Primary Sources - PSCI 384 - American Presidency

Online Sources

The American Presidency Project
Established in 1999, archives contain 85,728 documents related to the study of the Presidency. This is an excellent source for primary documents.
PresidentialRhetoric.com
This site is devoted to bringing you contemporary information and resources concerning the study of presidential rhetoric. Contains archives of presidential speeches, as well as good links to presidential libraries.
White House
Provides access to the executive orders, memoranda, speeches, weekly addressees, nominations, press briefings, and other material from the current administration.
HeinOnline U.S. Presidential Library
This library includes such titles as Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Public Papers of the Presidents, CFR Title 3 (Presidents), Daily and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, and other documents related to U.S. Presidents.
Presidential Oral History Program
This program is systematically and comprehensively debriefing the principal figures in the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton, with plans to do the same for future presidents. We are also conducting special projects on important topics in political history, including a six-year oral history on the life and career of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2016
"I Do Solemnly Swear…": Presidential Inaugurations (American Memory)
"...a collection of approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files relating to inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to Barack Obama's inauguration of 2009. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music."
U.S. Presidential Audio Recordings
Sound samples of historical spoken word recordings from U.S. Presidents, from the Michigan State University Voice Library.
Presidential Elections, 1860-1912
Features political cartoons from various publications, and includes explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era's major issues, and other valuable information.
Foreign Relations of the United States
The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.
Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders
Prepared by the Office of the Federal Register, this is published to provide proclamations and Executive orders with general applicability and continuing effect, covering the period April 13, 1945, through January 20, 1989, Truman through Reagan.
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800
Provides the full text of almost all surviving books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in the United States from 1639-1800.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819
Provides the full text of almost all surviving books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in the United States from 1801-1819.
New York Times Online
Provides full page and article images with searchable full text from 1851 but does not provide access to the most recent 3 years. More recent articles can be found at the http://nytimes.com/.
Nexis Uni
Formerly known as Lexis-Nexis Academic. Provides the full text of many newspapers published in the U.S. and other countries, news wire services, radio and television transcripts, U.S. case law and codes, government documents, company reports, and related materials.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
The Digital Public Library of America is a free, online library that provides access to millions of photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents and more from libraries, museums and archives across the United States.

Evaluating Primary Sources

When you use primary sources, you need to evaluate them just as you would any other type of source. Here are some questions to consider:

Who is the author or creator?
What biases or assumptions may have influenced the author or creator?
Who was the intended audience?
What is the origin of the primary source?
What was the significance of the source at the time it was created?
Has the source been edited or translated, or altered in some way from the original?
What questions could be answered about the time period by using this source?
What, if any, are the limitations of the source?
Does your understanding of the source fit with other scholars’ interpretations, or does it challenge their argument?
Can you substantiate the claims of this source with other primary sources?

Videos

Kanopy Streaming Video
Provides streaming access to several thousand educational videos accessible via the web and on mobile devices. Includes speeches of U.S. presidents. Users can search, browse and see previews of videos.

Books

The Evolving Presidency by Michael Nelson (Editor)
Call Number: 352.23 Ev64n, Ed.2
ISBN: 1568028717
Publication Date: 2004
In this documentary reader, Nelson (political science, Rhodes College) presents 50 excerpts from primary historical sources, temporally ranging from the constitutional provisions concerning the presidency to the Bush Doctrine declaring a new Pax Americana.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
Call Number: 353.03 Un3p
Publication Date: 1931-Most recently published
Available in print and electronically.
Milestone Documents in American History by Paul Finkelman (General Editor); Bruce A. Lesh (General Editor)
Call Number: Ebook
ISBN: 9780979775802
Publication Date: 2008
Each entry includes the full text of the document in question as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context. Includes presidential documents.

Search for Books

Subject Headings for Primary Sources in the Library Catalog

Subject headings to consider when searching for primary source documents in the library catalog (e.g., su:correspondence Truman, Harry):

Archiv*
Biography
Correspondence
Diaries
Interviews
Notebooks, Sketchbooks
Personal narratives
Sources
Speeches