Politics Junior Paper Workshops

Resources for JP #9: American Leadership

• Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989.
  Publisher:New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
  Location: General and Humanities Reference (DR)
  Call Number: E176 .B578 1990
  This directory provides biographies of cabinet heads, presidents, vice-presidents and presidents of the Continental Congress.
   
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency.
Publisher: New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
Call Number: JK511 .E53 1993
Provides a collection of authoritative articles on the presidency, Presidential elections, administration, and policy-making. Also includes personal information on each President, cabinet officers, and election results from 1788-1992.
 
• Historical Encyclopedia of U.S. Presidential Use of Force, 1789-2000.
  Publisher: Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: E176.1 .H56 2001
  This encyclopedia covers several aspects of the use of force, short of declared war, undertaken by the President with or without the support of Congress.
   
• Guide to the Presidency.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 2002.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JK516 .C57 2002
  This 2-volume book provides an array of factual information about the institution and the presidents as well as analytical chapters that explain the structure and operations of the office and the President's relationship to the other branches of government.
   
• The Presidency A to Z: A Ready Reference Encyclopedia. 2nd ed.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1998.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JK511 .P775 1998
  An easy-to read encyclopedia about the presidency.
   
• The Presidential-Congressional Political Dictionary.
  Publisher: Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1984.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JK9 .E4 1984
   

A quick way to find material on a specific U.S. President (including biographies and critical works) in the library collections at Princeton is to use the Main Catalog.

Do a search using the President's name as the subject heading. Be sure to enter the name with the last name first. For example, if you want to locate material on Abraham Lincoln, do a search for Lincoln, Abraham in the subject field. The resulting list of subject headings will help to outline the kinds of material held in Princeton's collection.

Useful Tip: In some cases you may need to use the President's popular name rather than his formal name. For example, when searching for titles on Jimmy Carter, use Carter, Jimmy and don't use Carter, James Earl. For Bill Clinton, use Clinton, Bill not Clinton, William Jefferson.

Here are some additional subject headings to help you find more works dealing with the presidency and executive power in general:

• Executive power United States
• Political leadership United States
• Presidents United States
   

Beyond books, you will also want to find journal articles for your paper. You should definitely search the main Politics databases, plus try searching in the following:

• America: History & Life (PU only)
  Indexes books and journal articles on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Covers works published 1954-present.
   
• Sociological Abstracts (PU only)
  Indexing and abstracting of the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines, both theoretical and applied. Covers 2,500 journals, conference papers, dissertations, and book reviews. Includes materials in 30 languages. Covers works published 1963-present.
   
• ISI Web of Knowledge (PU only)
  Provides two very useful databases for locating articles that cite a known author or work. The Arts & Humanities Citation Index indexes over 1,100 arts and humanities journals published from 1975-present, and the Social Sciences Citation Index indexes more than 1,725 journals across 50 social science disciplines.

In addition, be sure to check out our list of databases in History.
 

Primary documents are materials directly connected with historical events, such as personal letters, memos, diaries, speeches and addresses. Many such documents by the presidents are made available via a number of sources, much of which is on microfilm. For more information, see the Guide to Major Microform Holdings in History.

Below are some selected resources that will help you find primary Presidential documents. For more help finding additional primary sources, be sure to contact me!

• A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Prepared Under the Direction of the Joint Committee on Printing.
  Publisher: New York: New York Bureau of National Literature, Inc., 1897.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: 1066.922.8
  This 20-volume set is a compilation, though incomplete, of the papers of earlier presidents, including annual messages, veto messages, executive orders, and proclamations.
   
• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from George Washington, 1789, to George Bush 1989.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: J81 .C89 1989
  This is a compilation of the inaugural addresses published under the auspices of the U.S. Congress Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
   
• The State of the Union Messages of the Presidents, 1790-1966.
  Publisher: New York: Chelsea House, 1966.
  Location: General and Humanities Reference (DR)
  Call Number: J81 .C6
   
• Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register, National Archive and Records Administration. Semiannual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: 1066.922.7
  Library Has: 1929-present
  URL: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/publications/public_papers.html#online
  This series provides an historical reference covering the administrations of Presidents Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush. Documents of the most recent presidencies, since Reagan, are available online. Each volume provides the papers and speeches, in chronological order, that were issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the specified time period.
   
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. Weekly.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: 1066.9595
  Library Has: 1965-2000
  URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara003.html
  Published every Monday, this is the official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary. The print version is no longer distributed, so for more recent documents, see the online version.
   
• Code of Federal Regulations. Title 3, The President.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. Annual.
  Location: Firestone Library (F)
  Call Number: JK516 .U547
  Library Has: 1936-present
  Current Volume: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html
  Title 3 of the CFR provides an annual compilation of Presidential proclamations, Executive orders and other Presidential documents. The CFR from 1996-present may be searched or browsed online via GPO Access.
   
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.
  Location: U.S. Documents Collection (DOCS)
  Call Number: AE 2.113:945-89
  URL: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/codification/codification.html
  This is an editorial codification prepared by the Office of the Federal Register. While not intended as a definitive legal authority, it was published to provide a convenient one-volume source for proclamations and Executive orders with general applicability and continuing effect. This codification covers the period between April 13, 1945 and January 20, 1989, which encompasses the administrations of Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan.
   
• Records of the Presidency: Presidential Papers and Libraries from Washington to Reagan.
  Publisher: Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1989.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: CD3029.82 .S35 1989
  A guide to researching the presidency and individual presidents. The first section details agencies that work with Presidential records and guides to these records. Additional sections look at Presidental papers at the Library of Congress, papers in historical societies and special libraries, and the Presidential libraries adminstered by the National Archives.
   

News stories that cover historical events as they happened are generally considered to be primary sources, as they provide details about the events contemporaneously. In addition, you can find editorials and feature articles that discuss events and provide useful insight into the public's view of a particular President and his policies. Here are some selected resources for finding news stories. For additional resources, be sure to consult the Newspaper Indexes page.

Contemporary News (mid-1980s to present):

• Lexis Nexis Academic (PU only)
  Provides full text access to news from across the U.S. and around the world. Coverage of most newspapers goes back to the mid 1980s, but varies widely. Also provides access to business, legal, and medical journals, as well as corporate financial information.
   
• Factiva (PU only)
  Database from Dow Jones & Reuters that provides full text access to various newspapers and news wire services.
   
• ProQuest Newspapers (PU only)
  Provides indexing and full text of the Wall Street Journal (1984- ) and the New York Times (1995- ) and abstracts only of USA Today (1989- ).
   
• Ethnic NewsWatch (PU only)
  Provides full text access (in English and Spanish) to news, culture, and history from over 240 publications of ethnic, minority and native press from 1960-present offering additional viewpoints from those proffered by the mainstream press.
   
• Alt-Press Watch (PU only)
  Interdisciplinary full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the alternative and independent press. Indexes over 170 titles mostly from the 1990s-present with some coverage back to the 1970s. Provides viewpoints and perspectives that complement and challenge the coverage of the mainstream media.
   
• Alternative Press Index (PU only)
  This international and interdisciplinary database indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political and social change in the humanities and social sciences. Covers nearly 300 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines with selected abstracts from research journals from 1991-present.

Historical News (back to mid-1800s):

• Historical New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the New York Times going back to the first issue (1851-2001) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Wall Street Journal (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Wall Street Journal going back to the first issue (1889-1986) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Washington Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Washington Post going back to the first issue (1877-1987) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Reader's Guide Retrospective (PU only)
  This retrospective online version of the ever-popular Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the U.S. between the years 1890-1982.
   

A good general approach to using the Main Catalog to find public opinion sources on specific presidents is to add the phrase "public opinion" to the President's subject heading. For example: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Public opinion. The library has many sources for public opinion and approval ratings, including the following:

• Presidential Approval: A Sourcebook.
  Publisher: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JK518 .E27 1990
   
• Polling the Nations (PU only)
  Polling the Nations is a compilation of public opinion surveys conducted in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Each record includes the question asked and the responses given, the polling organization responsible for the work, the date the information was released, the sample size, and the groups or areas included in the interview.
   
• iPOLL Databank (PU only)
  Based on the files of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, this database is a comprehensive, up-to-date source for U.S. nationwide public opinion. It is a full-text retrieval system updated daily and organized at the question-level, providing tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys since 1935. Registration is required to use this database, but it is free.
   

Here are a few books that provide some useful background on how public opinion and approval ratings have impacted the presidency:

• The Character Factor: How We Judge America's Presidents.
  Publisher: College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JK516 .P48 2004
   
• Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership.
  Publisher: Stanford, CA: Stanford Law and Politics, 2004.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JK516 .H3663 2004
   
• The Presidents and the Public.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1990.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JK518 .P7488 1990
   

• The American Presidency Project
  URL: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu
  A very nicely implemented website offering statistics and documents related to the U.S. Presidents, including the full text of national party platforms from 1840 to the present for those parties that received electoral votes.
   
• AmericanPresident.org
  URL: http://www.americanpresident.org
  This is a comprehensive nonpartisan resource that provides a wealth of information about the history and function of the presidency, hosted by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
   
• Center for the Study of the Presidency
  URL: http://www.thepresidency.org
  The Center is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that brings together experts from government, academia, and the corporate world on key issues facing the Presidency. The Center actively counsels the White House and the Executive branch on policy areas critical to strengthening Presidential leadership.
   
• POTUS - Presidents of the United States
  URL: http://www.ipl.org/ref/POTUS/
  Resource provided by the Internet Public Library that contains biographical information, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and points of interest on each of the presidents.
   
• White House - Presidents of the United States
  URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents
  Official site of the White House providing brief profiles on each of the presidents along with gallery portraits, photos, and historical tid-bits.
   

URL: http://firestone.princeton.edu/politics/guides/leadership.html
Send suggestions and comments on this page to:
jhernand@princeton.edu