Automated Sync Active • Database updated as of Recent • Browse All Orders →
★
Executive Orders Archive

Every President • 1789 to Present
Search orders...
Presidential Order Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order—Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President

Grover Cleveland Grover Cleveland
•
Tuesday, January 12, 1897
•
3 min read (513 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 Grover Cleveland on 1897-01-12, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "—Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ Hereafter no person who is appointed as a laborer or workman, without examination under the civil-service rules, shall be assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees.
▪ It is also ordered, That no person shall be admitted into any place not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of the classes above designated until he shall have passed an appropriate examination prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission and his eligibility has been certified to this office by said Commission.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
513
2,913 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.9
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order, "Executive Order—Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President," Grover Cleveland (Jan 12, 1897). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-civil-service-classification-the-office-the-president.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
In accordance with the third clause of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883-- It is ordered, That the officers and employees in or under this office included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes: Class A .--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. Class B.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 per annum. Class C.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 per annum. Class D.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1,000 per annum. Class E.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,000 or more, but less than $1,200 per annum. Class 1.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,200 or more, or at the rate of $1,200 or more, but less than $1,400 per annum. Class 2.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,400 or more, or at the rate of $1,400 or more, but less than 1,600 per annum. Class 3.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,600 or more, or at the rate of $1,600 or more, but less than $1,800 per annum. Class 4.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,800 or more, or at the rate of $1,800 or more, but less than $2,000 per annum. Class 5.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,000 or more, or at the rate of $2,000 or more, but less than $2,500 per annum. Class 6.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,500 or more, or at the rate of $2,500 or more per annum. It is provided, That this classification shall not include persons appointed to an office by and with the advice and consent of the Senate nor persons employed as mere laborers or workmen; but all positions whose occupants are designated as laborers or workmen, and who were prior to May 6, 1896, and are now regularly assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees, shall be included within this classification. Hereafter no person who is appointed as a laborer or workman, without examination under the civil-service rules, shall be assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees. It is also ordered, That no person shall be admitted into any place not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of the classes above designated until he shall have passed an appropriate examination prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission and his eligibility has been certified to this office by said Commission. By direction of the President: HENRY T. THURBER, Private Secretary.