Executive Documents
Introduction │ Presidential Documents │ Federal Register │Code of Federal Regulations (Title 3)
Introduction: Executive Documents
The Executive Office of the President issues three main types of resources:
- Executive Orders are the most common form of signed documents, through which the President of the United States manages the operations of the Federal Government and are largely directed at administrative agencies.
- Proclamations are signed documents through which the President communicates information on holidays, commemorations, special observances, and trade. Proclamations are largely ceremonial in nature.
- Administrative Orders are signed documents the President uses to carry out the administrative operations of the Federal Government. Administrative orders include memoranda, notices, determinations, letters, and messages.
The listing of resources below is not meant to be all-inclusive. For more in-depth information on locating Executive branch documents go to the Penn Libraries guide U.S. Government Documents: Executive Branch.
Presidential Documents
- HeinOnline - U.S. Presidential LibraryHeinOnline includes messages and papers of the presidents, public papers of the presidents, documents relating to impeachment, and a host of other works relating to the U.S. presidency. For additional information about the U.S. Presidential documents available through HeinOnline go to HeinOnline's U.S. Presidential Library guide.
- GovInfo - Public Papers of the PresidentsThe Public Papers of the Presidents is compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), began in 1957. The Public Papers series covers the administrations of Presidents Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama (1929 -2016).
- GovInfo - Compilation of Presidential DocumentsThe Compilation of Presidential Documents collection (1992 - 2022) 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. The Compilation of Presidential Documents is published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- The American Presidency DocumentProduced by John Woolley and Gerhard Peters at UC Santa Barbara, sources include nearly every document from Messages and Papers of the Presidents of the United States ("Richardson") and The Public Papers of the Presidents.
- ProQuest Congressional - Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations 1789-2014Provides Presidential materials including executive orders, presidential proclamations, directives, memoranda, pardons, correspondence, statements, and other types of communication. Available from 1789 to present.
Federal Register
Executive Orders, Proclamations, and other types of Administrative Orders have been published since 1936 in the Federal Register, the official daily journal of the U.S. Federal Government. Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. The Federal Register is published to keep the public informed on Federal regulations and Presidential actions.
- Office of the Federal RegisterThe official Federal Register website is produced and administered by The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) from 1994 to the most current issue.
- HeinOnlineHeinOnline provides access to the full Federal Register from vol. 1, 1936 to the most recent issue.
Code of Federal Regulations (Title 3)
Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the compiled collection of signed Presidential documents (including Executive Orders) and the codification of White House regulations dealing with the conduct of employees of the Executive Office of the President. Title 3 of the CFR includes presidential documents.
- GovInfo.govGovInfo, the official online document repository for the U.S. Government Publishing Office provides the Code of Federal Regulations from 1996 to current.
- HeinOnlineHeinOnline provides full-text coverage of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) containing all volumes dating from 1938 to current.
- Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg is available in the Yablon Financial Resources Lab (room 244) in Lippincott Library or on the Forum Level of Huntsman Hall. From the Bloomberg dashboard, choose the “Legislative & Regulatory” tab. Click on “Search Federal Register.” Enter the C.F.R. section in the “CFR Section Affected” box and click “Search.” NOTE: UPenn users must create a personal account on the Bloomberg Terminal.