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Presidential Libraries and Records: Home

Provides access to presidential records produced by the presidential library system and other sources.

Presidential Libraries and Records

During their tenure in office, U.S. Presidents generate tremendous volumes of official papers and electronic resources reflecting the responsibilities of their respective presidencies.  Before the Hoover Administration, the papers of many presidents can be found in the Library of Congress and other libraries across the U.S.  Starting with the Hoover Administration, presidential records can be found in a series of presidential libraries around the U.S administered by the National Archives & Records Administration.  Funding for these libraries is raised through private sector sources.  General information about these libraries can be be found through this section of the National Archives website.

Presidential libraries are primarily used by presidential scholars.  Information on statutes and regulations governing presidential records access can be found  here.  Besides their archival resources, presidential library facilities also feature museums that are open to the public.  These museums provide exhibits on various aspects of individual presidents, their presidencies, and  their personal lives.  Each of these libraries has websites providing information about various programs and exhibits going on at their respective facilities and access to documents on events occurring during the presidencies of these individuals.  These presidential library websites are:


Go to the White House for documentation of Donald Trump's presidency. See the Barack Obama Foundation for information about the potential Chicago location for his presidential library. See here for Barack Obama Administration White House websites.

 Before creation of the presidential library system, presidential papers and materials were kept at the Library of Congress and in other sites.  Some presidential papers have been digitized through the Library of Congress´American Memory Project.  Selected papers of additional presidents that have been digitized by other sources are also listed.  Examples of these resources include:

General: 

George Washington:

John Adams:

Thomas Jefferson: 

James Madison:

William Henry Harrison:

John Tyler:

Abraham Lincoln:

Ulysses S. Grant:

Rutherford B. Hayes:

James A. Garfield:

Grover Cleveland:

Benjamin Harrison:

William McKinley:

Theodore Roosevelt:

William Howard Taft:

Woodrow Wilson:

Warren G. Harding:

 

Subject Specialist