Executive Order 9236 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 9236—Transfer of the Survey Ship Pathfinder to the Navy Department and Transfer of Certain Personnel Among the Coast and Geodetic and the War and Navy Departments

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Thursday, September 3, 1942

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2 min read (314 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 1942-09-03, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Transfer of the Survey Ship Pathfinder to the Navy Department and Transfer of Certain Personnel Among the Coast and Geodetic and the War and Navy Departments." 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

▪ The survey ship Pathfinder shall be transferred, upon completion of construction, from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the service and jurisdiction of the Navy Department.

▪ The following-named commissioned officers are hereby transferred from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department: Lieut.

▪ The above-named vessel and officers shall be returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey when the present national emergency ceases to exist.

▪ 9187 of June 30, 1942, are hereby returned to the service and jurisdiction of the Coast and Geodetic Survey: Captain Paul C.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

314

1,887 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

-0.19

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9236, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Sep 3, 1942). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9236-transfer-the-survey-ship-pathfinder-the-navy-department-and-transfer.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 16 of the act of May 22, 1917, 40 Stat. 87 (U.S.C., title 33, sec. 855), and as President of the United States, and in view of the existing national emergency, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The survey ship Pathfinder shall be transferred, upon completion of construction, from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the service and jurisdiction of the Navy Department. 2. The following-named commissioned officers are hereby transferred from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department: Lieut. Comdr. Glendon E. Boothe Lieut. Comdr. Earle A. Deily Lieut. Ector B. Latham Lieut. Harry F. Garber. Lieut. Dorland H. Konichek 3. The above-named officers shall, while under the jurisdiction of the War Department, serve under their commissions in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and while so serving shall constitute a part of the active military forces of the United States and shall be under direct orders of the War Department and subject to the laws, regulations, and orders for the government of the Army so far as they may be applicable. 4. The above-named vessel and officers shall be returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey when the present national emergency ceases to exist. 5. The following-named officers, transferred from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Navy Department by Executive Order No. 9187 of June 30, 1942, are hereby returned to the service and jurisdiction of the Coast and Geodetic Survey: Captain Paul C. Whitney Captain Frederick B. T. Siems Lieut. Comdr. Edgar H. Bernstein 6. Lieutenant Edwin C. Baum, who was transferred by Executive Order No. 9113 of March 28, 1942, to the service and jurisdiction of the Navy Department, is hereby returned to the service and jurisdiction of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, September 3, 1942.