Presidential Documents Research Guide

Presidential documents include Executive Orders and proclamations, as well as other documents such as determinations, letters, memorandums, and reorganization plans. This guide focuses on the most important Presidential documents for legal research: Executive Orders and proclamations.

This guide also covers Presidential Signing Statements. When the President signs a bill into law, the President may issue a statement explaining the reasons for approving the legislation. These statements were traditionally brief and generally did not contain substantive analysis of the legislation. However, in recent administrations they have been used more vigorously and have become a subject of controversy. There is disagreement about their role in and importance to legislative history.

This guide describes these materials and where to find them in print, on the web, through subscription databases, and on microfiche.

ProQuest Congressional. Executive Branch Documents (1789-1948) and Presidential Materials (1789-Present) are part of the ProQuest Congressional database. To limit your search to these materials, from Advanced Search under Legislative & Executive Publications, please deselect all, then select Executive Branch Documents and Presidential Materials only.

American Presidency Project. A major repository of presidential documents created by the University of California, Santa Barbara, the American Presidency Project includes State of the Union addresses, presidential commencement speeches, as well as addresses to Foreign governments and the United Nations.

Compilation of Presidential Documents. GovInfo makes the Compilation of Presidential Documents available from 1992 until present. Using the Advanced Search feature on GovInfo, researchers can search the Compilation of Presidential Documents by keyword or date. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1965-2009) is available on HeinOnline and updated by the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents.

Presidential End of Term Web Archive. The End of Term Web Archive started as a partnership between the International Internet Preservation Consortium and National Digital Infrastructure and Preservation Program.  Their goal was to archive the web at the end of presidential administrations -- beginning with George W. Bush -- in order to capture federal government websites before they changed during the next administration. The archive is full-text searchable and browsable, though still fairly rudimentary.  It includes all three branches of government and covers a few months preceding and after the new term.  New partners have since joined and the Archive continues to grow and evolve while providing access to materials across presidential administrations. It is only current through 2017.

Public Papers of the President. One very convenient source for Presidential public messages, speeches, and statements is the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States series (Stacks J80 .A283). This series is published by the National Archives and Records. Dates of coverage for the print series are: 1929-1933 and 1945-2012. The Public Papers set is the cumulation of the Weekly Compilations of Presidential Compilations. Additionally, HeinOnline includes the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States in its U.S. Presidential Library, and GovInfo includes the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States since Herbert Hoover. Finally, Lexis has a database of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, with coverage beginning January 20, 1981.

Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897. Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents is a 10 volume set that contains documents from George Washington through William McKinley. It is also available on HeinOnline and LLMC Digital.

Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies. Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies is a collection of publications created by advisory groups established by various presidents to study and give advice on specific events or situations.  It is available on HeinOnline.

Reference Desk:
Atrium, 2nd (Main) Floor
(202) 662-9140

Request a Research Consultation

Help with Database Troubleshooting

Links 11/18 (SB)
Updated 3/21 (MK)
Updated 5/24 (DGD)