Barack Obama · Deep dive

Executive Power

14 of 37orders he revoked were his own

The most in the index. On the current term the figure is 0 of 88.

A president can revoke an executive order — but whose? Of the thirty-seven he revoked, fourteen were his own, the highest count in the index, and twelve of those fourteen replaced a standing order with a new one doing the same job. That is maintenance rather than reversal, and it is what has since disappeared: self-revocation runs 38% here, then 24%, then 5%, then none, while the share aimed at the predecessor climbs to nine in ten.

7 of 7 overlay dives on this record

The six universal dives are asked of every subject at this tier. This is not one of them. It exists because of one thing this subject has been — head of government — and a subject who has not been that never gets this page. That is why this record has 7 overlay dives to write rather than a number every record shares. All six base dives were written first, and that ordering is a rule rather than a habit: an overlay dive published on its own is a page about the part of someone chosen by whoever built it.

The six base dives and the other 6 overlay dives are listed on the full record.

14 of 37

orders he revoked were his own

The most self-revocation in the index; the current term’s is 0 of 88

of those fourteen were replacements

A successor order doing the same job — maintenance, not reversal

6.8 yrs

median age of what he revoked

The furthest back of any presidency here

38% → 0%

self-revocation after this record

Across the four presidencies that follow it

64%

of all revocations come within 4 years

Which is why exposure time does not explain the rest

The finding

Fourteen of the thirty-seven orders he revoked were his own

The highest count of self-revocation in the index, and 38% of everything he revoked. Twenty-one targeted his predecessor and two reached back further. On the current term the equivalent figure is zero out of eighty-eight.

his own — 14his predecessor’s — 21older — 2

All 37 revocations he signed, by who signed the order being revoked.

A count on its own would say he revoked himself more than any president in the index, which is true and, taken alone, misleading. The next tab is what those fourteen actually were, and the tab after it is why that matters.