Executive Order 11545 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 11545—Establishing the Defense Distinguished Service Medal

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Thursday, July 9, 1970

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1 min read (274 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 Richard Nixon on 1970-07-09, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing the Defense Distinguished Service Medal." 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 and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1.

▪ The Defense Distinguished Service Medal and appurtenances thereto shall be of appropriate design approved by the Secretary of Defense and shall be awarded under such regulations as he shall prescribe.

▪ These regulations shall place the Defense Distinguished Service Medal in an order of precedence after the Medals of Honor and the Distinguished Service Crosses of the Armed Forces and before the Distinguished Service Medals of the Armed Forces.

▪ No more than one Defense Distinguished Service Medal shall be awarded to any one person, but for each succeeding exceptionally meritorious period of service justifying such an award, a suitable device may be awarded to be worn with that Medal as prescribed by appropriate regulations of the Department of Defense.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

274

1,694 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

20.5

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11545, Richard Nixon (Jul 9, 1970). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11545-establishing-the-defense-distinguished-service-medal.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. There is hereby established a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, with accompanying ribbons and appurtenances, for award by the Secretary of Defense to a military officer who performed exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a specified or unified command, a Defense agency, or such other joint activity as may be designated by the Secretary of Defense. SEC. 2. The Defense Distinguished Service Medal and appurtenances thereto shall be of appropriate design approved by the Secretary of Defense and shall be awarded under such regulations as he shall prescribe. These regulations shall place the Defense Distinguished Service Medal in an order of precedence after the Medals of Honor and the Distinguished Service Crosses of the Armed Forces and before the Distinguished Service Medals of the Armed Forces. SEC. 3. No more than one Defense Distinguished Service Medal shall be awarded to any one person, but for each succeeding exceptionally meritorious period of service justifying such an award, a suitable device may be awarded to be worn with that Medal as prescribed by appropriate regulations of the Department of Defense. SEC. 4. The Defense Distinguished Service Medal or device may be awarded posthumously and, when so awarded, may be presented to such representative of the deceased as may be deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Defense. RICHARD NIXON The White House July 9, 1970