(Mostly) Free Resources

The United States Government Publishing Office is an agency of the U.S. Federal government. It produces and distributes information products and services for all three branches of the U.S. Government. This includes documents from the White House, Congress, and other Federal agencies. It can help users find other government information resources at no charge through the Federal Depository Library Program and GovInfo.gov.

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a program that is administered by the U.S. GPO and was established to ensure that the American public has access to Government information. There are 1,150 Federal depository libraries across the country, all of which are free to visit and use. These libraries provide access to resources such as: information on health, careers, business opportunities, the military, science, technology, travel, and nutrition; books, maps, microfiche, journals and periodicals; access to digital Government information resources; and historical publications dating back to the early dats of the United States. 

Please check out this website to see where the closest library is to you. 

GovInfo is a service of GPO and provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. There are several ways to search for Presidential documents on GovInfo. One of the easiest would be to hover over the "Browse" tab located at the top of the page. Users can select "A-Z," which contains a list of all products offered, but more likely want to select "Category." This will redirect to a page that has categorized these materials, including one labeled "Budget and Presidential Materials." 

The National Archives are regarded as the nation's record keeper. For instance, they are responsible for keeping materials such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. (Nicholas Cage stole from them in National Treasure). It was established in 1934 by President Roosevelt but much of its holdings go as far back as 1775. They are responsible for: approximately 13.5 billion pages of textual records; 10 million maps, charts and architectural and engineering drawings; 40 million still photos, digital images, filmstrips, and graphics; 40 million aerial photos; more than 448 million feet of motion picture film; 992k video and sound recordings; and 837 terabytes of electronic data.

To find presidential documents, users can search the website if they know what they're looking for. Another, broader search option is to scroll down to "Orgs. & Offices" and look for "Presidential Libraries." This will link the user out to a page where they can search through the holdings of 15 Presidential Libraries and the materials they have in their archives. 

The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. Users can use federalregister.gov to browse various presidential documents, such as Executive Orders (back to Roosevelt), Proclamations, and other presidential documents, including memoranda, notices, letters, messages, and more (back to Clinton). 

The Code of Federal Regulations is the official legal print publication containing the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. Users can find it on GovInfo, back to 1996, or they can find an electronic edition at ecfr.gov. It has regulations from multiple agencies across the government but Title 3 is specifically dedicated to the President. It is updated annually and contains Executive Orders and Proclamations in numbered sequence, other Presidential Documents arranged by date, and Regulations of the Executive Office of the President. It also includes various tables and findings aids, as well as an index. An interesting fact about the CFR is that, unlike other Titles in the CFR, Title 3 is not superseded.

The American Presidency Project contains documents related to the study of the American presidency, including Public Papers, Annual Messages to Congress, Inaugural Addresses, Radio Addresses, Acceptance Speeches, Presidential Candidates Debates, Party Platforms, Elections Data, and Audio/Video Archive. Users can use the search bar in the top right corner to search for materials, or they can select the "Documents" tab to search by category or they can select the "Presidents" tab and search through each president individually.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts. It preserves and provides access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage in intellectual and creative endeavors. Users can either do a general search using the search bar or they can search through the materials that the Library has made available online by looking through their "Digital Collections."

The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarship, public policy, and political history, providing critical insights for the nation's governance challenges. Users will likely want to select "The Presidency" tab located at the top right of the screen. This will allow users to search through materials by several categories, such as "Presidential Speeches" or "Presidential Oral Histories," or they can select "U.S. Presidents," where they can search through the information that is available on a specific president. 

This is the official website of the white house and changes with every administration. It will usually include links to the current President's platform and current operations. Users can find information about the President, the Vice President, their families, Press Releases, Proclamations, Executive Orders, and transcripts of speeches by White House officials. 

Older iterations of the site are archived and can be found on National Archive.