The Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents is an eleven-volume series of tomes comprising proclamations, special messages, and inauguration speeches from several presidents throughout United States history

History of the United States

The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...

. There are ten numbered volumes each covering a set of presidents between the years of 1787 and 1902 and an eleventh index volume. It was copyrighted in 1897 by James D. Richardson

James D. Richardson

James Daniel Richardson was an American politician and a Democrat from Tennessee. Richardson represented Tennessee's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1885 through 1905. He was among the earliest U.S...

, a representative from the state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, and was published in 1911 by the Bureau of National Literature and Art. There is also a supplement version that covers individual presidents in depth and were published also by the Bureau of National Literature but in 1917. A typical volume has the Seal of the President

Seal of the President of the United States

The Seal of the President of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the U.S. president to the United States Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S...

 emblazoned in the front and the back.

Volume one

The first volume of the series was first presented to Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and the press on May 1, 1896 to much public acclaim. On May 22, Congress ordered 15,000 copies of the publication to be printed and distributed among the general public. It covers the terms of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

, Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, and James Madison

James Madison

James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

 between 1797 and 1817.

Volume two

Volume Two covers the presidential terms of James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

, John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...

, Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

, and a little of Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

. The Treasury Department

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...

 at Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 is illustrated as the frontispiece and includes the portraits of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren.

Volume three

Volume Three finishes the office of Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

 and covers the term of Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

. These occur between 1837 and 1841.

Volume Four lV

* Part 1: William Henry Harrison, March 4 to April 4, 1841
* Part 2: John Tyler, April 4, 1841 to March 4, 1845
* Part 3: James K. Polk, March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849

Volume Five V

* Parts 1 and 2: Zachary Taylor, March 5, 1849 to July 9, 1850, and Millard Fillmore, July 10, 1850 to March 4, 1853
* Part 3: Franklin Pierce, March 4, 1853 to March 4, 1857
* Part 4: James Buchanan, March 4, 1857 to March 4, 1861

Volume Six Vl

* Part 1: Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865
* Part 2: Andrew Johnson, April 15, 1865 to March 4, 1869

Volume Seven Vll

* Part 1: Ulysses S. Grant, March 4, 1869 to March 4, 1877
* Part 2: Rutherford B. Hayes, March 4, 1877 to March 4, 1881

Volume Eight Vlll

* Part 1: James A. Garfield: March 14 to September 19, 1881
* Part 2: Chester A. Arthur, September 19, 1881 to March 4, 1885
* Part 3: Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1885 to March 4, 1889

Volume Nine lX

* Part 1: Benjamin Harrison, March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893
* Part 2: Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1893 to March 4, 1897

Volume Ten X

* Part 1: Messages, Proclamations, Etc., Omitted From Volumes I to IX
* Part 2: William McKinley: Messages, Proclamations, and Executive Orders Relating to the Spanish-American War

1. Supplemental Volume:

* Part 1: William McKinley, March 4, 1897 to September 14, 1901: Additional Messages, Proclamations, Executive Orders, and Last Public Utterance to the People at Buffalo
* Part 2: Theodore Roosevelt: Messages, Proclamations, and Executive Orders to the End of the Fifty-seventh Congress, First Session

External links

• Messages and Papers of the Presidents