1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln officially issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which ordered “all persons held as slaves” in the Confederate states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” On July 26, 1948, President Truman also used executive orders to expand citizenship and civil rights for Black Americans by ordering the desegregation of the military in Executive Order 9981. In the 21st century, we wouldn’t necessarily consider letters requesting information or proclamations of thanksgiving to be executive orders, but they established an important precedent for Washington’s successors.Įxecutive orders have precipitated many of the most significant events in our nation’s history. 26, 1789, and the Neutrality Proclamation on April 22, 1793, declaring the United States neutral in the war between France and Great Britain. Over the next eight years, Washington issued seven additional proclamations or orders, such as a proclamation declaring a day of thanksgiving on Nov. Washington asked John Jay, acting secretary of foreign affairs, to provide “a clear account of the Department at the head of which you have been, as may be sufficient … to impress me with a full, precise and distinct general idea of the United States.” Congress had not yet established the new executive departments, so the secretaries of the existing Confederation departments had remained in office in acting fashion. On June 8, 1789, President Washington issued his first directive. But almost from the very beginning, George Washington understood that presidential authority had to include activities that weren’t specifically defined in the Constitution in order to lead the nation. The Constitution does not articulate a presidential right to issue proclamations or executive orders. Yet, the history of the executive order isn’t a story of consistent expansion, and understanding its role in some of the biggest moments of our nation is essential to evaluating the presidency. President Joe Biden is no exception, and any evaluation of his first few months in office will include a conversation about his executive orders. In the first 100 days of every administration, there’s always lots of discussion about executive orders and unilateral presidential action.
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