U.S. Presidential Library
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Additional Resources
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865). Roughly half of the collection, more than 20,000 documents, comprising 62,000 images, as well as transcriptions of approximately 10,000 documents, is online in full text images with transcriptions included for about half of the online collection. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Abraham Lincoln Papers is also available online.
The Andrew Jackson Papers is one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The Jackson archival digital collection contains more than 26,000 items dating from 1767 to 1874. Included are memoranda, journals, speeches, military records, land deeds, and miscellaneous printed matter, as well as correspondence reflecting Jackson’s personal life and career as a politician, military officer, president, slave holder and property owner.
The papers of vice president, senator, and representative Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), who became the seventeenth president of the Unites States in 1865 after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, consist of 40,000 items (63,710 images), most of which were digitized from 55 reels of previously produced microfilm. Subjects covered in the papers, the bulk of which date from 1865-1869, include the Civil War, National Union Party, Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and assassination, Reconstruction, and Johnson’s presidential administration and impeachment. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Andrew Johnson Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of U.S. senator from Indiana and U.S. Army officer Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), who became the twenty-third president of the United States, consist of 69,600 items (178,479 images), most of which were digitized from 151 reels of previously produced microfilm. Subjects covered in the papers, the bulk of which date from 1853-1901, include relations with his family, the Civil War, Indiana politics, Harrison’s senatorial career (1881-1887) and presidency (1889-1893), the political campaign of 1888, his Indianapolis law practice, and the Venezuela boundary dispute. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Benjamin Harrison Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of John Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), thirtieth president of the United States, consist of approximately 179,000 documents (218,513 images), which have been digitized from 190 reels of previously reproduced microfilm. Held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, these papers constitute the largest collection of original Coolidge documents in the world. Although Calvin Coolidge’s papers span the years 1915-1932, they date primarily from the five and a half years of his presidency, 1923-1929. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Calvin Coolidge Papers is also available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of Chester Alan Arthur (1829-1886), who became the twenty-first president of the United States in 1881 after James A. Garfield’s assassination, consist of 4,400 items (7,667 images), most of which were digitized from 10 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1843-1960, with the bulk dating from 1870 to 1888, the collection contains correspondence, financial papers, scrapbooks, clippings, and other papers relating to Arthur’s presidency, his service as collector of customs for the Port of New York, and his work with the New York Republican State Committee. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Chester Alan Arthur Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), army officer, representative and senator from New Hampshire, and fourteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 2,350 items dating from 1820 to 1869. They include correspondence, a photostatic copy of a diary kept by Pierce while serving in the Mexican War, drafts of Pierce’s messages to Congress, and an engraved portrait. Pierce’s correspondence relates chiefly to his service in the Mexican War, public affairs, and national politics. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Franklin Pierce Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of army officer and first U.S. president George Washington (1732-1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world. They consist of approximately 77,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, including correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records.
The papers of New York governor and lawyer Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), who became the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States, consist of 108,200 items (192,602 images), most of which were digitized from 164 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1743 to 1945, with the bulk dating from 1885 to 1908, the collection contains correspondence, diaries, messages to Congress, speeches, writings, printed matter, and other papers relating chiefly to Cleveland’s presidencies and presidential campaigns. Most of the collection relates to Cleveland’s first presidential administration (1885-1889). A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Grover Cleveland Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of U.S. president, army officer, lawyer, and educator James A. Garfield (1831-1881) consist of approximately 80,000 items (200,083 images), most of which were digitized from 177 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1775-1889, with the bulk dating from 1850 to 1881, the collection contains correspondence, diaries, speeches, records of Garfield's Civil War military service, legal records, genealogical material, college notebooks, tributes, printed matter, scrapbooks, and other material relating primarily to Garfield's career and death. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the James A. Garfield Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of James K. Polk (1795-1849), governor of Tennessee, representative from Tennessee, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and eleventh president of the United States, contain approximately 20,500 items dating from 1775 to 1891, with the bulk falling in the period 1830-1849. The papers document struggles during Andrew Jackson’s administration over the Bank of the United States, Nullification Crisis, and internal improvements. For the period of Polk’s presidency, the papers cover the annexation of Texas, war with Mexico, the Oregon question, and the acquisition of the territories of New Mexico and California. The collection also contains three volumes of the papers of Polk's wife, Sarah Childress Polk. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the James K. Polk Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items, spanning the period 1723-1859, captured in some 37,714 digital images. They document the life of the man who came to be known as the “Father of the Constitution” through correspondence, personal notes, drafts of letters and legislation, an autobiography, legal and financial documents, and his notes on the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention. Some of Madison’s documents are accompanied by transcripts.
The James Monroe Papers at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress consist of approximately 5,200 items dating from 1758 to 1839. Monroe's papers document his presidency and also his prior careers as secretary of state, secretary of war, delegate to the United States Continental Congress, diplomat, and governor of Virginia. Topics covered include the negotiations with France for the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Monroe-Pinkney treaty with Great Britain (1806), the War of 1812 (1812-1815), the Missouri Compromise (1820), the purchase of Florida from Spain (1819–1821), the Monroe Doctrine (1823), and Virginia politics.
The John Tyler Papers, one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, contains more than 1,400 items dating from 1691 to 1918, most of which fall between 1757 and 1918. The collection is made up primarily of correspondence, including letters and copies of letters to or from Tyler (1790-1862), a governor and U.S. representative and senator from Virginia, who served as vice president under William Henry Harrison before becoming the tenth president of the United States upon Harrison’s death in 1841. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the John Tyler Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The Martin Van Buren Papers, one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, contains more than 6,000 items dating from 1787 to circa 1910. The bulk of the material dates from the 1820s, when Van Buren (1782-1862) was a U.S. senator from New York, through his service as secretary of state and vice president in the Andrew Jackson administrations (1829-1837), to his own presidency (1837-1841) and through the decade thereafter when he made unsuccessful bids to return to the presidency with the Democratic and Free Soil parties. Included are correspondence, autobiographical materials, notes and other writings, drafts of messages to Congress in 1837 and 1838, and other speeches, legal and estate records, miscellany, and family items.
The papers of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), public official, author, decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War, governor of New York, and president of the United States (1901-1909), consist of approximately 276,000 documents (roughly 461,000 images), most of which were digitized from 485 reels of previously reproduced microfilm. The collection contains personal, family, and official correspondence, diaries, book drafts, articles, speeches, and scrapbooks, dating from 1759 to 1993 with the bulk of material from the period between 1878 and 1919. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Theodore Roosevelt Papers is also available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), diplomat, architect, scientist, and third president of the United States, held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, consist of approximately 25,000 items, making it the largest collection of original Jefferson documents in the world. Dating from the early 1760s through his death in 1826, the Thomas Jefferson Papers consist mainly of his correspondence, but they also include his drafts of the Declaration of Independence, drafts of Virginia laws; his fragmentary autobiography; the small memorandum books he used to record his spending; the pages on which for many years he daily recorded the weather; many charts, lists, tables, and drawings recording his scientific and other observations; notes; maps; recipes; ciphers; locks of hair; wool samples; and more.
The papers of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), army officer and eighteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 50,000 items dating from 1819-1974, with the bulk falling in the period 1843-1885. The collection relates to Grant's service in the Mexican War and Civil War, his pre-Civil War career, and his postwar service as U.S. secretary of war ad interim under President Andrew Johnson, his 1868 presidential campaign and two-term presidency, his unsuccessful 1880 presidential bid, and his extensive travels and financial difficulties. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Ulysses S. Grant Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of William Howard Taft (1857-1930), twenty-seventh president of the United States and tenth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, consist of approximately 676,000 documents (785,977 images), which have been digitized from 658 reels of previously reproduced microfilm. Held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, these papers constitute the largest collection of original Taft documents in the world. The collection contains family papers, personal and official correspondence, presidential and judicial files, speeches and addresses, legal files and notebooks, business and estate papers, engagement calendars, guest lists, scrapbooks, clippings, printed matter, memorabilia, and photographs dating from 1784 to 1973, with the bulk of the material dated 1880-1930. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the William H. Taft Papers is also available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The William Henry Harrison Papers, one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, contains approximately 1,000 items dating from 1734 to 1939, with the bulk dated from 1812 to 1841. Harrison (1773-1841), an army officer, representative, and senator from Ohio, served as the ninth president of the United States. His collection includes a letterbook, 1812-1813, correspondence, and military papers stemming mostly from his military and political career in the Northwest Territory, his service in Indian wars and the War of 1812, his time as territorial governor of Indiana Territory (1800-1812), and his role as Whig Party candidate in the unsuccessful 1836 presidential bid and the successful 1840 election, the latter leading to his abbreviated presidential term, cut short by his death one month after his inauguration.
The papers of army officer, U.S. representative, and governor of Ohio William McKinley (1843-1901), who became the twenty-fifth president of the United States, consist of 131,000 items (121,435 images) most of which were digitized from 98 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years circa 1847 to 1935, with the bulk dating from 1897 to 1901, the collection contains correspondence, speeches, messages, scrapbooks, printed matter, and other papers pertaining primarily to McKinley’s presidential administration. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the William McKinley Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), scholar, president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey, and president of the United States (1913-1921), consist of approximately 280,000 documents, comprising approximately 620,000 images, most of which were digitized from 540 reels of previously produced microfilm. Held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, these papers constitute the largest collection of original Wilson documents in the world. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Woodrow Wilson Papers is also available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The Zachary Taylor Papers, one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, contains approximately 650 items dating from 1814 to 1931, with the bulk from 1840 to 1861. The collection is made up primarily of general correspondence and family papers of Taylor (1784-1850), with some autobiographical material, business and military records, printed documents, engraved printed portraits, and other miscellany relating chiefly to his presidency (1849-1850); his service as a U.S. Army officer, especially in the 2nd Seminole Indian War; management of his plantations; and settlement of his estate. A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Zachary Taylor Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
American Presidency Project (APP)
Hosted at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the American Presidency Project is a free source of presidential documents on the internet, containing 141,888 records. Its archives contain data related to midterm elections, U.S. party platforms from 1840, statements of administration policy, White House press briefing transcripts, presidential debate transcripts, and more.
Executive Orders: A Beginner's Guide (Library of Congress)
This guide provides information on researching published executive orders, proclamations, and memoranda by American presidents.
Executive Orders Disposition Tables
Disposition Tables contain information about Executive Orders beginning with those signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and are arranged according to Presidential administration and year of signature. The tables are compiled and maintained by the Office of the Federal Register editors. Starting with the Clinton administration, users can browse a subject index for all Executive orders issued during a particular administration. This search engine is hosted by the National Archives.
Using both Library of Congress materials and related congressional documents, this guide provides general and legal materials on the origins of impeachment, procedures governing impeachment, and past impeachments of presidents and other federal officers.
This guide, created by the Law Library of Congress, is intended to provide researchers with an overview of the law pertaining to the Electoral College and resources for further research.
Lincoln/Net presents materials from Lincoln's Illinois years (1830-1861), supplemented by resources from Illinois' early years of statehood (1818-1829). Thus Lincoln/Net provides a record of Lincoln's career, but it also uses his experiences as a lens through which users might explore and analyze his social and political context. Site users may restrict their research to specific media types, browsing or searching through textual materials, images and maps, sound recordings, video materials, and interactive resources. Lincoln/Net's interpretive materials help the site's users to formulate historical questions that they may then test with the archive's primary source data.
Lincoln/Net is the product of the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project. Based at Northern Illinois University, the Lincoln Project works with a number of Illinois institutions, including the University of Chicago, the Newberry Library, the Chicago Historical Society, Illinois State University, the Illinois State Archives, Lewis University, and Knox College.
A digitized collection of papers, writings, and manuscripts from those close to Abraham Lincoln, contained in the University of Rochester's rare books and special collections. Content in this archive spans 1833-1867.
The Lincoln Publications Collection is comprised of works held by Western Illinois University which are primarily about Abraham Lincoln. Most of these documents are in the public domain, unless otherwise specified in the Rights field.
Notable Events and Accomplishments of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Administration, 1977-1981
Description of archival documents that highlight notable events and accomplishments during Jimmy Carter’s presidential administration from 1977-1981 that include the Camp David Accords (1978), the hostage crisis in Iran (1979-1981), the Panama Canal Treaties (1977-1978), the president’s daily diary (1977-1981), presidential directives (1977-1981), presidential review memoranda (1977-1979), and legislation towards the progression of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). A project of the Digital Library of Georgia, a GALILEO initiative based at the University of Georgia Libraries that collaborates with Georgia's Libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions of education and culture to provide access to key information resources on Georgia history, culture, and life.
This guide from the Federal Depository Library Program contains information related to the Office of the President of the United States.
Presidential Documents Research Guide
This guide from Georgetown Law Library describes the role of Executive Orders, Proclamations, and Presidential Signing Statements, where to find them in print, on the web, through subscription databases, and on microfiche.
Presidential History: A Resource Guide
The Library of Congress’s collections are rich with resources related to U.S. presidential history. This guide compiles print materials, digital collections, subscription databases, and links to external websites.
This guide from the Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law collects materials related to presidential power.
Presidential Research Resources: A Guide to Online Information
Excerpted from C&RL News, this article provides an overview to online resources for conducting presidential research.
A guide to the University of Virginia's collections related to Thomas Jefferson, with additional links to texts and information resources about Jefferson.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Master Speech File, 1898-1945
From the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, this Speech File contains over 46,000 pages of drafts, reading copies, and transcripts created throughout FDR's political career. It is the most extensive collection of primary source documents related to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s lifetime of public addresses. The speeches range from a 1898 school debate on the annexation of Hawaii while Roosevelt was a student at Groton School to the draft of the April 13, 1945 Jackson Day address that Roosevelt never delivered because of his death the day before. Users can access both digitized PDF versions of each file as well as digitized audio recordings.
This guide from the National Archives provides an overview of all Presidential Libraries, links to the Libraries' online, the type of content contained in these Libraries and how to conduct research at the Libraries.