Introduction

Executive Orders of the President are working documents directed toward government agencies and officials while Proclamations are directed toward the general public. The rationale for the designation assigned is often difficult to determine, however.  For example, Lyndon Johnson's Exec. Order No. 11246 instituted affirmative action in the workplace while John F. Kennedy's Proclamation 3447 established the embargo on all trade with Cuba.

Prior to 1907, these documents were unnumbered such as the first Exec. Order by Geo. Washington that required a clear account of the government and the first Proclamation that declared Thanksgiving Day. From 1907 until the first publication of the Federal Register (FR) in 1936, the State Dept. collected, organized, and assigned numbers to these documents.  From 1936 to the present, Exec. Orders and Proclamation have been published in the FR, a requirement to be considered legally binding. The annual compilation of Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) codifies both document types. For this reason, Title 3 volumes are never replaced by more current editions of the CFR.

Full-Text

Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3--The President. New Executive Orders and Proclamation are included in the List of Sections Affected (LSA) which is issued monthly, quarterly, and then cumulated in the annual Title 3 compilation.  The annual volume is indexed by subject and title with numerical finding tables in each volume.  Included is a list of EOs affected by later issuances. (Gov. Publications Collections AE 2.106/3: current year only; Gov. Publications Microfiche: GS 4.108/3: (1979–1985); and AE 2.106/3: (1986–present); Online 1996--present year).

Federal Register, issued daily, is the first official form of publication of both Executive Orders and Proclamations. Online from 1994--present

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides the full-text of Executive Orders from 1993 forward, the Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders spanning the administrations of Harry S. Truman through Ronald Reagan (April 13, 1945 - January 20, 1989, and Executive Orders Disposition Tables which describes the status of E.O.'s beginning with E.O. 7532, January 8, 1937 - present.

Presidential Executive Orders and Proclamations, 1789-1983. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1987.(Gov. Publications Microfiche 1830) .

Public Papers of the Presidents. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. Online (1991-2003); in print (Gov. Publications Collection J80 .A283 from 1929-2003) note: Papers of Franklin Roosevelt are not part of the series.

Statutes at Large (Proclamations only) from 1791 to present. In Print: (Gov. Publications KF50 .A3); Online: Lexis-Nexis Congressional

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (online from 1993 to present)

Indexes

CIS Index to Presidential Executive Orders & Proclamations. 2 vols. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, 1987. Includes indexes by subject and organization, personal name, interrelated orders and proclamations, and a chronological list for 1789–1983. (Main Reference South Index Shelves FOLIO KF70 .A55 1987)

Revised, M. Mason
September 2007