How to cite a presidential paper
Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B14 / T1.2 · Regulations & agencies
Memoranda, statements, remarks and other presidential documents other than executive orders.
Example
Remarks on the National Economy, 2009 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. (Feb. 4, 2009).
What the citation needs
Required
- Title — The title as it appears on the source. R8(a): capitalize every word except articles, conjunctions and prepositions of four or fewer letters, unless they begin the title or follow a colon.
- Compilation — Which compilation prints it: Public Papers, or the Weekly or Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents.
- Date — The date the rule for this source calls for, with the month abbreviated per T12 (“Nov. 24, 1978”).
When they apply
- Volume or year — The volume number, which comes before the reporter, code or periodical name.
- Page — The page the source begins on. The page you are citing goes in the pincite.
In a brief and in a law review
The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.
Court documents (Bluepages)
Remarks on the National Economy, 2009 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. (Feb. 4, 2009).
Law review footnotes (Whitepages)
Remarks on the National Economy, 2009 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. (Feb. 4, 2009).
For this source the two are set the same way.
Common mistakes
Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.
Wrong
Remarks on the National Economy, 2009 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. (Feb. 4, 2009).
Why
T1.2: the Weekly Compilation ran from 1965 to January 29, 2009.
Right
Remarks on the National Economy, 2009 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. (Feb. 4, 2009).
Governing rules
B14 / T1.2
- T1.2 — federal administrative and executive materials; the agency's own citation form governs where the table gives one.
Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.
Related source types
Regulations & agencies: