Presidential proclamation
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- See also: Executive order, Presidential memorandum
Presidential proclamations are official announcements of policy from the president. Many proclamations are honorary or ceremonial, but some do carry the weight of law if they fall within the scope of presidential authority.[1]
According to the House Government Operations Committee, "Proclamations in most instances affect primarily the activities of private individuals. Since the President has no power or authority over individual citizens and their rights except where he is granted such power and authority by a provision in the Constitution or by statute, the President's proclamations are not legally binding and are at best hortatory unless based on such grants of authority."[2]
Background
The first presidential proclamation was issued by George Washington in 1789 to observe a day of national thanksgiving.[3] Every president has issued at least one proclamation, except for James A. Garfield, who served as president for six months.[3]
Presidential proclamations dating back to 1860 are numbered and dated while proclamations before 1860 are cataloged by date. Proclamations which had "general applicability and continuing effect" were published in the Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders from 1945 to 1989.[4] Today, all presidential proclamations are published in the Federal Register, a daily publication of federal government actions. They are also published weekly in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News and annually in the Code of Federal Regulations.[1]
Below is a sample of presidential proclamations:
- Thanksgiving Proclamation: The first presidential proclamation was issued by George Washington on October 3, 1789. It declared a National Day of Thanksgiving. It declared that "Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation."[5]
- Proclamation of Neutrality: In 1793, George Washington issued a proclamation declaring the United States neutral in a conflict between England and France. It called on the people of the United States to avoid acts that would compromise American neutrality. It also withdrew the protection of the United States from any American citizen that committed, aided, or abetted hostilities, or carried contraband.[6] In June 1794, Congress passed the Neutrality Act.[7]
- The Emancipation Proclamation: In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed approximately three million slaves held in Confederate territory. It did not apply to border states or parts of Louisiana still loyal to the Union. Lincoln relied on his authority as Commander in Chief of the military to issue the proclamation and justified his actions as necessary to the Union's war efforts.[8] The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, permanently ended slavery in the United States.[9]
Other executive action
Proclamations are the most ceremonial form of executive action, while executive orders and presidential memorandums both have the force of law.
Executive orders are official documents by which the President of the United States manages the federal government.[10] An executive order is "an official, legally binding mandate passed down from the president to federal agencies under the executive branch," but executive orders are not laws. As such, they do not fall under the purview of Congress; but executive orders must be compliant with U.S. laws and the U.S. Constitution.[11][12]
Like executive orders, presidential memorandums carry the weight of law, but they are not numbered or required by law to be published by the Office of the Federal Register. Under an executive order issued by President John F. Kennedy, the president must cite the constitutional or legal authority that justifies and executive order's issuance; this justification is not required for presidential memorandums.[13]
Gubernatorial proclamations
Governors of the states also release proclamations, many of which are ceremonial. According to the National Governors Association, in many states, proclamations are prepared and published by the governor's communication staff and used in photo and media opportunities.[14]
See also
- President of the United States
- Governor (state executive office)
- Executive order
- Presidential memorandum
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Georgetown Law Library, "Presidential Proclamations," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Executive Orders: Issuance, Modification, and Revocation," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 American Presidency Project, "Presidential Proclamations: Washington-Trump," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ National Archives, "Federal Register: Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ The American Presidency Project, "Proclamation--Day of National Thanksgiving, October 3, 1789," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ Yale Law School, "The Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793."
- ↑ National Archives, "Neutrality, 2 June 1794
- ↑ TeachingAmericanHistory.org, "Final Emancipation Proclamation," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ TeachingAmericanHistory.org, "Resolution Submitting the Thirteenth Amendment to the States," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ National Archives, "FAQs About Executive Orders," accessed May 1, 2017
- ↑ PBS, "Your cheat sheet for executive orders, memorandums and proclamations," accessed May 1, 2017
- ↑ Washington Post, "What Trump could learn from George Washington’s first executive order," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ USA Today, "Presidential memoranda vs. executive orders. What's the difference?" accessed May 1, 2017
- ↑ National Governors Association, "Governor's Office Guide: Communications," accessed May 3, 2017
