 52 Stat. 839, as amended (5 U.S.C. 425a), section 201 (a) of the act of August 25, 1941, c. 409, 55 Stat. 680 (5 U.S.C. 471), section 3 of the act of December 28, 1945, c. 604, 59 Stat. 666, as amended (5 U.S.C. 456c), section 2 of the act of August 1, 1946, c. 727, 60 Stat. '779 (5 U.S.C. 475a), and section 7 (a) of the act of March 5, 1948, c. 98, 62 Stat. 68 (5 U.S.C. 423g), to authorize, in his discretion, for any officer of the Regular Navy or Marine Corps who retires while serving as Chief of Naval Operations, as Chief of a Bureau of the Navy Department, as Judge Advocate General of the Navy, as Commandant of the Marine Corps, as Director of Budgets and Reports, as Chief of the Dental Division, as Chief of Naval Research, or as Chief of Naval Material, or while serving in a lower rank if he has previously served in any of such offices two and one-half years or more, retirement in the highest grade or rank in which he so served and with retired pay based on that rank. (e) The authority vested in the President by the act of June 15, 1940, c. 374, 54 Stat. 400 (34 U.S.C. 639a), to prescribe from time to time the number of warrant and commissioned warrant officers for the Marine Corps. (f) The authority vested in the President by the act of June 24, 1941, c. 231, 55 Stat. 260 (34 U.S.C. 493b), to approve the use for experimental purposes of vessels of the United States Navy stricken from the Navy Register pursuant to the act of August 5, 1882, 22 Stat. 296, as amended (34 U.S.C. 491). (g) The authority vested in the President by section 5 of the act of July 24, 1941, c. 320, 55 Stat. 604, as amended (34 U.S.C. 350d (a), to determine the numbers of temporary appointments which may be made under that act and to prescribe the manner of making the appointments and the regulations under which they may be made. (h) The authority vested in the President by the act of June 5, 1942, c. 329, 56 Stat. 309 (34 U.S.C. 685b), to authorize, in his discretion, for any officer of the Marine Corps who retires while serving as head of a staff department of the Marine Corps, or who has so served two and one-half years or more and retires while serving in a lower grade or rank, retirement in the highest grade or rank held by him while serving as head of such staff department with retired pay based on such higher grade or rank. (i) The authority vested in the President by section 302 of the act of June 22, 1944, c. 268, 58 Stat. 287 (38 U.S.C. 693i), to approve or disapprove the proceedings and decisions of boards of review established under that section by the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, or the Secretary of the Navy, and to issue orders in such cases. (j) The authority vested in the President by section 6 of the act of February 21, 1946, c. 34, 60 Stat. 27 (34 U.S.C. 410b), to approve, in his discretion, the application of an officer of the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps or of the Reserve Components thereof for retirement after the completion of more than twenty years of active service, and to designate the month in which such retirement shall become effective. (k) The authority vested in the President by section 9 of the act of February 21, 1946, c. 34, 60 Stat. 28, (34 U.S.C. 410d), to defer, in his discretion, placing on the retired list, in accordance with the provisions of the said section, any officer of the Regular Navy or Marine Corps serving in a rank below that of fleet admiral who becomes sixty-two years of age. (l) The authority vested in the President subsection (c) of section 207 (c) by the act of April 16, 1947, c. 38, 61 Stat. 49, redesignated as subsection (b) by section 434 (d) of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, 61 Stat. 882 (34 U.S.C. 43g (b)), to authorize, in his discretion, for any officer of the Navy Nurse Corps who retires while serving as Director of the Navy Nurse Corps, or while serving in a lower rank if she has previously served two and one-half years or more as Director, retirement in the rank held by her as Director. (m) The authority vested in the President by section 302 (g) of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, c. 512, 61 Stat. 830 (34 U.S.C. 3c (g)), to determine the numbers of temporary appointments which may be made under section 302 (c) of that act. (n) The authority vested in the President by sections 207 (d) and 213 (d) of the act of June 12, 1948, c. 449, 62 Stat. 367, 370 (34 U.S.C. 410r (d), 625h (d)), to authorize, in his discretion, for any woman officer of the Regular Navy who retires while serving as an assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel or while serving in a lower rank if she has previously served two and one-half years or more as such assistant, or for any woman officer of the Regular Marine Corps who retires while detailed to duty in the office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps to assist the Commandant in the administration of women's affairs or while serving in a lower rank if she has previously served two and one-half years or more in that detail, retirement in the rank held while serving as an assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel or while so detailed to duty in the office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. SEC. 2. The Secretary of Defense, and, as designated by the said Secretary for this purpose, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and any of the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, are hereby designated and empowered to perform the following-described functions of the President without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 1547 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (34 U.S.C. 591) to approve alterations made by the Secretary of the Navy in Navy Regulations. (b) The authority vested in the President by section 1 of the act of April 9, 1906, c. 1370, 34 Stat. 104 (34 U.S.C. 1062), to approve the dismissal by the Secretary of the Navy of a midshipman from the United States Naval Academy. SEC. 3. All actions heretofore taken by the President with respect to the matters affected by this order and in force and effect at the time of the issuance of this order, including any regulations prescribed or approved by the President with respect to such matters, shall, except as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in force and effect until amended, modified, or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by this order. SEC. 4. As used in this order, the term "functions" includes duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, and discretion, and the term "perform" may be construed to mean "exercise". DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER THE WHITE HOUSE, July 1, 1955.