Executive Order 9904 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 9904—Amending Paragraph 8 of Executive Order No. 9635 of September 29, 1945, Prescribing the Order of Succession of Officers Authorized to Act as Secretary of the Navy

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Thursday, November 13, 1947

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1 min read (132 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 Harry S Truman on 1947-11-13, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Amending Paragraph 8 of Executive Order No. 9635 of September 29, 1945, Prescribing the Order of Succession of Officers Authorized to Act as Secretary of the Navy." 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

▪ By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, it is ordered, in the interest of the internal management of the Government, that paragraph 8 of Executive Order No.

▪ 9635 of September 29, 1945, prescribing the order of succession of the officers authorized to act as Secretary of the Navy, be, and it hereby is, amended to read: "8.

▪ During the temporary absence of the Secretary of the Navy, the order of succession of the officers who shall act as Secretary of the Navy shall be as follows: The Under Secretary of the Navy, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Operations." HARRY S.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

Total Words

132

739 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

16.8

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9904, Harry S Truman (Nov 13, 1947). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9904-amending-paragraph-8-executive-order-no-9635-september-29-1945.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, it is ordered, in the interest of the internal management of the Government, that paragraph 8 of Executive Order No. 9635 of September 29, 1945, prescribing the order of succession of the officers authorized to act as Secretary of the Navy, be, and it hereby is, amended to read: "8. During the temporary absence of the Secretary of the Navy, the order of succession of the officers who shall act as Secretary of the Navy shall be as follows: The Under Secretary of the Navy, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Operations." HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, November 13, 1947