# President's Council on Equal Opportunity *United States federal body (1965), chaired by the Vice President and revoked by executive order* The President's Council on Equal Opportunity was established by President Johnson on February 5, 1965, through [[Executive Order 11197]].[^1] The order provides that "The Vice President of the United States, who shall be the chairman of the Council", which placed the chair with the [[Vice President of the United States]], then Humphrey.[^1][^2] On September 24, 1965, [[Executive Order 11247]] revoked Executive Order 11197, effective thirty days later. It transferred the [[Title VI]] coordination function and the Council's records to the Attorney General.[^2] The order's stated ground was that the issues "will be predominantly legal in character" and that the Attorney General is "the chief law officer of the Federal Government."[^2] The two orders are 231 days apart.[^1][^2] The record shows that the coordinating function moved from an elected officer to an appointed one. It does not establish any reason for the move beyond the ground the order itself states.[^2] The project's at-issue record pairs the 1965 orders with a 2025 executive order, *Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy*. The record describes that order as relocating the same function again, sixty-one years later, by the same instrument type.[^3] ## Who - President Johnson issued Executive Order 11197, which created the Council.[^1][^2] - Under that order, the Vice President of the United States chaired the Council. Humphrey held the office and the chair.[^1][^2] - Executive Order 11247 gave the Council's Title VI coordination function and its records to the Attorney General, an appointed officer.[^2] ## What Executive Order 11197, *Establishing the President's Council on Equal Opportunity*, created the Council with the Vice President as chairman.[^1] Executive Order 11247 revoked that order. It vested the Title VI coordination function and the Council's records in the Attorney General.[^2] ## When - February 5, 1965: Executive Order 11197 establishes the Council.[^1] - September 24, 1965: Executive Order 11247 revokes Executive Order 11197, effective thirty days later.[^2] - The two orders are 231 days apart. Because the revocation took effect thirty days after the second order, the Council existed somewhat longer than that interval.[^1][^2] ## Why Executive Order 11247 states its ground: the issues "will be predominantly legal in character," and the Attorney General is "the chief law officer of the Federal Government."[^2] The order gives no other reason. The record cited here does not document one.[^2] ## How The Council was created by executive order and ended by executive order. Its function and records were transferred together to the Attorney General.[^1][^2] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record sets out a sequence of three executive orders:[^3] - the February 1965 order that placed federal civil-rights coordination under the Vice President;[^1] - the September 1965 order that moved the function to the Attorney General on the stated ground that it would be "predominantly legal in character";[^2] - the April 2025 order *Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy*, which the record anchors to the 1965 pair as a later relocation of the same function by the same instrument type.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: President Johnson, *Executive Order 11197, Establishing the President's Council on Equal Opportunity* (February 5, 1965), via The American Presidency Project — establishes the Council and names the Vice President as chairman ("The Vice President of the United States, who shall be the chairman of the Council"). https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-11197-establishing-the-presidents-council-equal-opportunity [^2]: President Johnson, *Executive Order 11247* (September 24, 1965), as quoted from full text in the validated dossier HHH_Waverly_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md §IV.6 — revokes Executive Order 11197 effective thirty days later, transfers the Title VI coordination function and the Council's records to the Attorney General, and states the ground quoted above. No primary URL for this order is in the pack. [^3]: The White House, *Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy* (April 2025) — the 2025 executive order that the project's at-issue record anchors to the 1965 orders. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy