As we experience the first year of President Obama’s second term as the 44th President of the United States, take a look back on what was going on at this time during the first year of his first term as president with the Public Papers of the Presidents, Barack Obama 2009, Book 2. This volume covers the public messages and statements made by President Obama during the second half of his first year in office from July to December 2009.
Some highlights of those six months include the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama’s first nomination to the Supreme Court, the shaping of the health care law (Read our blog post: “Everything You Should Know About The Health Care Law“), and the continuing efforts to create jobs and rebuild the U.S. economy. The book also includes a section of official color photographs from events during the time period.
This book is part of the Public Papers of the Presidents series which consists of public writings, addresses and remarks made by the President and is the second volume of the Barack Obama Public Papers collection, which includes an eBook version of Book 1. (Read about the first volume in our blog post: “The First Collection of President Obama’s Public Papers.”)
As in other Public Papers volumes, the appendices provide listings of:
- A digest of President Obama’s daily schedule and meetings, when announced, and other items of general interest issued by the White House Office of the Press Secretary;
- President Obama’s nominations submitted to the Senate;
- A checklist of materials released by the Office of the Press Secretary that are not printed full-text in the book; and
- A table of Proclamations, Executive Orders, and other Presidential documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary and published in the Federal Register.
Public Papers of the Presidents series
The entire Public Papers of the Presidents series is published by the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and includes two volumes per year, each volume covering a six-month period of the presidency, with the OFR checking remarks against a recording and signed documents against the original to ensure accuracy. The series started with President Hoover and continues to President Obama, with the exception of President Roosevelt who chose to have his papers published privately.
To learn more about the process of compiling the Public Papers of the Presidents, watch this video below on the production of President Obama’s first volume at the Government Printing Office (GPO):
Image: Excerpted from the video of the Making of the Public Papers of the President. Depicts President Obama in the Oval Office being presented with the first volume in his Public Papers printed by the Government Printing Office in April 2011. Pictured from left to right are: current Public Printer of the United States, Davita Vance-Cooks; previous Public Printer, William J. Boarman; President Barack Obama; Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero, and Director of the Federal Register, Ray Mosley.
The Public Papers of the Presidents series is also available on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). The public can digitally access the digitized volumes starting in 1991 with President George H. W. Bush through President Barack Obama, 2009 from this page on FDsys.
GPO also makes the Public Papers of the Presidents series available in print through the agency’s online bookstore with volumes back to Herbert Hoover. The public can browse through the various volumes from different presidents on the Public Papers of the Presidents collection page in the Presidential History collection under the US & Military History category.
How do I obtain a copy of the Public Papers of the Presidents, Barack Obama 2009, Book 2?
1) Buy a printed copy
- Shop Online: You can purchase a printed copy of Public Papers of the Presidents, Barack Obama 2009, Book 2 or any of the previous volume(s) of the Obama presidency by shopping the Barack Obama Public Papers collection on the U.S. Government Online Bookstore.
- Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
- Visit our Retail Store: Buy a printed copy at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.
- Find it in a Library: GPO provides catalog records to Federal Depository libraries worldwide. Find this publication in a federal depository library.
2) View or download a PDF from GPO’s official Federal documents database, FDsys:
About the Author: Our guest blogger is Emma Wojtowicz, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Office of Public Affairs. Additional content provided by Government Book Talk Editor: Michele Bartram, Promotions & eCommerce Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division.
Government Book Talk 
Public Papers of the President was one of the first jobs that I set type for as a linotype operator at GPO in the early 1970s.
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David- So good to hear from you! What a great bit of Government Printing Office (and U.S.) history (See our GPO history timeline). Few people realize how much work goes into producing one of these epic publications like the Public Papers of the President, and even fewer know about linotype. The GPO historian, George Barnumn, gave a presentation recently about the controversy when GPO switched from hand-set type to machine typesetting and linotype machines; you might enjoy it. Thanks so much for writing, and keep the comments coming!
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