American President: An Online Reference Resource

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Information on all 43 of the nation's presidents is presented on this website. Each president is featured individually with an in-depth biographical essay, details about the first lady and members of the Cabinet, links to the President's speeches, and discussions with current scholars. The Presidency as an institution is treated thoroughly in the "President at Work" section with essays on general areas of presidential duty: domestic and economic policy; national security; legislative affairs; administration of the government and White House; and presidential politics.

Clicking on "Presidential Oral Histories" or "Presidential Recordings" under the "Academic Programs" tab reveals an additional wealth of information. Recordings are available for Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. After tapes were prohibited from the Oval Office following the Watergate scandal, the Miller Center began to conduct oral history projects, producing hours of interviews with Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton and their staff.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1861-1960

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Published annually by the State Department, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) is the official record of major declassified U.S. foreign policy decisions and diplomatic activity. Material, including transcripts of tape recordings, comes from Presidential libraries and executive departments and agencies. Digitized material does not reflect the full range of the published volumes. Documents included have been selected for their ability to illuminate "policy formulation and major aspects and repercussions of its execution."

The first website covers the years from 1861 to 1960. Each volume of more than 500 pages contains an annual message from the President, a list of papers with subjects of correspondence, circulars on subjects such as sanitation and conservation, and chapters dedicated to individual nations. Decisions involve a wide range of topics, including international arbitration and the protection of migratory birds. Visitors may search volumes individually or the whole set by keyword, subject, and date.

The second website offers materials from 1945–1972. Materials come from the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. Additional volumes will be added on the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

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The heart of this collection about President Lyndon Baines Johnson is a group of 77 oral history interviews (up to 200 pages each) with members of Johnson's administration, Congressional colleagues, journalists, civil rights leaders, and a historian. The website provides 14 audio files, including telephone conversations, State of the Union addresses, Johnson's speech to Congress following the Kennedy assassination, and an excerpt of his television address announcing his decision not to run for a second term.

Also available are transcripts of 25 speeches; 50 "days of" diary entries; and the 99 National Security Action memoranda issued during Johnson's presidency relaying foreign policy directives and initiating actions. There are 150 photographs and one campaign advertisement. Biographical information is furnished in two chronologies. An exhibit from the Johnson museum provides an essay about events in Johnson's lifetime.

The History of Social Security

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The Social Security program and the institutional history of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its contribution to the welfare of the American public are presented on this site. It contains a vast collection of oral histories, audio recordings, and primary documents of the SSA. The audio and video clip section includes radio debates on the merits of the Social Security program taped during 1935, Lyndon B. Johnson's remarks on the passage of the Medicare bill in 1965, and Ronald Reagan's remarks at the signing of the Social Security Amendments of 1983. Also available are Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon's recorded telephone conversations that reference Social Security and Medicare. Another notable feature is the 37 oral history interviews conducted by SSA in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Additional oral history collections are featured, providing information about the 1977 creation of Health Care Financing Administration and policy issues involving the Medicare and Social Security programs.