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Do You Know the History of Executive Orders? Plus, Find Out Which President Has Issued the Most (Hint: Not Obama)

Jan. 30, 2013 10:48pm Jason Howerton

Glenn Beck and David Barton Go Over the History of Executive Orders

Glenn Beck and David Barton discuss the history of executive orders on TheBlaze TV

During his show on TheBlaze TV Wednesday, Glenn Beck hosted author and historian David Barton to discuss the history of executive orders and also how President Barack Obama is using them today.

Curious by nature, Beck did not have a shortage of questions regarding these presidential orders. He wanted to know how they can be used and why they were even created in the first place.

“The thinking on it is it is really a presidential tool to fulfill two clauses in the Constitution,” Barton explained.

The first clause states the president shall “hold the executive office” — a relatively simple command. The second clause, Barton added, states the president of the United States shall “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Executive orders were never intended to give a president the authority to go around Congress to enact legislation.

Barton argued that Obama has overstepped his authority in his use of executive orders in several instances, including when he asserted executive privilege over documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious and in regards to “Obamacare.” And there’s more where that came from.

Watch the informative segment via TheBlaze TV below:

And for a more detailed look at Obama’s executive orders:

Beck and Barton also went over how past presidents have used executive orders and how they drastically increased over time. In fact, out of the first nine presidents, no one ever issued more than nine executive orders. But that didn’t last.

FDR leads all presidents with a whopping 3,522; Woodrow Wilson issued a second-best 1,803 executive orders; in third place was Calvin Coolidge with 1,203. George W. Bush clocked in at 291 and President Obama has issued 147 executive orders so far.

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Comments (74)

RobbieTLHughie
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 10:39am
The commenters of The Blaze meets the other side of the Internet (everyone else). It’s like watching a really grisly car crash.

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- 00100111
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 11:54am
  Derp?
  
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- Jaycen
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 5:59pm
  It’s nice when a troll opens with a logical fallacy (the False Choice fallacy). That way, you know you can immediately stop reading. It saves tons of time.
  
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chucksue351
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 9:43am
executive orders are not to create new laws but to expidite the laws already passed by congress

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- mamatango
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 5:15pm
  Before we even get to a discussion of Executive Orders, I would think a discussion of the Presidential Oath needs be discussed.
  
  “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, PRESERVE, PROTECT, and DEFEND the Constitution of the United States.”
  
  How many days was it after he made that Oath that he targeted the Second Amendment? And how many others have been infringed or will be by EO? And why doesn’t the Congress, specifically in this case, the House, even READ the National Register, when they have 90 days from the EO to oppose it?
  
  The legal citizens of each of these 50 states deserve some representation!
  Members of Congress, elected by us, are not there to just get rich from lobbyists who should have been outlawed from the get-go.
  
  Report this comment
- Quester55
  Posted on February 1, 2013 at 1:25am
  Dear MAMATANGO, LESS than 1 Day!, On the other hand, Forget What The Democrats OR Republicans have to say on this issue. Do YOUR OWN research into OBAMA’S BACKGROUND, then draw your own Conclusions. If A Child has been raised to be a Firm Believer in; 1. The Islamic/Muslim Religion, 2. Raised By Card Registered American COMMUNIST, to believe in COMMUNISM & Later in Life, Surround themselves with COMMUNISTIC Leaders & Mentors , Than is it really a Stretch to call OBAMA A PRACTICING Constitution Hating, God Hating, COMMUNIST???
  
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grimjack3791
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 9:26am
As much as i hate the exec orders Obama has tossed it, it is great news that the executive order totals are very small compared to the totals earlier in the 20th century. King Delano sure knew how to dictate, didn’t he?

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- battles
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 10:43am
  This is not good news to me. It is the overreaching, illegal severity and degree of the executive order that matters.
  
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- blarman
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 3:33pm
  Battles has it right. Several of the Executive Orders Obama has issued have directly violated Constitutional law.
  
  The intent of Executive Orders is to allow the President a tool with which to instruct government Agencies how to best carry out their mandates. This does not allow for re-purposing (NASA to provide Muslim outreach ?) or on selective application of laws (not enforcing DOMA, current immigration law, refusing to investigate voter intimidation, targeting some companies because of political connections (Koch brothers, Gibson Guitars), etc.)
  
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huey6367
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 9:00am
GO figure that Roosevelt and Wilson are the top two.

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- jjoy
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 11:51am
  Not hard to “figure”…
  
  wilson was the very first “progressive”…
  
  most of FDR’s had to do with defeating the axis during WWII…
  
  Report this comment
- peaceangel
  Posted on February 5, 2013 at 12:17am
  The Roosevelt and Rockefeller families brought the New World Order to the US by way of two NAZI’s 200 years ago. Wilson & Coolidge were also Bilderburgers responsible for the UN agreement to depopulate the world by 90% & to create the NWO for the 21st century.Both Bush’s and the Clintons are Bilderburgers and they rule the world. They have passed all the laws necessary to overturn the Constitution already,starting with REX 84 & HAARP, which controls the weather & can control your mind from Fairbanks and it can “change the way you think” so you will go willingly to the internment camps & there are four NDAA acts which includes 400 things that make everyday citizens”terrorists”
  who have no right to trial, counsel, bail or a phone call. Tens of thousands of US citizens have disappeared because of these laws.20,000 ppl are missing in Va. alone. NAFTA was passed by republicans to send all our jobs out of the country and to destroy the middle class. This “machine” has been poisoning the US for 6 decades with DDT, Agent Orange, Flouride which is in all our food and water is highly poisonous to humans and all the kids shots and vaccinations are filled with brain destroying metals which make us number 1 worldwide for brain debilitating diseases & disorders. We are #1 for every physical disease that will kill you or make you crazy in the world. There are 55 of 110 Nuclear Power plants leaking radiation into our soil and water. Wake up sheeple—–the end is near.
  
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huey6367
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:59am
How many times did a federal court come back and tell you that your appointees during a Congress that was not in recess are unconstitutional? Just asking.

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- 338lapua
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 1:58pm
  [sound of baby crying] When you do things that are not “constitutional” sometimes, and I should really say, RARELY, you get caught. When you make “recess appointments” congress needs to be “recessed”. Starting to make some sense?
  
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EvanBerrett
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:38am
The numbers on Executive Orders by President that Glenn has aren’t accurate I feel. I did a study myself on this, and using the Presidency Project primarily, completed by UC Santa Barbara, I manually counted every single order from every President. You can see what I found here:

http://evanberrett.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-uncertain-privilege-executive-orders-and-their-use-by-presidents-through-history/

I also adjusted in another chart for if all Presidents had two full terms. In either case, Truman actually had the most. My numbers for Barack Obama may be slightly out of date, but it’s not far off.

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TMOverbeck
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:26am
“The second clause, Barton added, states the president of the United States shall ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’”

I wonder if this is how G.W. Bush justified his “signing statements”.

Also, I wonder what Grant was doing with his EOs, it looks like he was the first one to really escalate them.

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- Endyr
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:51am
  Well Bush isn’t the President any longer now is he, the Neo-Marxist zoom dweebee is.
BuggiOlleo
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:24am
Glenn< Love the suit. It's hard to listen knowing that I am not the only one really looking great with clothes which do do not match…at all.

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- Cat_Ion
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 9:03am
  Its Stu’s quiet revenge: Stu convinced Glenn that “nerds are IN”.
  Poor Tanya….
  
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SamIamTwo
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 7:57am
Thanks on saying what I have been posting for years. Having worked in DoD for over 33 years I have had to vibrate in place (government contracting officer) many times awaiting the impact of an EO…it can be undone but Congress isn’t aware of the process…so send them a letter, email them or call them and let them know that you are aware of the process and they had time to stop the EOs but now that they are part of the federal registration you need to inform them that they are to DEFUND the EO.

And when these fools say it’s ok to fund another quarter with a continuing resolution they are inadvertently ratifying pieces and parts of the EOs that are in the federal register. They don’t have a clue as to what they are funding, it does not go down to that detail…

EOs very seldom get into federal contracts but I fear under Obama that they may be creeping into those contracts and that is one way of changing the commercial world…better get harping on that too.

And this is one of the many reasons why there is no budget…intentional.

EO’s are only intended to clarify laws that are not clear…and later Congress is to ratify if their is a cost impact…simple process but oooppsssie they don’t know it???

Presidential powers need to be checked and their is a process that is broken…call, email send them letters…Mine have fallen on deaf minds…cause I live in WA STATE…and even the republican dood is dumber than dirt or is a RINO.

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700P
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 7:57am
EOs are apparently a Progressive trend with FDR holding primacy from 3+ terms. Anyone suggesting repeal of the 22nd Amendment needs to be deported to sub-Saharan countries so they can really see what happens when power runs amok without term limits. The term limits we need now for anyone is 5 or 6 terms in the House then no more than 2 in the Senate. The Founders never intended for professional politicians and Lord knows what they would have done to them (tarring and feathering comes to mind).

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- jocko
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 3:16pm
  Add that limitation to the staff wonks who are really the ones that write the laws and make everything happen in DC. I would say no staffer gets to work for more than one electee in a lifetime – one term or up to 12 years.
  
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- Magus
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 4:41pm
  The founders also never intended for anyone other than rich white men to have a role in government.
  
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Willik
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 7:03am
The operative phrase/paragraph:

‘The first clause states the president shall “hold the executive office” — a relatively simple command. The second clause, Barton added, states the president of the United States shall “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Executive orders were never intended to give a president the authority to go around Congress to enact legislation.’

Hmmm.

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Dagnabbit5
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 6:42am
For those wondering how to get rid of an EO supposedly this is what it takes…
Executive orders can be overturned by either of the other two branches: the Supreme Court can do so through a case that is brought in front of them and Congress can do so by passing legislation that would conflict with the order or by refusing to approve funding to enforce it. The president still has the right to veto a decision from Congress, which Congress can override as always with a two-thirds majority that would end the executive order. However, this is nearly impossible because of the supermajority vote that is required as well as the fact that individual lawmakers can be left very vulnerable to political criticism. To date, two executive orders have been overturned by other branches. This includes the previously mentioned Truman order as well as a 1996 Clinton order that attempted to prevent the US government from contracting with organizations that had strike-breakers on the payroll. Executive orders can also be overturned by future presidents.

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- SamIamTwo
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 8:04am
  Better to challenge them upfront before they get into the federal register…our congress is broken. And federal employees have an opportunity to challenge them during the 90 day open for discussion process. I did get several chances (more than I care to mention) to say no that eo violates law and the law is clear.
  
  Once these get cranked into federal contracts all hell breaks out as it causes massive commercial changes…contractors like to run mean and lean but when they are told to do something else they are asked to submit an impact proposal and the KO is to negotiate the impact of the EO into the contract. GROWTH…Presidential EOs are VERY COSTLY…and contracts are one of many areas impacted…
  
  But it was fun telling HQ that the EO violated public law and would cost billions to implement. LMAO at the fools who allow this chaos to continue.
  
  Email, send letters, call your representatives to DEFUND ALL illegal EOs…
  
  Report this comment
SacredHonor1776
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 5:33am
For anyone interested in researching this topic further this is a helpful resource;

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/

It lists numbers of each president’s executive orders, and includes tables with the names and basic purpose of each order. This should make it easier to find more information about any specific EO. Though you may have to go deeper into a GOV archives or libraries.

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taxpro4u03
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:30am
With regard to Mr Barton’s assessment of the 13th article of amendment — it must be recognized that the Representatives of Seceding states in both the House and the Senate VACATED their seats leaving the ‘union’ in 1861 — thereby ‘dissolving’ it. — Via EXECUTIVE ORDERS (powers granted WITHOUT QUORUM by a strictly Northern ‘Congress,’ “granted” such ‘war powers…’ ) – Lincoln suspended the Republic’s Constitution on April 24, 1863 – the ‘emancipation’ became ‘effective’ Jan 1, 1863; historically speaking, the suspended Constitution was never reinstated, merely ‘replaced’ via facimile during the 9 years of ‘military occupation/carpetbaggers’ – with the 2nd Organic Acts of 1871/74 – that ‘rag’ they call the ‘constitution.’ There were NO seats filled by the southern states in the Federal District of Columbia until AFTER passage of the ’14th amendment’ — http://www.barefootsworld.net/consti12.html#168b

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Chuck7884
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:08am
The question remains how many are still in force!.

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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:01am
All this is mute without unethical alinsky radicals. Obama for instance is a liar and did not openly disclose his true intentions on most everything about his true agenda. He got away with it using the alinsky media.

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AZgirl9000
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:58pm
Everyone agrees, Obama’s executive orders are just common sense.

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- Psychosis
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:04am
  wow your precious
  
  dumb as a rock, but precious
  
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- fordfan
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 4:49am
  WTH? obama’s orders are ommon sense? Pleeeease tell us: common sense compared to what?
  
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YOURSENSEI
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:42pm
This is what you must know:

Ooh, David Barton. isn’t he the guy who teaches people how to paint with water colors? No, wait, the guy who sells firewood at the flea market? No, no . . . Oh! The guy who steals copper from the phone lines out at the Airport Sheraton? Hmm, that doesn’t seem right . . . Barton . . . David Barton . . .Oh, right, he’s that (quote unquote) historian who got called out for all that that shoddy scholarship . . . right . . . David Barton . . . the guy who makes **** up . . . (He’d be better off selling firewood).

It is so.

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scott4freedom
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:35pm
Opened my eyes and ears, very informative and very scary! Because we have failed to teach the Constitution and all it’s implications to at least the last 3 generations, we are now reaping what we have sewn. We as a nation must be on watch at all times , we must push and petition our elected officals to be vigilant when it comes to these excutvie orders.If they can’t do the job the we will be truly lost as a nation.

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Rayblue
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:32pm
Every time this weird little jackanape issues one
it’s too many.
He’s like Bogart in The Caine Mutiny.
Rolling the balls and giving orders only the insane would think worthwhile.
“Worthwhile” in a free world to be sure.

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- punyhuman
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 1:08am
  Hmmm, wonder when or if he runs over his own towline?
  
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noneed4govthelp
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:24pm
The problem is,who stops him from doing anything illegal?He may not have the power,but he does, if no one will stop him. He thinks he is above the law,and so far, it appears he is.Congress seems to make themselves irrelevant.

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SolitudeBliss
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:24pm
Is it the Quantity or the Quality of the Executive Orders?

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- CatB
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 3:13am
  Agree if they are small (like naming a road or library) who cares …but when like Obama’s they are making law then that is very dangerous to our REPUBLIC.
  
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- fordfan
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 4:47am
  Without doubt, QUALITY.
  
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- RobbieTLHughie
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 10:40am
  lol I love how instead of addressing what President Roosevelt or President Wilson did, you instead go straight for the dagger to the throat of “Yeah but, OBAMA, you know?”
  
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:18pm
But the important question is, who holds the record for the most Presidential Pinky Promises? Equirering minds want to know.

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Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:06pm
IMO, Glenn was a bit off in his presentation of the authority of executive orders. The president has two sources of authority for issuing executive orders. First is his authority over the executive branch. He may issue orders with the force of law to federal employees who work for him. Secod he has authority delegated to him by Congress (regulatory authority).

He does not have the authority to issue a completely arbitrary order, have it placed in the Federal Register and by default have it declared law. The biggest exercises of executive orders were all backed by statutes passed by Congress. FDR’s confiscation of gold was backed by the Trading with the Ememy Act and by a 1930′s banking act. FDR’s internment of Japanese-Americans was backed by a statute that allowed the military to remove people from areas considered to be battlefields.

I would feel completely comfortable bucking an arbitrary order to refrain from criticism of Islam or to report details of all firearms owned to the Federal government. Obama doesn’t have the authority to issue orders like those and in fact has pretty much no authority to order individual citizens to do anything at all.

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- fordfan
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 4:45am
  E.O.’s were intended for the president to send the directives to the people working DIRECTLY under him on how to do certain things within their job description…period. Slice it, dice it any way you like, there for nothing more, nothing less. They sure as heck weren’t meant to be any kind of legislation or declared law. Even if it pertains to what you can or can’t say about Islam.
  Like EVERYTHING else he does, the president has made a complete mockery of the use of E.O.’s, the Constitution and the rule of law in general.
  P.S. even tho other presidents have written more, for obama, it’s what is in them that makes them and his doing it such a problem
  
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OlefromMN
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:03pm
How many of “Cool Cal’s” were needed to offset past atrocities?

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- Xylliab_of_the_Znarghh
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 6:18am
  Probably none. He wrote a lot, but they were all fairly uncontroversial and modest in scope. A lot of them had to do with transfer of public lands to the National Park Service.
  
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