Executive Order 12556 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12556—Mailing Privileges of Members of Armed Forces of the United States and of Friendly Foreign Nations

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Wednesday, April 16, 1986

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1 min read (158 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 1986-04-16, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Mailing Privileges of Members of Armed Forces of the United States and of Friendly Foreign Nations." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ In performing the function delegated by this Order, the Secretary of Defense shall consult with the Secretary of State and the United States Postal Service, and with the heads of other Executive agencies as appropriate.

▪ The Secretary of Defense shall provide timely notice to the United States Postal Service of any designations or terminations of designations made under this Order.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities

Total Words

158

968 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.8

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12556, Ronald Reagan (Apr 16, 1986). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12556-mailing-privileges-members-armed-forces-the-united-states-and.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Delegation of Functions. The function conferred upon the President by section 3401(a) of title 39 of the United States Code, of designating an area for free mailing privileges, is delegated to the Secretary of Defense. Sec. 2. Interagency Consultation. In performing the function delegated by this Order, the Secretary of Defense shall consult with the Secretary of State and the United States Postal Service, and with the heads of other Executive agencies as appropriate. The Secretary of Defense shall provide timely notice to the United States Postal Service of any designations or terminations of designations made under this Order. RONALD REAGAN The White House, April 16, 1986. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:36 a.m., April 17, 1986]