Executive Order 12464 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12464—Award of the Purple Heart

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Thursday, February 23, 1984

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1 min read (288 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 Ronald Reagan on 1984-02-23, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Award of the Purple Heart." 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

▪ 11016 of April 25, 1962, as amended, is further amended as follows: Section 1.

▪ Paragraph 1 is amended as follows: (a) In clause (d), delete "or" at the end thereof.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Total Words

288

1,686 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

15.9

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12464, Ronald Reagan (Feb 23, 1984). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12464-award-the-purple-heart.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, Executive Order No. 11016 of April 25, 1962, as amended, is further amended as follows: Section 1. Paragraph 1 is amended as follows: (a) In clause (d), delete "or" at the end thereof. (b) In clause (e), delete the period and substitute therefor a semicolon. (c) At the end of such paragraph, add the following new clauses: "(f) after March 28, 1973, as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack for the purposes of this Order by the Secretary of the department concerned, or jointly by the Secretaries of the departments concerned if persons from more than one department are wounded in the attack; or "(g) after March 28, 1973, as a result of military operations, while serving outside the territory of the United States as part of a peacekeeping force.". Sec. 2. Paragraph 2 is amended to read as follows: "The Secretary of a military department, or the Secretary of Transportation, shall, in the name of the President of the United States, award the Purple Heart, with suitable ribbons and appurtenances, posthumously, to any person covered by, and under the circumstances described in,— (a) paragraphs 1 (a)-(e) who, after April 5, 1917; or (b) paragraphs i (f)-(g) who, after March 28, 1973, has been, or may hereafter be, killed, or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded.". RONALD REAGAN The White House, February 23, 1984. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:31 a.m., February 24, 1984]