U.S. Government Publications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison : Presidential Documents

GovInfo: Compilation of Presidential Documents

• Provides free public access to official publications released by the White House Press Secretary starting with 1993.
• Documents are categorized by year and month and listed chronologically. Includes:
  • proclamations
  • photographs
  • executive orders
  • speeches
  • press conferences
  • communications to Congress and federal agencies
  • statements regarding bill signings and vetoes
  • appointments and nominations
  • reorganization plans
  • resignations and retirements
  • acts approved by the President
  • nominations submitted to the Senate
  • White House announcements and press releases

GovInfo: Public Papers of the Presidents of the U.S.

• Provides free public access to Presidential writings, addresses, and public remarks of U.S. Presidents from 1929 to 1932, and 1945 to 2016.
  • The Public Papers of the Presidents were discontinued with the end of the Obama Administration. Official writings, addresses, and remarks for future presidents may be found in the Compilation of Presidential Documents collection.
• Documents are categorized by President, arranged chronologically by year, and separated into document and photograph categories. Includes:
  • Addresses to the Nation
  • Addresses and remarks
  • Appointments and nominations
  • Bill signings and vetoes
  • Communications to Congress and Federal agencies
  • Executive orders
  • Interviews with the news media
  • Joint statements
  • Meetings with foreign leaders and international officials
  • Proclamations
  • Resignations and retirements
  • Statements by the President

HeinOnline U.S. Presidential Library

• Includes such titles as Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Public Papers of the Presidents, CFR Title 3 (Presidents), Daily and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, and other documents related to U.S. Presidents.
• Available to patrons in UW-Madison libraries, and to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff off-campus.

American Presidency Project

• Free resource. 
• From the University of California, Santa Barbara. About the Presidency Project. 
• Has a single searchable database covering:
  • The Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1929
  • The Public Papers of the Presidents: since 1929
  • The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: 1977-2009
  • The Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents: post-2009
• The advanced search allows you to limit by president, document category (that is, the kind of document), and date.
• The site also has 
  • Statements of Administration Policy (Reagan 1985-Biden)
  • a limited number of Remarks by Administration Officials (1977-current) 
  • election and transition documents (earliest is from 1797)
  • videos in its media archive (some going back to the 1980s)
• Texts of some social media posts are included.

As part of the Federal Depository Library Program, the UW-Madison Libraries make U.S. government publications available to the public at no fee.

What Executive Orders are

Per the website Govinfo.gov’s page “About Executive Orders,” “Executive Orders have the force and effect of law and are generally used by the Executive Office of the President to provide direction to Federal Agencies and officials as they carry out operations within the executive branch.”  Here are two government websites where you can find the texts of these orders:

Where to find Executive Orders

White House.gov

The White House site, and in particular, the Executive Orders sub-section of  “presidential actions” section, has the texts of executive orders signed by Trump.  This site is often where the orders first appear.  Executive orders on the White House website aren’t numbered (the Office of the Federal Register gives the orders their numbers, and it takes time for the OFF to receive and process the orders).  

Federal Register

From the Federal Register’s “Executive Orders” page:

"After the President signs an Executive order, the White House sends it to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR).  The OFR numbers each order consecutively as part of a series and publishes it in the daily Federal Register shortly after receipt.

….

Because the White House cannot deliver a document to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) until after the President signs a document, there is always a delay (of at least one day, typically of several days) between when the President signs a document and when it is published.”

After the description of executive orders and the publishing process, there are links to download all the executive orders by president in bulk.  That section is followed by “Executive Order disposition tables,” which lists links to executive orders in reverse chronological order.