Executive Order 11765 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 11765—Sale of Vessels of the Navy

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Monday, January 21, 1974

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2 min read (334 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 1974-01-21, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Sale of Vessels of the Navy." 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

▪ Each bid or offer shall be accompanied by a cash deposit (including cashier's check or certified check) in an amount not less than 10 percent of the bid or offer, or by a deposit bond, in such amount, executed by two or more acceptable sureties or by a surety appearing on the United States Treasury Department list of acceptable sureties.

▪ Except as hereinabove modified pursuant to section 7305(1) of title 10 of the United States Code, sales of vessels of the Navy shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements in the remaining provisions of section 7305.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Total Words

334

1,963 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

18.7

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11765, Richard Nixon (Jan 21, 1974). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11765-sale-vessels-the-navy.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 7305 (1) of title 10 of the United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Vessels of the Navy stricken from the Naval Vessel Register pursuant to section 7304 of title 10 of the United States Code, and not subject to disposition under other law, may be sold at public sale to the highest acceptable bidder, regardless of their appraised value, after being advertised for sale for a period of not less than thirty days. Moreover, if the bid prices received after advertising are not considered reasonable by the Secretary of the Navy, or his designee (either as to all or any part of a multiple ship advertisement) and he, or his designee, determines that readvertising will serve no useful purpose, such vessels may be sold by negotiation to the highest acceptable offeror: Provided, That (1) each responsible bidder has been notified of the intention to negotiate and has been given a reasonable opportunity to negotiate; (2) the negotiated price is higher than the highest rejected price of any responsible bidder; and (3) the negotiated price is the highest negotiated price offered by any responsible offeror. SEC. 2. Each bid or offer shall be accompanied by a cash deposit (including cashier's check or certified check) in an amount not less than 10 percent of the bid or offer, or by a deposit bond, in such amount, executed by two or more acceptable sureties or by a surety appearing on the United States Treasury Department list of acceptable sureties. No other bond shall be required. SEC. 3. Except as hereinabove modified pursuant to section 7305(1) of title 10 of the United States Code, sales of vessels of the Navy shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements in the remaining provisions of section 7305. SEC. 4. This order supersedes Executive Order No. 10885 of August 31, 1960, entitled "Sale of Vessels of the Navy." RICHARD NIXON The White House, January 21, 1974.