Brandon Rottinghaus and Jeremy Bailey, two presidential scholars of note, have gotten their database on presidential proclamations up and running. The database has some 10,000 proclamations from the past to the present and should be a tremendous asset for anyone who does research on the presidency, presidential power, presidential rhetoric, presidential unilateralism, or is just interested in the development of the American Presidency.
Most people probably think of the proclamation as a meaningless rhetorical device--such as when the President issues a proclamation pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving (maybe Obama can pardon Representative Wilson this Thanksgiving?), but in reality the proclamation can also be used in the service of exercising substantial power, as in the case of declaring thousands of acres of land public land. Clinton made use of the proclamation just for this very purposes, infuriating land developers out West.
Play around with the database. You won't be sorry.
