A Thicket of Run-On Sentences and Dense Paragraphs

You can just tell E.O. 9066 isn't meant to be spoken aloud like a speech or one of FDR's fireside chats.

In fact, reading an IKEA manual out loud would probably get you a more enthusiastic round of applause.

The first sentence alone is enough to garble any brain, whether that of speaker or listener. The entire text is packed to the gills with content. Snaking sentences, overly thorough listing, and the occasional foray into barely comprehensible legal citations are a dead giveaway that it's a government document.

So much wordiness disguises the step-by-step structure of the document, which lays out FDR's plan for the secretary of war and the creation of military exclusion areas.

The tone is overall pretty flat and dry, but wartime doesn't make for the most buoyant and fluffy language, right? If anything, the document is written in an exceptionally formal manner that's influenced by historical traditions of federal governance. In other words, it's written according to a set of preexisting rules to make certain that it actually passes muster in the eyes of the law and doesn't violate the Constitution.

Available to the public, the primary audience for E.O. 9066 wasn't Ma and Pa chillin' at home by the radio. It was FDR's Cabinet members, who would have been very familiar with sitting in dim rooms full of heavy furniture reading executive orders. It was their job.

Under FDR, they had their work cut out for them because he issued more executive orders than any other president, topping the charts with a record number 3,721, according to the American Presidency Project.

How It Breaks Down

Section 1: Titles and Stuff (Sentences 1-4)

No Frills

These sparse four lines simply indicate the official title of the document, its author, the type of document it is (an executive order), and to whom the document is specifically addressed.

In that order. Don't get too excited.

Section 2: Introduction (Sentence 5)

Yeah, It's Both a Paragraph and a Sentence—Kind Of

FDR gets awfully high and mighty in this first paragraph/sentence/run-on fragment.

If you're thinking that this sentence is super awkward, you're correct. That's because it's really long and doesn't end with a period...or even an exclamation point (and we should probably be grateful it's not a question mark).

The language is some hardcore legalese (see the "Rhetoric" section for more about this topic). It's meant to introduce the content that follows and, as officially as possible, frame the special political circumstances under which it is written.

Oh, that confusing mess of numbers? It refers to two laws that pertain to war and national defense, which FDR invokes to make the document legally valid.

Section 3: Paragraph 2, Part I (Sentence 6)

Another Ungodly Long Sentence

Well, it looks like that first sentence was just a warm-up for this next one, which could probably wrap around the circumference of the Earth.

Here, FDR is stating that he's using his powers as POTUS to give legal power to the secretary of war and the dudes who work for him. With this power, they can create "military areas" whenever and wherever they want in the name of national security. Within the military areas, they can allow or exclude anyone they want—at any time. That means they can control who comes, who goes, and who gets the boot for as long as they're in power.

Section 4: Paragraph 2, Part II (Sentence 7)

"Responsible" Bullying

In the second part of the second paragraph, the secretary of war and his cronies are "authorized" (more like told) by FDR to make the exclusion zones as exclusive as they'd like. They're also told to make sure the people who are excluded (primarily Japanese Americans) are provided for with the most basic amenities.

Really big of him.

Section 5: Paragraph 2, Part III (Sentence 8)

Step Aside, Attorney General

About the length of a football field, the second paragraph wraps up with an explicit statement regarding the attorney general, who's told to take a back seat on matters of national security. The powers designated for the secretary of war and his underlings are replacing similar powers that had been held by the attorney general since FDR's authorization of Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526, and 2527, and the official declaration of war on Japan.

Hmm—wonder how U.S. Attorney General Robert H. Jackson felt about that?

Section 6: Paragraph 3 (Sentence 9)

Call in the Cavalry, If You Fancy

FDR tells the secretary of war and his friends that they should feel free to "enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area." In other words, they should crack down on anyone who doesn't do what they say.

How, you might ask? Well, by bringing in the military to back up local law enforcement. You know…to "assist."

Section 7: Paragraph 4 (Sentence 10)

All Together Now

Tearing people away from their homes, jobs, and lives might have been all in a day's work for the government, but that doesn't mean it was easy. That's why FDR directs all executive departments and affiliated federal entities to help the secretary of war ruin 120,000 lives.

At least they provided medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, and shelter in exchange for shattered dreams. They were also generous enough to provide specific comforts like "other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services."

Wow.

Section 8: Paragraph 5 (Sentence 11)

Capping the Power

In the final paragraph, FDR states that E.O. 9066 does nothing to change the effects of E.O. 8972, which increased the power of the military to defend and protect the country in a more general sense. No harm, no foul.

He also states that E.O. 9066 won't influence or limit the activities of the FBI when dealing with matters of espionage. And, adding insult to injury, it also includes that the attorney general and the Department of Justice still have to fulfill the duties assigned to them by the "Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941," even if the secretary of war can surpass their power when it comes to military areas.

Section 9: Conclusion (Sentences 12-14)

Ciao!

The final lines include the president's name and signature, as well as the place and date issuance took place.