Executive Order 12036

United States history

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July 20, 2026

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Executive Order 12036, issued by President Jimmy Carter on January 26, 1978, affirmed the ban on U.S. government members engaging in political assassination anywhere in the world. This order superseded Executive Order 11905, issued by President Gerald Ford in 1976, which was the first executive order to explicitly prohibit assassinations. Executive Order 12333, issued by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, further affirmed this ban. The scope of these orders has been subject to interpretation, as the term "assassination" was not explicitly defined, leading to debates about its application during wartime or in covert operations.1

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Executive Order 11905
It was successively superseded by Executive Order 12036 (issued by President Jimmy Carter on January 26, 1978) and Executive Order 12333 (issued by President Ronald Reagan on December 4, 1981), both of which affirmed the ban in the same language, which differed only slightly from that of Ford’s order.
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It was successively superseded by Executive Order 12036 (issued by President Jimmy Carter on January 26, 1978) and Executive Order 12333 (issued by President Ronald Reagan on December 4, 1981), both of which affirmed the ban in the same language, which differed only slightly from that of Ford’s order.
Read More