BEV BUTULA: Finding presidential documents doesn’t take an executive order

By: BEVERLY BUTULA//December 28, 2011//

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There are a variety of resources available when looking for presidential documents. In addition to the CFR and Federal Register, the following is a small sampling of resources:

1. Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders

This website is part of the National Archives and “provides access to the edited and re-arranged text of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders” from April 1945 to January 1989. The site offers three separate indexes, an alphabetical (topical) index, a CFR chapter index, and a numerical index.

2. Compilation of Presidential Documents

“The Compilation of Presidential Documents collection consists of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents which are the official publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary.”

3. Public Papers of the Presidents

Another resource that is part of the FDsys, this online collection includes materials from President George H.W. Bush to the present. One aspect of this collection that might be new to some individuals is the photographic portfolio.

4. American Presidency Project

An extensive project by the University of California Santa Barbara, the website contains over 98,000 documents “related to the study of the Presidency.” The archive includes a variety of documents from Inaugural Addresses to FDR’s Fireside chats. Audio and video clips from fourteen presidents can also be found on the site. Election and other data of interest are well organized on the site.

From the homepage, access several search options (scroll to the bottom of the page) to quickly locate relevant materials.

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