1. 
Martin,
Fenton S. and Robert U. Goehlert. How to Research the Presidency. Washington,
DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1996.
LAU Gov Docs Ref Z1249.P7 M365 1996.
Lists and describes primary and secondary sources for researching the U.S.
Presidency.
2. Inaugural
Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington
1789 to George Bush 1989. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1989.
LAU GovDocs Y 1.1/2:Serial 13914
3.
Inaugural
Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, George Washington
to George W. Bush <http://www.bartleby.com/124/>
| III. Proclamations and Executive
Orders |
Proclamations and Executive Orders are documents issued by the President
through Consitutional powers. Proclamations can be ceremonial and
nonceremonial, and are often addressed to the public; Executive Orders
(E.O.'s) usually relate to the work of federal agencies. Both have
the force of law, and can be located as follows:
4. Federal
Register.
Daily; includes Presidential Proclamations, Executive Orders and other
documents. Proclamations and Executive Orders have been published here
since 1936.
Dates |
Location |
current year |
GovDocs Stx AE2.106
Includes current unbound issues. |
1994-present |
GPO ACCESS. <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html> |
July 1, 1980-present |
 LexisNexis
Congressional (select "Regulations" category)
or LexisNexis
Academic (select "Legal Research" category)
|
1970-1998 |
 A
microfiche set of Federal Register issues from 1970-1998 is contained
in LAU GovDocs Cabinet 75.
|
1956-1968 |
A
microcard set of Federal Register issues from 1956-1968 is located
at LAU GovDocs Mcard 13. |
5.Code
of Federal Regulations, Title 3 The President <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html> LAU
Gov Docs Ref AE 2.106/3 1943-present
This compilation has been issued in an annual volume since 1976 and includes
Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders.
6. Codification
of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, April 13, 1945-Jan. 20,
1989
LAU Gov Docs Ref AE 2.113:945-89
Arranged under 50 subject headings, this volume provides the text of many
Proclamations and EOs along with amending notes and a subject index.
7. Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/> LAU
Gov Docs Ref AE 2.109: vol 1 (1965- Oct. 2000, online only after October,
2000)
Issued every Monday, this publication includes statements, messages and announcements
by the President during the previous week. It began in 1965; quarterly and
annual indexes are included.
8. In
addition, Presidential Proclamations can also be found in the U.S. Statutes
At Large
LAU Gov Docs Ref AE2.111:
| IV. Appointments and Nominations |
Nominations and appointments made by the President can be located through several
sources.
For current actions, The Congressional Record's "Daily Digest" appears
at the beginning of the month with a "Disposition of Executive Nominations," a
listing in which civilian and military nominations are enumerated.
9. The
Congressional Record LAU Gov Docs Stacks X1.1A:
Also available online through LexisNexis
Congressional
10. Congressional
Index. Chicago: Commerce Clearing House.
Gov Docs Ref KF49. C6
This loose-leaf series, with weekly updates, contains nominations listed by
nominee's name, as well as by agency, organization or department, and status
of the nomination is also indicated.
Recess appointments can be also be located through The Congressional
Record.
They are also often issued as press releases through the White House website:
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/>
11. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Washington, DC: Congressional
Quarterly, Inc.
LAU Gov Docs Ref- current unbound issues; older bound volumes, LAU Per Stx.
Recess appointments and nominations are often printed in the back pages of
each issue. Retrospective nomination actions can searched through the Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents.
| IV. Presidential Messages to Congress and Vetoes |
When the President issues messages to the Legislative Branch, they
most often contain the approval or veto of bills, or propose new
legislation. Current messages and vetoes can be found in the Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents, as well as in the Congressional
Record. Public Papers of the Presidents also contain these messages.
Several volumes have been issued which compile the record of Presidential
vetoes; several are listed here:
12. U.S.
Congress. Senate. Library. Presidential
Vetoes, 1789-1988. <http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm> Washington:
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1992.
Gov Docs Ref Y1.3:S.Pub.102-12
13. U.S.
Congress. Senate. Library. Presidential
Vetoes, 1989-2001.
<http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm>
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001.
LAU Gov Docs Stacks Y1.3:S.Pub.107-10
The collected day-to-day working documents of the President include
items such as drafts, memoranda, and notes.
14. President's
Papers Index Series - At the beginning of the twentieth century,
the Library of Congress Manuscript Division began collecting presidential
papers; they later issued a microfilm edition which includes the
letters, notes, speeches and more for twenty-three U.S. Presidents,
from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. Each Presidential microfilm
collection includes a print index, which serves as a subject guide
to the material. To locate the paper index for the President you
are researching, search the online catalog GEORGE under
title: President's Papers Index Series.
This will list all the index volumes which are located in the Gov
Docs Reference Stacks. The GEORGE record will also show the microfilm
number for the particular Presidential collection that is needed.
Government Documents staff can provide assistance in using these
microform materials.
15. Presidential
Preview <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/presprvw/prsprvw.html>
The
Library of Congress, through its American Memory project,
has developed a plan to digitize its collection of Presidential
materials, beginning
with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Selected
Presidential materials are available online.
16. Public
Papers of the Presidents of the United States <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/search.html>
LAU Stacks J80.A283 (year)
This series is an official collection of bound papers, speeches, messages,
E.O.s, proclamations, nominations and other materials of the U.S. Presidency.
It includes presidential papers since the Hoover Administration in 1929. The
volumes cover all Presidents except Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose papers were
published privately, and thus they represent an historical record of each administration.
Since 1977, they include material that appeared in the Weekly Compilation of
Presidential Documents. The document arrangement within each volume is chronological,
with indexing by subject, name and document category. Search GEORGE by
title to produce the full display of call numbers, along with "year" designation.
| VII. Annual Reports of the President |
17. Annual
Report of the President on Federal Advisory Committees <http://www.fido.gov/facadatabase/printedannualreports.asp>
Committees, commissions, councils and task forces that assist the President
are listed in this annual report, from
the Federal Advisory Committees Database at the Federal Interagencies Databases
Online.
18. Economic
Report of the President Transmitted to the Congress. <http://www.access.gpo.gov/eop/> LAU Gov Docs
Ref Y1.1/7: issues back to 1948.
This publication provides background on economic policy and contains many
statistics on U.S. economic conditions. It also includes a report of the
activities of
the Council of Economic Advisors. It is transmitted annually to the U.S.
Congress. To find the appropriate year, search the online catalog GEORGE
under the title: Economic Report of the President Transmitted to the Congress.
19. Trade
Policy Agenda and Annual Reports of the President of the United
States on the Trade Agreements Program. <http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/Section_Index.html> LAU
Gov Docs PrEx9.11:999-2000
Trade policy agenda for regions of the world are reviewed here, along with
economic assessments of trade agreements and tariffs.
| VIII. Presidential Directives |
Authorized or signed by the President, directives are released by
the National Security Council.
Because they sometimes contain classified information, Presidential Directives
can be difficult to locate. The following resources can be useful starting
points.
20. Foreign
Relations of the United States. Washington: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1932- <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/> LAU
Stacks JX233 .A3; LAU Gov Docs S1.1 Stacks and S1.1 MF
This Department of State publication, issued each year, includes the text of
older Presidential Directives.
21. Kesaris,
Paul, ed. Documents of the National Security Council, 1947-1977 [microform]
Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, 1980.
LAU Microforms Mfilm 632, and LAU Microforms Mfilm 632 guide
This microfilm set of original papers covers 5 reels, and the guide includes
an index by world region and by subject. Presidential directives from the Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon and Ford Administrations are included.
22. Simpson,
Christopher. National Security Directives of the Reagan and
Bush Administration: the Declassified History of U.S. Political and
Military
Policy, 1981-1991. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.
LAU Gov Docs Ref E876.S5 1995
This volume is a numbered, photocopied collection of National Security Directives
of the Reagan and Bush Administrations.
23.Presidential
Directives and Executive Orders <http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/direct.htm>
This website from the Federation
of American Scientists, Intelligence Resource Program includes
Review Directives and Decision Directives from President Truman through President
George W. Bush.
| IX. Additional Resources on the Presidency |
24. Portraits
of the Presidents and First Ladies <http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/odmdhtml/preshome.html>
Provides likenesses of each President, and most of the First Ladies,
as well as a "time line" of Presidents and First Ladies.
through American Memory at the Library of Congress.
25. Presidents
of the United States <http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/>
This online reference from the Internet Public
Library shows election statistics, lists
of Cabinet Members, and major historic events for each President,
as well as selected links to
full-text historic documents of each Administration.
26. Presidential
Documents Series [microform]. Frederick, MD: University Publications
of America.
LAU Microforms
This series includes microform documents for several 20th century Presidents,
including Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Eisenhower. It provides material such
as oral histories, minutes of Cabinet meetings, and Presidential messages.
Search GEORGE by series title to see the full listing of these microform collections,
or ask Government Documents staff for assistance.
27. Presidential
Libraries <http://www.archives.gov/presidential_libraries/index.html>
This website provides information on the National Archives' Presidential Library
System. Also included are links to the sites of eleven Presidential Libraries,
with descriptions of their facilities and research assistance.
28. Visits
Abroad of the Presidents of the United States, 1906-1997 <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/prestravels2.html>
Prepared by the Office of the Historian, U.S. State Department, this publication
lists official visits to foreign nations made by U.S. Presidents, beginning
with Theodore Roosevelt through Bill Clinton. It includes access chronologically
by President, as well as alphabetically by country.
Content updated: 01/06
- rh
Links updated: 01/06
- rh
I.