Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
This executive order, signed by President John F. Kennedy on 1961-05-04, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board." 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 as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1.
▪There is hereby established the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
▪The function of the Board shall be to advise the President with respect to the objectives and conduct of the foreign intelligence and related activities of the United States which are required in the interests of foreign policy and national defense and security.
▪In the performance of its advisory duties, the Board shall conduct a continuing review and assessment of all functions of the Central Intelligence Agency, and of other executive departments and agencies having such or similar responsibilities in the foreign-intelligence and related fields, and shall report thereon to the President each six months or more frequently as deemed appropriate.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
Total Words
351
2,195 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.9
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.29
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 10938, John F. Kennedy (May 4, 1961). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10938-establishing-the-presidents-foreign-intelligence-advisory-board.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. There is hereby established the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The function of the Board shall be to advise the President with respect to the objectives and conduct of the foreign intelligence and related activities of the United States which are required in the interests of foreign policy and national defense and security. SEC. 2. In the performance of its advisory duties, the Board shall conduct a continuing review and assessment of all functions of the Central Intelligence Agency, and of other executive departments and agencies having such or similar responsibilities in the foreign-intelligence and related fields, and shall report thereon to the President each six months or more frequently as deemed appropriate. The Director of Central Intelligence and the heads of other departments and agencies concerned shall make available to the Board any information with respect to foreign intelligence matters which the Board may require for the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities to the President. The information so supplied to the Board shall be afforded - requisite security protection as prescribed by the provisions of applicable laws and regulations. SEC. 3. Members of the Board shall be appointed from among qualified persons outside the Government and shall receive such compensation and allowances, consonant with law, as may be prescribed hereafter. Such compensation and allowances and any other expenses arising in connection with the work of the Board shall be paid from the appropriation appearing under the heading "Special Projects" in title I of the General Government Matters Appropriation Act, 1961, 74 Stat. 473, and, to the extent permitted by law, from any corresponding appropriation which may be made for subsequent years. Such payments shall be made without regard to the provisions of section 3681 of the Revised Statutes and section 9 of the act of March 4, 1909, 35 Stat. 1027 (31 U.S.C. 672 and 673). SEC. 4. Executive Order No. 10656 of February 6, 1956, is hereby revoked. JOHN F. KENNEDY THE WHITE HOUSE, May 4, 1961
