Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies: A Bibliographic Listing has been named to the 2018 List of Best Historical Materials. The list recognizes effectiveness in coverage of historical resources in all fields of history and promotes enhanced availability of historical works and information, and is published in Reference and User Services Quarterly. The sources selected by the Historical Materials committee seek to improve the usefulness of bibliographies, historical materials, and indexes in the field of history and is shared among bibliographers, indexers, publishers, and professional associations.
“From the time of Andrew Jackson, presidents have appointed special commissions to deal with matters that fall outside of the purview of congressional committees or departments of the executive branch. Often, these commissions have an investigatory function and their reports prove to be of great value by gathering together information that would otherwise be scattered; in all cases, their reports are a primary source of use to historians, political scientists, economists, and other scholars. However, the reports are not necessarily included in the Public Papers of the Presidents, nor in the Weekly Compilation of the Presidential Documents. Bookheim has performed the valuable service of locating publication information for nearly all of the commissions’ reports (some are classified), and plans to continue to add new entries to the online version of the book. Where reports are found in the Congressional Serial Set, Bookheim provides citations; otherwise, he offers full title entries, along with, as relevant, SuDoc numbers, OCLC record numbers, or archival locations. Researchers should, with a quick reference to the entry and access to WorldCat, be able to immediately identify a library or archive that holds a given report. The volume is indexed by presidential administration and by commission name. This volume is especially appropriate for law libraries and research libraries.”
About Hein’s Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions
Print and Online Resources
- Includes current and extensive listing of publications created by presidential advisory bodies
- Database will be updated regularly with publications from current presidents and newly discovered documents from past administrations
- More than 6,300 database entries from the administrations of Andrew Jackson to Donald Trump
- Nearly 1,700 entries link to full-text documents
- Includes related hearings, scholarly articles, and more!
Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies: A Bibliographic Listing by Louis W. Bookheim is a unique resource containing the most current and comprehensive listing of publications created by presidential advisory bodies. United States presidents have historically created such advisory groups—also called committees, commissions, boards, blue ribbon panels, or task forces—to advise them on particular problems or issues. In the past, these commissions have explained catastrophes such as the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, Challenger Space Shuttle accident, Pearl Harbor, the AIDS epidemic, and more.
This collection will aid researchers interested in U.S. history, political science, and law. Both the print and online versions are indexed by commission/advisory body name, report title, report subject, and presidential administration. Whenever possible, links to the full text of reports are provided. Citations to published government documents and OCLC numbers are provided for publications when applicable.
To maintain currency, the online resource will be updated monthly as new material is discovered, indexed, and integrated into the database. The print edition will also be updated regularly as needed.
Commission Subjects
- Agriculture
- AIDS
- American Indians
- Children
- Cybersecurity
- Elections
- Foreign Aid
- Gambling
- Global Warming
- Identity Theft
- Immigration
- International Trade
- Mental Health
- National Security
- Nuclear Weapons
- Veterans
- Violence
- Hundreds more!
Full-Text Reports from the Most Well Known Presidential Commissions
- Commission to Investigate and Report the Facts Relating to the Attack made by Japanese Armed Forces upon Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 (Roberts Commission)
- President’s Committee on Civil Rights
- President’s Commission on the Status of Women
- President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Warren Commission)
- President’s Commission on Campus Unrest
- President’s Special Review Board (Iran Contra, Tower Commission)
- Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
- Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (Iraq Intelligence Commission)
- National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission)
- National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
- National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (Wickersham Commission)
- Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, 1947-1949 and 1953-1955 (Hoover Commission)
NOTE: Bill Bookheim has retired from California Western School of Law and Barbara Glennan has taken over the project. Glennan is continuing to use resources from California Western School of Law to provide content for this title.
