Government Publications: United States: President of the United States

Prior to 1978, materials created by the President, and his staff, during the course of his duties (correspondence, memos, telephone logs, etc.) were considered his personal property. These materials may be in the Library of Congress, historical societies, academic archives, or in one of the presidential libraries. The Presidential Records Act of 1978 recognized Presidential records that "document the constitutional, statutory, and ceremonial duties of the President" as property of the United States Government. The materials are given to the Archivist of the United States when a president leaves office. The papers of Richard Nixon are governed by the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 and administered by the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

Research Presidential Materials, prepared by the National Archives, provides an excellent overview of the types of presidential documents available.

Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included, which may vary from year to year.

According to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the president must annually submit a budget to Congress by the first Monday in February. The proposed spending plan, the president's budget must show:

• The condition of the Treasury at the end of the last completed fiscal year.
• The estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year.
• The estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the next fiscal year if the budget proposals are carried out.

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. The Compilation of Presidential Documents is published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The Public Papers of the Presidents, which is compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 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.

Volumes of the Public Papers of the Presidents from 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to 1991 (George H.W. Bush) published by NARA are made available as digital formats through GPO digitization efforts. Publications covering the John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush presidencies are available in multi-book volumes. The Public Papers of the President were not published by the National Archives for the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency; these volumes were published by a private printer before the commencement of the official Public Papers series.

The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States in print:  The ROW Library has Herbert Hoover through Barack Obama 2012, vol. 1.  These volumes are located in the Fireplace Room, first floor.

NOTE:The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register issued a final rule on December 29, 2022, discontinuing the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (Public Papers). The Public Papers are discontinued as a whole, and the series will end with the Obama Administration; Public Papers will not be published for either the Trump or Biden Administrations. All published volumes of the Public Papers will continue to be available on GovInfo in the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States collection.