Administrative Law

What are Presidential Documents?

Presidential documents (also known as "presidential directives") are official documents created by the President to "announce official policy and make declarations in their roles as leader of the executive branch, commander in chief of the Armed Forces, and head of state." Congressional Research Service "Presidential Directives: An Introduction," November 13, 2019 (URL)(accessed July 30, 2024). Presidential documents are an important part of administrative law research. 

How Authoritative Are Presidential Documents?

The answer, as always, is "it depends." Presidential documents designed to remain in force across presidential transitions can be repealed, amended, or replaced by the entering President. This also depends on whether the document is based on the President's Article II powers or on statutory authority. In the latter case, Congress may revoke the executive order by modifying the statute. 

The source of record for many presidential documents is the Federal Register. There are a few other places to find compilations of presidential documents: 

• The Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents
• ProQuest Congressional has presidential documents (1789 - present). To limit your search to these materials, from Advanced Search under Legislative & Executive Publications, please deselect all, then select Presidential Materials only.
• The American Presidency Project is a repository of presidential documents with over 165,000 presidential and non-presidential records that are searchable. The documents include State of the Union addresses, presidential commencement speeches, as well as addresses to Foreign governments and the United Nations.