Executive Order 8915 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 8915—Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a Practice Bombing and Gunnery Range

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Saturday, October 11, 1941

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1 min read (177 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1941-10-11, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a Practice Bombing and Gunnery Range." 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

▪ This order shall be subject to the order of the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior of June 27, 1941, withdrawing certain lands under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat.

▪ 388), so far as such order affects the above-described lands: and after the present national emergency, has been officially terminated, this order shall be without effect upon notice to the War Department by the Secretary of the Interior that the entire use of the above-described lands is needed for reclamation purposes.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

177

1,064 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

17.4

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

-0.19

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8915, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Oct 11, 1941). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8915-withdrawing-public-lands-for-use-the-war-department-practice-bombing.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

WASHINGTON By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered that, subject to valid existing rights, the public lands in the following-described areas be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public-land laws, including the mining laws, and reserved for the use of the War Department as a practice bombing and gunnery range: Willamette Meridian T. 18 N., R. 27 E., secs. 20 and 22; containing 1280 acres. This order shall be subject to the order of the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior of June 27, 1941, withdrawing certain lands under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), so far as such order affects the above-described lands: and after the present national emergency, has been officially terminated, this order shall be without effect upon notice to the War Department by the Secretary of the Interior that the entire use of the above-described lands is needed for reclamation purposes. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, October 11, 1941.