Executive Agencies and the Office of President

Info on Office of the President and Executive Agencies, including Budget, Presidential papers, regulations, Treaties and Executive Orders

Presidential Records Act

Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA)
The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. ß2201-2209, governs the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981 (i.e., beginning with the Reagan Administration).
From National Archives
The Presidential Records Act: An Overview (.pdf)
Congressional Research Service Report
December 17, 2019

Public Papers of the Presidents: Two versions online

There are two versions of the Public Papers of The Presidents online: govinfo.gov and HathiTrust (formerly through the University of Michigan). Both are full image and easy to use. They have some different features so you can pick the one you like best. This series is being discontinued after the Obama Administration. See the Complication of Presidential Documents, updated daily, for this information.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
Papers and speeches of the President of the United States issued by the Office of the Press Secretary. Browse or search via govinfo.gov
Include official photos section.
Covers the administrations of Presidents:

> Barack Obama (2009-2016)
> George W. Bush (2001-2009)
> William J. Clinton (1993-2001)
> George H. W. Bush (1989-1993 )
> Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
> Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
> Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
> Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
> Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
> John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
> Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
> Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
> Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Also available free online through HathiTrust (formerly through University of Michigan) This version does not include George W. Bush or Barack Obama; see Govinfo version for these).HathiTrust version contains search-only version of the Franklin D. Roosevelt papers, which are not in the public domain.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States

Compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, began in 1957 in response to a recommendation of the National Historical Publications Commission. Noting the lack of uniform compilations of messages and papers of the Presidents before this time, the Commission recommended the establishment of an official series in which Presidential writings, addresses, and remarks of a public nature could be made available.

Compilation of Presidential Documents (1992-current)
Official publications of presidential statements, messages, remarks, addresses, news conferences, executive orders and proclamations and other materials released by the White House Press Office. Since 1974 the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents has been incorporated into the the Public Papers of the President. From govinfo.gov Updated daily.

Presidential Papers - Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Presidential Papers at the Library of Congress
The Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress holds the papers of twenty-three presidents from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. The Library completed a years-long project to digitize all of these presidential collections.
More information.

Other Sources of Presidential Papers

The Writings of George Washington: Being his Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and other Papers, Official and Private / Selected and Published From the Original Manuscripts...
Boston : American Stationers' Company, John B. Russell, 1834-1837.
12 volumes via Making of America (MOA)
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
Approximately 20,000 documents including incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, notes, and printed material from the 1850s through the end of Lincoln's presidency.
Abraham Lincoln; complete works, comprising his speeches, letters, state papers, and miscellaneous writings
HathiTrust
edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay.
New York, The Century co. [c1922]
Papers of Ulysses S. Grant (Digital edition) Mississippi State University's Mitchell Memorial Library
Mississippi State University's Mitchell Memorial Library. Consists of the first 31 volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant,
POTUS: Presidents of the United States
Links to Internet resources for each U.S. President. From University of Michigan, Internet Public Library.
Office of Presidential Libraries
Fifteen libraries serving as repositories for preserving and making accessible the papers, records, and other historical materials of U.S. Presidents from Hoover onward. National Archives.
President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection
From National Archives
The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) (Random House)
New York : Random House, 1938.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers :The Human Rights Years, 1945-1948
E-book chronicling Eleanor Roosevelt's development as diplomat, journalist, and political strategist in the years 1945 to 1948,
Papers of Woodrow Wilson (Woodrow Wilson Foundation Princeton University)
Wilson's personal correspondence, academic works, speeches, minutes of the Paris Peace Conference and diary entries of close associates.
JPL 3rd Floor E660 .W717 (65 volumes) (Storage Library - offsite)
Woodrow Wilson Papers (Library of Congress)
NOTE: Content is different than Papers of Woodrow Wilson (above)
The Wilson papers have been at the Library of Congress since Edith Wilson deposited the materials at the Library in 1939, including the bulk of his presidential papers, and made them a permanent gift in 1954. Documents were added to the collection through 2015
Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson (1917-1924) (Harper).
--[v. 1-2] College and state; educational, literary and political papers (1875-1913)-[v. 3-4] The new democracy; presidential messages, addresses, and other papers (1913-1917)-[v. 5-6] War and peace; presidential messages, addresses, and public paper (1917-1924)
JPL 3rd Floor E660 .W722
President Wilson's State Papers and Addresses / Introduction by Albert Shaw with editorial notes, a biographical sketch and an analytical index.
New York : George H. Doran Co., the Review of reviews Co., [c1918]
HathiTrust
Papers of James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston
Digitized by Library of Congress. Harriet Lane Johnston was Buchanan's niece and White House hostess. Also available on Microfilm E437 .J36 (4 reels)
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: James Buchanan
By James D. Richardson
Free from Project Gutenberg
The Works of James Buchanan, comprising his speeches, state papers, and private correspondence
12 volumes
Collected and edited by John Bassett Moore.
Presidents Taylor and Fillmore
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of Presidents.
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874 and Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850
Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of U.S., Mar. 4, 1889 to Mar. 4, 1893
(Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1893)
HathiTrust
Grover Cleveland - Library of Congress Collection
The papers of New York governor and lawyer Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), who became the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States, consist of 108,200 items (192,602 images), most of which were digitized from 164 reels of previously produced microfilm.
The Public Papers of Grover Cleveland, twenty-second president of the United States. March 4, l885, to March 4, l889.
HathiTrust
Washington, Govt. print. off., 1889.
Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, edited by John Spencer Bassett.
Washington, D.C., Carnegie institution of Washington, 1926-35.
7 volumes
The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren,
HathiTrust
Washington : Govt. Print Off., 1920.
Fourteenth report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1919.
James Monroe Papers - Library of Congress Collection
The James Monroe Papers at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress consist of approximately 5,200 items dating from 1758 to 1839. Monroe (1758–1831) was the fifth president of the United States, and one of 23 presidents whose papers are at the Library of Congress. Monroe's papers document his presidency and also his prior careers as secretary of state, secretary of war, delegate to the United States Continental Congress, diplomat, and governor of Virginia.
James Monroe Papers, 1772 – 1836
E302 .M74 1963 (Reel 1 – Reel 6) (Microfilm)
Finding Aid: The James Monroe papers, 1772-1836 : guide to the Scholarly Resources microfilm edition
JPL Stacks, E302 .M74 1963 Guide
Online Guide / Information
James Monroe Papers in Virginia Repositories
E302 .M74 1969 (Reel 1 – Reel 13) (Microfilm)
Finding Aid: Guide to the microfilm edition of James Monroe papers in Virginia repositories / Curtis W. Garrison, editor; David L. Thomas, assistant editor.
Location: JPL Stacks, E302 .M74 1969 Guide
The Writings of James Madison : Comprising his public papers and his private correspondence, including numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed
HathiTrust
edited by Gaillard Hunt.
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons ; New York : 1900-1910.
9 volumes

Records of the Presidency : presidential papers and libraries from Washington to Reagan
Call Number: JPL 3rd Floor CD3029.82 .S35 1989
Publication Date: Phoenix, Ariz. : Oryx Press 1989
The story of the presidential papers from their origin to their places of deposit, and a comprehensive guide to their contents … "
by Frank L. Schick; Renee Schick; Mark Carroll

Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist, His Letters, Papers, and Speeches, Collected and Edited by Dunbar Rowland .
HathiTrust
Jackson, Miss., Printed for the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History, 1923.
10 volumes

Compilation of Presidential Documents

Compilation of Presidential Documents (1992-current)
Official publications of presidential statements, messages, remarks, addresses, news conferences, executive orders and proclamations and other materials released by the White House Press Office. Since 1974 the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents has been incorporated into the the Public Papers of the President. From govinfo.gov Updated daily.

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Compilation of Presidential Documents (1992-current) See Presidential Papers helpsheet from ProQuest

Compilation of Presidential Documents
Online
4th Floor Microfilm Cabinets (1965-1995) J80 .A824
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1902
HathiTrust
The original 20 volume set covers Presidents Washington through Taft with some Wilson papers. : ill. (some col.), facsims., maps, ports.

Founders Online

Founders Online
Correspondence and other writings of 6 major shapers of the U.S.:
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. Over 149,000 searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative Founding Fathers Papers projects.

"The National Archives, through its National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), has entered into a cooperative agreement with The University of Virginia Press to create this site and make freely available online the historical documents of the Founders of the United States of America."

Vice Presidential Papers

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 that made Presidential records public property also included Vice Presidential Papers.

Papers of vice presidents who later became president are kept with their presidential papers. National Archives has the papers of vice presidents Gore and Cheney. Papers of other vice presidents who never served as president are available in various locations.

Access to vice presidential records in the aftermath of Executive Order 13,233
Gaidos, Katherine. “Access to Vice Presidential Records in the Aftermath of Executive Order 13,233: From Haphazard Past to Uncertain Future.” Government information quarterly 24, no. 1 (2007): 2–28.