WHITE HOUSE PRECEDENTS
PERMANENT FILES
General Accession 703
These materials were received from the White House Office of Records and
Information in June 1984. They were assembled in anticipation of, or in response to,
questions received at the White House during the Hoover administration from federal
officials and private citizens. The questions were referred to a recognized authority,
usually the Attorney General, who rendered an opinion. The opinions were permanently
filed under "Precedents." The following list contains a brief description of the questions
and answers.
Arrangement: chronological Volume: .25 linear feet, 357 pages.
Date Precedent
Mar. 4, 1929
1. Where was the Bible opened when President Hoover was inaugurated?
Answer: Proverbs 29:18
Mar. 4, 1929
2. The procedure to be followed when the President receives a new
minister present his letters of credence.
Apr. 19, 1929
3. May a head of an executive department hold office after the expiration?
of the term of the President who appointed him? This was put
in regard to the reappointment of Andrew Mellon.
Answer: Yes.
May 25, 1929
4. Is the salary of the President subject to income tax?
Answer: No.
Oct. 10, 1929
5. Bibliography of writings on the powers of the President of the United
States.
Oct. 23, 1929
6. May the President send a "franked" envelope through the mail?
Answer: Yes (At least a collector prevailed on him to do so).
Dec. 10, 1929
7. Did Article XXI of the 1922 Naval treaty preclude US attendance at
another naval conference?
Answer: No
Jan. 10, 1930
8. Order by President empowering the Secretary of the Navy to act for
the President in certain matters pertaining to naval affairs.
Jan. 18, 1930
9. May the President voluntarily appoint commissions?
Answer: Yes.
June 23, 1930
10. May the President raise the legation at Warsaw to the status of an
Embassy?
Answer: Yes.
Feb. 4, 1930
11. Are future ambassadors to Spanish speaking countries required to
be able to speak Spanish?
Answer: Yes.
Apr. 22, 1930
12. Is it appropriate for the Navy Department to issue opinions to persons
in other branches of the Government when the opinion was not
prepared to deal with a question arising in the Navy Department?
Answer: No.
May 6, 1930
13. Does the existing law require that Saturday half holidays be observed
throughout the Federal Departments and Independent
Establishments within the District of Columbia?
Answer: If the government's business requires that they be kept
open on Saturday afternoons, they can be. If not, they
need not be.
June 6, 1930
14. May the President withhold information from the Senate regarding
the conduct of foreign affairs?
Answer: Yes.
June 13, 1930
15. Would members of the present Congress be eligible for appointment
to the Office of Tariff Commissioner in the event of passage of
pending tariff bill?
Answer: No.
July 30, 1930
16. May the President make recess appointments to the new Federal
Power Commission, and would the appointees be entitled to
draw compensation from the Government before confirmation by
the Senate?
Answer: Yes, the appointments may be made. However,
the matter of compensation is in doubt.
Jan. 3, 1931
17. Does the Senate have the power to reconsider recess appointments
to the Federal Power Commission, and can the President be
requested to return the notifications?
Answer: In this instance, No.
Jan. 28, 1931
18. Request for information about the value of facsimiles of the
Declaration of Independence.
Feb. 2, 1931
19. May the lunch period for federal employees be extended one half
hour in order that they may attend memorial exercises at Lincoln
Memorial?
Answer: No.
Mar. 3, 1931
20. Does the President have the power to approve an Act of Congress
within 10 days after it is presented to him for that purpose, but
after the expiration of the present Congress on March 4th?
Answer: Yes.
Mar. 17, 1931
21. What effect, if any, do Saturday half holidays for certain government
employees have on the computation of sick and annual leave?
Answer: For employees embraced within the terms of the Act of
March 3, 1931, Saturday is counted as 4 hours in
computing annual leave, and a full day in computing sick
leave.
Apr. 2, 1931
22. Memo of opinions by previous Attorneys General in reference to the
power of the President to make recess appointments to fill
vacancies arising during a session by reason of new legislation.
Apr. 24, 1931
23. Request from Senator Thomas J. Walsh for information regarding
the case of William Plimley, Assistant Treasurer of the U.S. at
New York City.
Answer: No files were found at the White House regarding the case.
July 23, 1931
24. May the President place an embargo on the importation of crude oil
on the basis of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 which
prohibits unfair competition?
Answer: No.
Sept. 29, 1931
25. Memorandum on Presidential actions in previous depressions based
on recommendations expressed in annual messages.
Oct. 15, 1931
26. Reply to inquiries relative to compensation to be paid recess
appointees.
Dec. 14, 1931
27. Statement with regard to the law governing the Annual Report of
the Secretary of the Navy and the Annual Reports of the Bureaus
and Offices.
Dec. 22, 1931
28. What were the dates and the places of meeting of the Continental
Congress?
Answer: List attached.
Jan. 11, 1932
29. Is the provision directing the appointment of 2 members of the RFC
board by the Speaker of the House, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, constitutional?
Answer: No.
Feb. 9, 1932
30. Memorandum on the question of whether an Act of Congress
became law when it was approved by the President on
March 5, 1931, after the final adjournment of the Congress which
passed it?
Answer: Yes, it does.
Mar. 14, 1932
31. Would it be desirable to pass legislation noting the date, hour, and
minute the President signs bills and Joint Resolutions passed by
both Houses of Congress?
Answer: Formal legislation unnecessary.
Apr. 15, 1932
32. How should commissions signed by the President be dated?
Answer: The commission ought to bear the date on which the
notification is received at the White House, or some later
date.
May 2, 1932
33. Is the President constitutionally empowered to change rates of duty
through the medium of the Tariff Commission?
Answer: Yes.
July 6, 1932
34. Does the President have the authority to issue an ED granting sick
leave of absence generally to all employees in the Federal Service?
(Certain employees in Navy Yards, and arsenals, the GPO, and
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing do not receive sick leave).
Answer: No
Aug. 1, 1932
35. May a man appointed as Chairman of the Board of the Home Loan
Bank retain his position of director or office of a private bank or
insurance company?
Answer: Yes, provided he devote full time to the Federal
appointment and no time to the private company, nor may
he receive any pay from private companies and that he be considered as being
on leave of absence from the private sector.
Oct. 24, 1932
36. Request for the loan of the Theodore Roosevelt portrait by Sargent
from the White House collection to the Museum of Modern Art.
Answer: Denied.
Dec. 21, 1932
37. The President denominated a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce
Commission whose Commission expires on December 31.
The Congress did not act on it before adjournment and will not
reconvene until January 3. Is the period between December 31
and January 3 a recess within the meaning of Article 11, Section 2
of the Constitution?
Answer: No, the President should not make a recess appointment
under these conditions.
Jan. 8, 1933
38. Memorandum, telegram of sympathy, etc., to Mrs. Calvin Coolidge
on the death of the former president.