Executive Order 12642 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
Executive Order 12642—Designation of the Secretary of Defense as the Presidential Designee Under Title I of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
This executive order, signed by President Ronald Reagan on 1988-06-08, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Designation of the Secretary of Defense as the Presidential Designee Under Title I of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act." 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
▪The Secretary of Defense is hereby designated as the "Presidential designee" under Title I of the Act.
▪In order to effectuate the purposes of the Act, the Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized to delegate any or all of the functions, responsibilities, powers, authority, or discretion devolving upon him in consequence of this Order to any person or persons within the Department of Defense.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
133
798 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.4
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12642, Ronald Reagan (Jun 8, 1988). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12642-designation-the-secretary-defense-the-presidential-designee-under.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 101(a) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (Public Law 99-410) ("the Act"), it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. The Secretary of Defense is hereby designated as the "Presidential designee" under Title I of the Act. Sec. 2. In order to effectuate the purposes of the Act, the Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized to delegate any or all of the functions, responsibilities, powers, authority, or discretion devolving upon him in consequence of this Order to any person or persons within the Department of Defense. RONALD REAGAN The White House, June 8, 1988. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:29 p.m., June 9, 1988]
