Executive Order 8629—Establishing the Office of Production Management in the Executive Office of the President and Defining Its Functions and Duties
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and in order to define further the functions and duties of the Office for Emergency Management with respect to the national emergency as declared by the President to exist on September 8, 1939, and to increase production for the national defense through mobilization of material resources and the industrial facilities of the Nation, it is hereby ordered:
1. There shall be in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, an Office of Production Management which shall consist of (1) a Director General, and (2) an Associate Director General, each to be appointed by the President, (3) the Secretary of War, and (4) the Secretary of the Navy. The members shall serve as such without compensation but shall be entitled to actual necessary transportation, subsistence, and other expenses incidental to the performance of their duties.
2. With such advice and assistance as it may require from other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, and subject to such regulations or directions as the President may from time to time prescribe, and subject further to the general policy that the Departments of War and Navy and other departments and agencies of the Government will be utilized to the maximum extent compatible with efficiency, the Office of Production Management shall:
a. Formulate and execute in the public interest all measures needful and appropriate in order (1) to increase, accelerate, and regulate the production and supply of materials, articles and equipment and the provision of emergency plant facilities and services required for the national defense, and (2) to insure effective coordination of those activities of the several departments, corporations, and other agencies of the Government which are directly concerned therewith.
b. Survey, analyze, and summarize for purposes of coordination the stated requirements of the War and Navy and other departments and agencies of the Government, and of foreign governments for materials, articles, and equipment needed for defense.
c. Advise with respect to the plans and schedules of the various departments and agencies for the purchase of materials, articles, and equipment required for defense, to coordinate the placement of major defense orders and contracts and to keep informed of the progress of the various programs of production and supply.
d. Plan and take all lawful steps necessary to assure the provision of an adequate supply of raw materials essential to the production of finished products needed for defense.
e. Formulate plans for the mobilization for defense of the production facilities of the Nation, and to take all lawful action necessary to carry out such plans.
f. Determine the adequacy of existing production facilities and to assure their maximum use; and, when necessary, to stimulate and plan the creation of such additional facilities and sources of production and supply as may be essential to increase and expedite defense production.
g. Determine when, to what extent, and in what manner priorities shall be accorded to deliveries of material as provided in Section 2(a) of the Act entitled "An Act to Expedite National Defense and for other Purposes," approved June 28, 1940. Deliveries of material shall take priority, as provided in said Act, in accordance with such determinations and the orders issued in pursuance thereof by the Office of Production Management.
h. Perform the functions and exercise the authorities vested in the President by Section 9 of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940.
i. Serve as the liaison and channel of communication between the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense and the Departments of War and Navy with respect to the duties imposed upon the Commission by the following named acts, and with respect to all other matters pertaining to defense purchasing and production: Public Nos. 667, 781, 800 and 801 and Public Resolution No. 95, 76th Congress.
j. Perform such other functions as the President may from time to time assign or delegate to it.
3. The Director General, in association with the Associate Director General, and serving under the direction and supervision of the President, shall discharge and perform the administrative responsibilities and duties required to carry out the functions specified in paragraph 2, subject to and in conformity with the policies and regulations (not inconsistent with such regulations as may be issued by the President) prescribed by the Office of Production Management.
4. There shall be within the Office of Production Management the following and such other operating divisions as the President may from time to time determine:
a. A Division of Production
b. A Division of Purchases
c. A Division of Priorities
Each division of the Office of Production Management shall be in charge of a director appointed by the Office of Production Management with the approval of the President.
5. There shall be within the Office of Production Management a Priorities Board composed of six members. A chairman and three other members shall be appointed or designated by the President; the Director General and Associate Director General shall be members, ex officio. The Priorities Board shall serve as an advisory body and, from time to time as may be required by the Office of Production Management, shall make findings and submit recommendations with respect to the establishment of priorities, the placing of mandatory orders, the assignment of preference ratings, the allocation of deliveries, and other related matters. In making its findings and recommendations, the Priorities Board shall take into account general social and economic considerations and the effect the proposed actions would have upon the civilian population.
6. Within the limits of such funds as may be allocated to it by the President on the recommendation of the Bureau of the Budget, the Office of Production Management may employ necessary personnel and make provision for the necessary supplies, facilities, and services. However, the Office of Production Management shall use insofar as practicable such statistical, informational, fiscal, personnel, and other general business services and facilities as may be made available through the Office for Emergency Management or other agencies of the Government.
7. Executive Order No. 8572 of October 21, 1940, as amended by Executive Order No. 8612 of December 15, 1940, is revoked.
FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT
The White House,
January 7, 1941.
APP NOTE: "The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt" also includes this administrative order:
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
FURTHER DEFINING THE STATUS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
WHEREAS Executive Order No. 8248, dated September 8, 1939, provides, in part, as follows:
"There shall be within the Executive Office of the President the following principal divisions, namely: (1) The White House Office, (2) the Bureau of the Budget, (3) the National Resources Planning Board,(4) the Liaison Office for Personnel Management, (5) the Office of Government Reports, and (6) in the event of a national emergency, or threat of a national emergency, such office for emergency management as the President shall determine";
AND WHEREAS the Office for Emergency Management was formally established by Administrative Order of May 25, 1940, and it is deemed advisable to modify the said order and further define the duties and functions of the said office;
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Statutes, and in pursuance of Part I of the aforesaid Executive Order of September 8, 1939, it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. The Office for Emergency Management shall have the following duties and functions:
(a) To advise and assist the President in the discharge of extraordinary responsibilities imposed upon him by any emergency arising out of war, the threat of war, imminence of war, flood, drought, or other condition threatening the public peace or safety.
(b) To serve as a division of the Executive Office of the President, with such subdivisions as may be required, through which the President, during any emergency, may coordinate and supervise and, in appropriate cases, direct the activities of agencies, public or private, in relation thereto.
(c) To serve as a channel of communication between such agencies and the President concerning emergency activities, to keep the President currently advised of their progress, to assemble and analyze information concerning additional measures that should be taken, and to assist in the preparation of recommendations for any necessary legislation.
(d) To provide and maintain liaison during any such emergency with other divisions of the Executive Office of the President and with other agencies, public or private, for the purpose of bringing about maximum utilization and coordination of their services and facilities.
(e) To advise and assist the President upon or before termination of any such emergency with respect to any measures that may be needful to facilitate a restoration of normal administrative relations and to ameliorate the consequences of the emergency.
(f) To perform such other duties and functions with respect to any such emergency as the President may from time to time direct.
2. The work and activities of the following-named agencies, and such other agencies as the President may from time to time designate, shall be coordinated in and through the Office for Emergency Management under the direction and supervision of the President:
(a) The Council of National Defense, the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense and all subordinate bodies and agents of the Council and Commission.
(b) Defense Communications Board.
(c) Office of Production Management (to be created immediately hereafter).
3. Provision may be made in the Office for Emergency Management for liaison facilities and for the maintenance of routine office services required in the conduct of the work and activities of the agencies coordinated through or established in the Office for Emergency Management.
4. Any provisions of the Administrative Order of May 25, 1940, establishing the Office for Emergency Management inconsistent with this order are hereby superseded by this order.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Executive Order 8629—Establishing the Office of Production Management in the Executive Office of the President and Defining Its Functions and Duties Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209567