The American Presidency Project – by John Wooly and Gerhard Peters
Last Update: Data Through September 20, 2014. (through 5.67 years of the Obama Administration)
Citation: Gerhard Peters. “Executive Orders.” The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA. 1999-2014. Available from the World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php.
Notes:
1 1789 to 1945 (Roosevelt) data includes “numbered” and “unnumbered” executive orders. 1945 (Truman) & 1967 (Johnson) data includes only numbered executive orders including those with letter designations (ex. Executive Order 9577-A).
Data Sources:
• 1789 – 1945 (Roosevelt) data obtained from Lyn Ragsdale, “Vital Statisitcs on the Presidency: Washington to Clinton.” rev. ed. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 1998).
• 1945 (Truman) – present data compiled by Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project, from documents contained in the Federal Register.
| President | Term | Total Orders1 | Average / Year | Years in Office | EO Number Range |
| George Washington | Total | 8 | 1.02 | 7.85 | unnumbered |
| John Adams | Total | 1 | 0.25 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Thomas Jefferson | Total | 4 | 0.50 | 8.00 | unnumbered |
| James Madison | Total | 1 | 0.13 | 8.00 | unnumbered |
| James Monroe | Total | 1 | 0.13 | 8.00 | unnumbered |
| John Quincy Adams | Total | 3 | 0.75 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Andrew Jackson | Total | 12 | 1.50 | 8.00 | unnumbered |
| Martin van Buren | Total | 10 | 2.50 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| William Henry Harrison | Total | 0 | 0 | 0.08 | unnumbered |
| John Tyler | Total | 17 | 4.34 | 3.92 | unnumbered |
| James K. Polk | Total | 18 | 4.50 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Zachary Taylor | Total | 5 | 3.70 | 1.35 | unnumbered |
| Millard Fillmore | Total | 12 | 4.53 | 2.65 | unnumbered |
| Franklin Pierce | Total | 35 | 8.75 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| James Buchanan | Total | 16 | 4.00 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Abraham Lincoln | Total | 48 | 11.65 | 4.12 | unnumbered |
| Andrew Johnson | Total | 79 | 20.31 | 3.89 | unnumbered |
| Ulysses S. Grant | Total | 217 | 27.13 | 8.00 | unnumbered |
| Rutherford B. Hayes | Total | 92 | 23.00 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| James Garfield | Total | 6 | 10.91 | 0.55 | unnumbered |
| Chester Arthur | Total | 96 | 27.75 | 3.46 | unnumbered |
| Grover Cleveland – I | Total | 113 | 28.25 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Benjamin Harrison | Total | 143 | 35.75 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| Grover Cleveland – II | Total | 140 | 35.00 | 4.00 | unnumbered |
| William McKinley | Total | 185 | 40.84 | 4.53 | unnumbered |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Total | 1,081 | 144.71 | 7.47 | |
| William Howard Taft | Total | 724 | 181.00 | 4.00 | |
| Woodrow Wilson | Total | 1,803 | 225.38 | 8.00 | |
| Warren G. Harding | Total | 522 | 216.60 | 2.41 | |
| Calvin Coolidge | Total | 1,203 | 215.21 | 5.59 | |
| Herbert Hoover | Total | 968 | 242.00 | 4.00 | 5075 – 6070 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Total | 3,522 | 290.59 | 12.12 | 6071 – 9537 |
| Harry S. Truman | Total | 907 | 116.58 | 7.78 | 9538 – 10431 |
| I | 504 | 133.33 | 3.78 | 9538 – 10029 | |
| II | 403 | 100.75 | 4.00 | 10030 – 10431 | |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | Total | 484 | 60.50 | 8.00 | 10432 – 10913 |
| I | 266 | 66.50 | 4.00 | 10432 – 10695-A | |
| II | 218 | 54.50 | 4.00 | 10696 – 10913 | |
| John F. Kennedy | Total | 214 | 75.35 | 2.84 | 10914 – 11127 |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | Total | 325 | 62.86 | 5.17 | 11128 – 11451 |
| Richard Nixon | Total | 346 | 62.34 | 5.55 | 11452 – 11797 |
| I | 247 | 61.75 | 4.00 | 11452 – 11698 | |
| II | 99 | 63.87 | 1.55 | 11699 – 11797 | |
| Gerald R. Ford | Total | 169 | 68.98 | 2.45 | 11798 – 11966 |
| Jimmy Carter | Total | 320 | 80.00 | 4.00 | 11967 – 12286 |
| Ronald Reagan | Total | 381 | 47.63 | 8.00 | 12287 – 12667 |
| I | 213 | 53.25 | 4.00 | 12287 – 12499 | |
| II | 168 | 42.00 | 4.00 | 12500 – 12667 | |
| George Bush | Total | 166 | 41.50 | 4.00 | 12668 – 12833 |
| William J. Clinton | Total | 364 | 45.50 | 8.00 | 12834 – 13197 |
| I | 200 | 50.00 | 4.00 | 12834 – 13033 | |
| II | 164 | 41.00 | 4.00 | 13034 – 13197 | |
| George W. Bush | Total | 291 | 36.38 | 8.00 | 13198 – 13488 |
| I | 173 | 43.25 | 4.00 | 13198 – 13370 | |
| II | 118 | 29.50 | 4.00 | 13371 – 13488 | |
| Barack Obama | Total | 188 | 33.16 | 5.67 | 13489 – 13676 |
| I | 147 | 36.75 | 4.00 | 13489 – 13635 | |
| II | 41 | 24.55 | 1.67 | 13636 – 13676 | |
| Note: Obama EO counts are updated monthly following the 20th day of the month to recompute average per year. Orders issued between updates can be accessed here: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php?year=2014 |
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Teddy’s executive orders must be part of the reason that the political cartoons of the time showed him with a crown on his head and a sceptre. This was brought out during the Nixon administration.
In the late 1970’s I was told by “friends” that no one should mention the Viet Nam War because it “dated” you. In my opinion, the people of that group, of which I am a part, are the few who are aware of more recent historical atrocities. I am proud to be among the surviving few.