Presidential Order Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order—Removing Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War

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Friday, February 21, 1868

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1 min read (101 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 Andrew Johnson on 1868-02-21, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "—Removing Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War." 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

▪ SIR: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communication.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

101

613 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

14.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order, "Executive Order—Removing Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War," Andrew Johnson (Feb 21, 1868). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-removing-edwin-m-stanton-secretary-war.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Washington, D.C. SIR: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communication. You will transfer to Brevet Major-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim , all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and charge. Respectfully, yours, ANDREW JOHNSON.