Presidential Documents Archive Collections

This Guidebook includes collections created by the APP to help researchers and students navigate key documents related to specific historical events, dates in history, or category of documents.

The Public Papers of the Presidents contain most of the President's public messages, statements, speeches, and news conference remarks. Documents such as Proclamations, Executive Orders, and similar documents that are published in the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations, as required by law, are usually not included for the presidencies of Herbert Hoover through Gerald Ford (1929-1977), but are included beginning with the administration of Jimmy Carter (1977). The documents within the Public Papers are arranged in chronological order. The President delivered the remarks or addresses from Washington, DC, unless otherwise indicated. The White House in Washington issued statements, messages, and letters unless noted otherwise. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, various dates.)