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Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution establishes executive power vested in a President.
Originally, these directives were used primarily as administrative tools; however, they have increasingly taken on a lawmaking role and have set policy. For an explanation and review of presidential directives, see the CRS Report Presidential Directives: Background and Overview . There are several types of presidential directives. The main ones are:
Executive Orders may be administrative (establishing new offices within the executive branch) or policy-setting (President Roosevelt's executive order requiring the internment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry during World War II). Almost all current executive orders have the force of law. Executive orders beginning in 1862 are numbered, while orders issued between 1789 and 1862 are unnumbered.
Proclamations can have significant legal force and effect (declaring emergency situations or invoking the President's constitutional powers as commander-in-chief) or be more celebratory in nature (President Washington's 1789 proclamation declaring Thanksgiving a national holiday).
A 1935 act of Congress required the publication of most presidential orders and proclamations in the Federal Register and these cumulate annually in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 3. Wellesley has presidential orders and proclamations in various locations. Use the following table to find what you need.
Document Year
|
Source Title
|
Call Number
|
Available Online
|
1789 to present (proclamations only ) | Statutes at Large | Clapp Docs KF 50 .U5 | American Memory Collection 1789 to present; search or browse |
1789 to present | |||
March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1933 | Proclamations and Executive Orders Herbert Hoover | Clapp Docs J 82 D5 2 vols. | |
March 13, 1936 through 1975 | Code of Federal Regulations Title 3 | Clapp Docs KF 70 A3 | |
1972-1990 | United State Code Congressional and Administrative News | Clapp Docs KF 63 .A2 | |
1977-1989 | Public Papers of the Presidents | Clapp Docs J 80 .A283 | American Presidency Project |
1990-1999 | Code of Federal Regulations Title 3 | AE 2.106/3:3/ (microfiche) |
GPO Access (1996 to present), search or browse |
1993 to present | Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents | GPO Access, search or browse | |
1994 to present | Federal Register | GPO Access, search or browse |