Presidents’ Day Publications

February 15, 2019

Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. This year it will take place on February 18. The holiday was initially established in 1885 to recognize President George Washington. Now, it serves as a day to remember and celebrate all U.S. presidents, both past and present. Some states require that schools teach children about the U.S. presidents in the days leading up to Presidents’ Day.

For those of us who no longer go to school, it’s up to us to take the time this Presidents’ Day to learn about the presidents and remember all their great achievements. The Public Papers of the Presidents series, produced by the Office of the Federal Register within National Archives and Records Administration, are a great way to do this. The Public Papers historical collection of primary source documents include public messages, statements, and speeches of the Presidents. They can be purchased online here.

Appreciate the “Father of our Country,” George Washington, with Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States. His Farewell address to Congress and the American people began:

Friends, and Fellow-Citizens: The period for a new election of a Citizen, to Administer the Executive government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person, who is to be cloathed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made.

As one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson made significant achievements for our country, including almost doubling our nation’s territory through the Louisiana Purchase. Learn more about Jefferson in Jefferson Memorial: Interpretive Guide to Thomas Jefferson Memorial. This handbook from the National Park Service describes the Jefferson Memorial and includes a biography of Thomas Jefferson.

It wouldn’t be Presidents’ Day without a mention of Honest Abe, one of our country’s most highly regarded presidents. Check out Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Greatness from the National Park Service. This handbook presents a description and history of the Lincoln Memorial and a biography of the man it commemorates.

Interested in what it’s like to be in an intelligence meeting with the president? Getting To Know the President by John Helgerson describes the critical process of information sharing between the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Chief Executive, the President of the United States, starting as a presidential candidate. Since 1952, the CIA, and now the Intelligence Community as a whole, has provided presidential candidates and presidents-elect with intelligence briefings during their campaigns and transitions. These briefings have helped presidents be as well informed as possible on international developments from the day they take office.

First published in 1996 and now revised and updated to include accounts of intelligence support to candidates and presidents-elect in the three elections between then and 2004, Helgerson’s study provides unique insights into the mechanics and content of the briefings, the interaction of the participants, and the briefings’ effect on the relationships presidents have had with their intelligence services.

Our country is lucky to have had some amazing leaders. Without their vision and dedication, our nation wouldn’t be what it is today. Happy Presidents’ Day!

The GPO Online Bookstore – Easy Access to Federal Publications

HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at https://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection 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.

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 a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Find more than a million official Federal Government publications from all three branches at www.govinfo.gov.

About the author: Blogger contributor Cat Goergen is the PR Specialist in GPO’s Public Relations office.

Leave a Comment » | Executive Branch, Presidents, The White House, U.S. History | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Just Released! The Official and Authentic Senate Intelligence Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program

December 16, 2014

cia-logo630x354The Senate Intelligence Committee report details the interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

 

Senate Intelligence Committee ReportThis 712-page Executive Summary of the full report, which includes the Committee’s findings and conclusions of CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, is divided into the following seven key topics:

  • Background on the Committee Study
  • Overall History and Operation of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program
  • Intelligence Acquired and CIA Representations on the Effectiveness of the CIA’s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques to Multiple Constituencies
  • Overview of CIA Representations to the Media While the Program Was Classified
  • Review of the CIA Representations to the Department of Justice
  • Review of CIA Representations to the Congress
  • CIA Destruction of Interrogation Videotapes Leads to Committee Investigation; Committee Votes 14-1 for Expansive Terms of Reference to Study the CIA’s detention and Interrogation Program

The report also includes three appendices covering the terms of reference, the CIA’s list of detainees from 2002-2008, and an example of inaccurate testimony to the committee from April 12, 2007.

Although the full report provides substantially more detail than what is included in the Executive Summary on the CIA’s justification and defense of its interrogation program and use of its “enhanced interrogation techniques,” this basic review provides a snapshot of what you will learn upon reading the executive summary.

To learn more about the ClA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, you can purchase the report through the GPO Online Bookstore.

How do I obtain a copy of this Senate Intelligence Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program?

In addition to clicking on the link in the article above to find the report, you may find this report from the following:

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy this report and other publications (with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide) from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore website at http://bookstore.gpo.gov:

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection 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.

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 a Federal Depository Library: Search for these in a nearby Federal depository library.

About the author: Trudy Hawkins is Senior Marketing and Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Division supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (http://bookstore.gpo.gov).

 

Leave a Comment » | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Congress, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Iraq, Senate, Senate Intelligence Committee, Terrorism, U.S. Senate | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Browsing the U.S. Government Manual

September 29, 2011

What with invisible ink, yetis, and earthquakes, the world of Government publications can be so diverse and intriguing that it’s easy to lose track of sober perennials like the U.S. Government Manual. I’ve used this great book throughout my career in the Federal Government to get contact information for the right part of a large Federal agency or verify that a smaller, more obscure one actually existed – and what it really did. Thanks to the diligent folks at the National Archives and Records Administration’s  Office of the Federal Register, you can ferret out phone numbers, mailing addresses and URLs that really work, or just read through each agency entry to better understand its particular missions and activities. It’s perhaps the premier annual reference book for all three branches of Government.

Of course, this wouldn’t be Government Book Talk if I didn’t come at my subject from a slightly skewed angle. My favorite section to browse isn’t the main listing of agencies, the quasi-official agencies, or even the international organizations – it’s the History of Organizational Changes. For scholars or other researchers, this section is valuable because it allows them to trace the institutional evolution of a Government function or track down the ultimate fate of a defunct bureau or commission. For me (although I’ve used it for these worthy purposes), it’s mainly a way to arouse bemused curiosity about how Federal entities were christened in years past. Did you know that we once had a Bureau of Efficiency (1916-1933)? Did it fade away because we got too efficient? Doubtful, I’m afraid. What about the Office of Facts and Figures (1941-1942)? I know we haven’t run out of them…

Some innocuous agency names conceal more interesting activities. There couldn’t be a blander, more bureaucratic sounding name than The Office of  the Coordinator of Information (1942). It quickly changed to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which, under the charismatic leader of William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan, conducted U.S.espionage and sabotage activities for the European Theater of Operations in World War II and was the progenitor of today’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Then there was the Virgin Islands Company (1934-1966), a New Deal Government corporation established to grow and refine sugar cane and manufacture and sell rum in that beautiful U.S. possession. It marketed rum under the name “Government House.” The label (left) featured a sailing ship, a palm tree, and a harbor, and supposedly was designed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself. How else could I find out about this stuff if not through the pages of the U.S. Government Manual?

If you need a source of the latest information about any Government agency, or if you’re just curious about the innumerable nooks and crannies of the Federal establishment, the U.S. Government Manual is for you. You can browse it here, get a print copy of the 2011 edition here, or find it in a library.

17 Comments | National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Office of the Federal Register | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by govbooktalk

The Secret History of Invisible Ink, Part 1

May 12, 2011

When I was a kid, I could write in invisible ink – really! Take some lemon juice, apply to paper with a brush or stick, and then heat over the light bulb in one of our living room lamps. Voila! Brown lettering would appear on a blank white sheet of paper. A bit unsophisticated perhaps, but it worked. I didn’t really have any secrets to smuggle past the authorities – it was the mere fact of writing invisibly that made it so cool.

Now here I am, all of these years later, still fascinated. A recent news item from the Central Intelligence Agency caught my eye – “CIA Declassifies Oldest Documents in U.S. Government Collection.” The subject of these mysterious papers, which date back to 1917 and 1918: invisible inks! I had to check it out.

The CIA describes these timeworn items succinctly and well: “One document outlines the chemicals and techniques necessary for developing certain types of secret writing ink and a method for opening sealed letters without detection. Another memorandum dated June 14, 1918 – written in French – reveals the formula used for German secret ink.” My favorite is document number 6: Invisible Photography and Writing, Sympathetic Ink, Etc., a four-page pamphlet compiled by Theodore Kytka, identified as “Handwriting Expert, San Francisco, Cal.” and “printed by the San Francisco Division [of what, I wonder? It doesn’t say] for the information of Post Office Inspectors.”

According to the CIA, only recently have advances in technology made these various formulae obsolete, spy-wise. Among the secrets: “A German Formula. Take one ounce of alum and one ounce of white garlic juice. Write with a quill and on heating the paper the letters become very legible and cannot  be removed by salt water application.” Then there’s “Disappearing Ink. Take a weak solution of starch, tinged with a little tincture of iodine. The bluish writing will soon fade away.” Boy, is my mother lucky I didn’t latch onto this information – our kitchen would have been a disaster area!

Not only is this a really great story, it also ties into GPO’s 150th anniversary in a very interesting way. During World War II, our scientists helped to thwart the use of invisible inks, like those described above, by Axis prisoners of war. In my next post, I’ll tell that story. Stay tuned!

18 Comments | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by govbooktalk

Browsing Through the World Factbook

December 14, 2010

The big, comprehensive, and recurring reference work is a classic Government publication type. One of my favorites of this kind is the CIA’s annual World Factbook. Since 1980, this massive volume has been a mainstay for anyone interested in the various countries of the world.

Although the Factbook has all kinds of information about a country’s geography, people, government, economy, population, communications, transportation, and military, plus both inset and foldout maps, the section that always draws my attention is “Transnational Issues.” If, as Thomas Carlyle said, “Happy the people whose annals are blank in history,” then happy is the nation whose World Factbook profile has nothing under that heading. The subheads include “Disputes – International,” “Refugees and internally displaced persons,” “Illicit drugs,” and “Trafficking in persons.” It’s amazing how few countries meet this definition of happiness. Of course, many underdeveloped or newly formed nations, like Chad and Moldova, suffer from these ills, but so do Denmark (disputes with Iceland and the UK over the Faeroe Islands continental shelf; Faeroese interest in full independence), New Zealand (territorial claim in Antarctica; amphetamine use), and Portugal (“Portugal does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza based on a difference of interpretation of the 1815 Congress of Vienna and the 1820 treaty of Badajoz”; gateway for the international drug traffic).

Of course, a peaceful disagreement between Spain and Portugal is a long way from the simmering armed conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, but boundary disputes and international crime are, unhappily, common currency in the world – and what better place to find out about them, and a host of other developments, than the World Factbook? The CIA maintains the Factbook here, or you can get your own copy here.

2 Comments | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by govbooktalk

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