Rinse and Repeat

If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times (or, at least, it feels like that): E.O. 9066 contains a fair bit of repetition, which is just impressive considering how teensy this doc is.

Unlike some texts, which repeat phrases to point out the sounds of words (like a poem) or to belabor a point (like political propaganda or a pop song), FDR uses repetition out of necessity.

Executive orders are, by their very nature, formulaic. They follow certain traditions of presidential behavior that shape the way they're written and presented. That's why so many executive orders seem so similar. Compare E.O. 9066 to E.O. 8972, for example.

Like boring peas in a legalese pod, right?

Tradition and formal protocol (the official way of doing things) have a huge influence here. They also determine how the message of an E.O. is conveyed—which involves tons of saying the same thing over and over and over. You might have noticed this happening throughout, but it's especially apparent here:

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. (6)

This sentence can be totally confusing, but the hilarious part about it is that it's written so that no one will be confused about the message.

In this context, repetition is about being overly specific, so we always know to whom and to what FDR is referring, which is good. The downside is that it becomes ridiculously redundant.