

(https://home.heinonline.org/blog)

12 of the Boldest Executive Orders in U.S. History to Kick Off Your Presidents
Day
B Y T A R A K I B L E R ( H T T P S : // H O M E . H E I N O N L I N E . O R G / B L O G / A U T H O R / T K I B L E R / ) FEBRUARY 17, 2020

History (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/category/history/), Political Science


(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/category/political-science/)

On the third Monday of every February, many around the United States honor those who have served as
President. First established in 1879 to observe George Washington’s birthday, the holiday has become a catch-all
celebration of the highest office in the country.

To celebrate Presidents Day this year, let’s take a look at one of the most effective courses of action for the
President of the United States: the executive order. This type of directive, vaguely awarded to the executive
branch in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.usreports/constiusa2016&i=483), can cover all sorts of topics as long as it has some basis in the
Constitution or federal law.

Once signed, the executive order bears the power of law. Stick around to discover some of the most famous (and
infamous) executive orders so far using HeinOnline’s U.S. Presidential Library
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=presidents).

The U.S. Presidential Library LibGuide (https://libguides.heinonline.org/us-presidential-

library)

1. The Emancipation Proclamation

Possibly the most famous executive order was issued in a time before the directives were officially
numbered. The Emancipation Proclamation (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.religion/fredmhrp0001&i=3) of January 1, 1863 was issued by President Abraham Lincoln to declare the
freedom of more than three million slaves throughout the Confederacy. Though the order only truly freed slaves
in Union-controlled states (about 20-50,000), it provided a framework for the eventual emancipation of millions
more as Union armies overtook the Confederates.
2. The Confiscation of Gold
In 1913, the passage of the Federal Reserve Act (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.statute/sal038&i=273) required the U.S. government to possess a certain amount of gold in order to print
paper money. By 1933, with the Great Depression in full swing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was desperate for
a way to increase the government’s cash on hand, necessitating a physical increase in its amount of gold.
With Executive Order 6102 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/prsexcuo0009&i=895), Americans
were compelled to trade in their personal gold for cash. Many of those who did not comply had their gold seized,
were arrested, and served time in jail.

3. A New Agency Under the New Deal

Two years later, President Roosevelt used his executive order privilege once again to bring aspects of his New
Deal into reality. For example, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), established by Executive Order 7034
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/prsexcuo0011&i=373), was a new government agency whose
purpose was to create jobs for the millions of people unemployed by the Great Depression. Though the WPA
existed only for eight years, its workers made monumental improvements to the nation’s infrastructure and
cultural life.

4. Facilitating the Manhattan Project

In 1941, President Roosevelt signed another executive order, this time focusing on international relations rather
than domestic concerns. A response to the race to create an atomic bomb, Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8807
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/cfrprzft0001&i=937) established the Office of Scientific
Research and Development (OSRD). Given unlimited resources for its research, the S-1 Committee of the OSRD
would later establish a number of sites around the country, including its Los Alamos Laboratory, where the
atomic bomb was designed and tested.

5. Japanese-American Concentration Camps

By the end of 1941, Japan had launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Immediately
after the incident, the United States formally declared war on Japan (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.usccsset/usconset23127&i=709). Soon after, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.cbhear/cblhadso0001&i=780), calling for the relocation of all Japanese-
Americans on the West Coast to government-run concentration camps. The executive order affected more than
100,000 Japanese Americans overall.

6. Nationalizing America’s Steel Mills

United Steelworkers of America organized a strike in 1952 against U.S. Steel and other producers. Before the
strike could begin, however, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 10340
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.cfr/cfr1952007&i=81) to nationalize all American steel mills, transferring
their control to Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer. Several of the steel companies sued for control of their
mills, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.usreports/usrep343&i=641) where it was decided that the executive order was unconstitutional.

7. Establishing the Warren Commission

After the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2019/11/secrets-
of-the-serial-set-the-assassination-of-president-john-f-kennedy/) in 1963, newly sworn-in President Lyndon B.
Johnson signed Executive Order 11130 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/ppp064001&i=94) to
establish the Warren Commission. The Commission would investigate the details of the incident, and determine
Lee Harvey Oswald’s motivations and possible connections. Though the Warren Commission determined that
Oswald acted alone, the Warren Report (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.presidents/rpcapjfk0001&i=1) sparked great controversy and conspiracy.

8. A Pardon for Nixon

The early 1970s were rocked by the scandalous impeachment of President Richard Nixon
(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2019/08/the-watergate-scandal-part-iii-the-serial-set/). Following Nixon’s
resignation, Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency. In one of his first actions in office, Ford
signed Proclamation 4311 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/ppp074002&i=143), issuing an
unconditional pardon to the disgraced former president from prosecution for any crimes he may have
committed.
9. The Creation of FEMA
Before the 1970s, different types of federal disasters were handled by separate government agencies. In some
cases, this meant that more than 100 agencies might be attempting to manage a federal emergency at the same
time, leading to inefficiency and confusion. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12148
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.presidents/ppp079002&i=147) to formally consolidate disaster relief
efforts under one new agency—the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The organization initially
absorbed several other government agencies, and following the attacks of September 11, 2001
(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2019/09/remembering-the-fallen-researching-the-tragedy-of-9-11/), took over
the newly established Department of Homeland Security.

10. Restricting Access to Presidential Records

During Nixon’s impeachment process, Congress passed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation
Act of 1974 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.statute/sal088&i=1887). Intended to reduce presidential
secrecy and preserve history, the legislation transferred Nixon’s records to federal custody. The Presidential
Records Act of 1978 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.statute/sal092&i=2681) went further to declare all
records of former presidents as property of the federal government, to be made public 12 years after they left
office. When George W. Bush became president, Ronald Reagan’s papers were next on the list. After delaying the
deadline for Reagan’s documents to be made public, Bush signed Executive Order 13233
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.fedreg/wcpd03744&i=23), restricting access to presidential records with
military, diplomatic, national security, or other sensitive information. The order was later revoked by Barack
Obama’s Executive Order 13489 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.cfr/cfr2010235&i=207).
11. Closing Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay is a U.S. military prison that was established by President George W. Bush in 2002 to detain,
interrogate, and prosecute extraordinarily dangerous criminals. Critics of the detention center claim that the
practice of torture and imprisonment without trial is a violation of human rights. On January 22, 2009, President
Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13493 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.fedreg/dcpd0003&i=5),
calling for a review of all detained individuals and vowing that the prison would close within a year. However, the
deadline was not met and Obama’s term ended with the prison still open. In January 2018, President Donald
Trump signed his own executive order (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.fedreg/dcpd8063&i=1) to keep the
prison open indefinitely.

12. Trump’s Immigration Order

Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump argued that terrorists are manipulating the existing refugee
resettlement program to gain entry to the United States. In an effort to limit immigration from “terror-prone
regions,” Trump signed the wide-reaching Executive Order 13769 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?
h=hein.fedreg/dcpd7076&i=1) in January of 2017. The order significantly lowered the number of refugees
allowed into the U.S. that year and suspended the entry of refugees from countries such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, and more. Because the affected countries were predominantly made up of Muslim citizens, the order
was condemned by many and referred to as a “Muslim ban.” The constitutionality of the directive was called into
question in Washington v. Trump (https://heinonline.org/HOL/CaseLaw?
1=1&native_id=12596581&cop=&collection=journals); as a result, Trump signed a redrafted version of the order
(https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.fedreg/dcpd7685&i=1), which the Supreme Court upheld.

Want more great content? Get posts like these sent directly to your inbox when you subscribe today.
 Subscribe to the HeinOnline Blog (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/heinonline-blog-
subscription-center/)

(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/author/tkibler/)

Tara Kibler

(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/author/tkibler/)

M O R E P O S T S ( H T T P S : // H O M E . H E I N O N L I N E . O R G / B LO G / A U T H O R / T K I B L E R / )

t a g s : u . s . p r e s i d e n t i a l l i b r a r y ( h t t p s : // h o m e . h e i n o n l i n e . o r g / b l o g / t a g / u s - p r e s i d e n t i a l - l i b r a r y / ) , u . s .
p r e s i d e n t s ( h t t p s : // h o m e . h e i n o n l i n e . o r g / b l o g / t a g / u s - p r e s i d e n t s / ) , u . s . s t a t u t e s a t l a r g e

( h t t p s : // h o m e . h e i n o n l i n e . o r g / b l o g / t a g / u s - s t a t u t e s - a t - l a r g e / ) , w o r l d c o n s t i t u t i o n s i l l u s t r a t e d
( h t t p s : // h o m e . h e i n o n l i n e . o r g / b l o g / t a g / w o r l d - c o n s t i t u t i o n s - i l l u s t r a t e d / )

YO U MIGHT ALSO LIKE

HISTO RY

(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2023/09/the-history-of-hawaii-how-a-kingdom-became-a-state/)

The History of Hawai‘i: How a Kingdom Became a State (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2023/09/the-history-of-hawaii-how-a-kingdom-

became-a-state/)

The wildfires that ravaged the Hawai‘ian island of Maui and completely destroyed the city of Lahaina last month have rekindled conversations about
the controversial history of how Hawai‘i came to be an American state in the first place.

ECON O M I CS
 (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2023/09/the-history-of-minimum-wage-in-the-united-states/)

The History of Minimum Wage in the United States (https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2023/09/the-history-of-minimum-wage-in-the-

united-states/)

Millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet, working multiple jobs to make up for the fact that the federal minimum wage has not kept up with
the rate of inflation. However, it hasn’t always been difficult to live off of a minimum wage job.

Like What You See?

There’s plenty more where that came from! Subscribe to the HeinOnline Blog to receive posts like these right to your inbox.

Your email

 SUBSCRIBE

By entering your email, you agree to receive great content from the HeinOnline Blog. HeinOnline also uses the information you provide to contact you about other content, products, and services
we think you’ll love.

NEED HELP? CONTACT US GET STARTED

LibGuides(https://libguides.heinonline.org/?b=g&d=a) Request a (https://home.heinonline.org/request-a- Login(https://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome)

Quote/Trial quote-or-trial/)
Knowledge Base(https://help.heinonline.org/) Privacy (https://help.heinonline.org/kb/what-is-
Training (https://home.heinonline.org/support/heinonline- Policy heinonlines-privacy-policy/)
HeinOnline Blog(https://home.heinonline.org/blog/)
Request customer-training/)
Terms of (https://help.heinonline.org/kb/heinonline-
Company (https://www.wshein.com/company- Use user-rules/)
Directory directory/)
Accessibility(https://www.wshein.com/accessibility/)
(http
s://
ww
w.lin
kedi (htt
(htt (htt n.co ps://
(htt
(htt ps:// ps:// m/c ww
ps://
ps:// ww ww omp w.yo
hom
twitt w.fa w.in any/ utub
er.c ceb stag willi e.co e.he
om/ ook. ram. am- m/u inon
line.
Hein com com s-- ser/
org/
Onli /Hei /hei hein Hein
blog
 blog
ne) nOnl nonl -&- Onli /)
ine) ine/) co-- ne0
inc-- 8)
&-
hein (https://home.heinonline.org/blog)
onli
ne/)

© Copyright 2023 HeinOnline. All Rights Reserved.