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    Presidential Emergency Action Documents

    Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared in anticipation of a range of emergency scenarios.

    Last Updated: September 15, 2023
    Published: May 6, 2020

    Click here to read more about documents obtained from the George W. Bush Presidential Library through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared in anticipation of a range of emergency scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass. First created during the Eisenhower Administration as part of continuity-of-government plans in case of a nuclear attack, PEADs have since been expanded for use in other emergency situations where the normal operation of government is impaired. As one recent government document describes them, they are designed “to implement extraordinary presidential authority in response to extraordinary situations.”

    PEADs are classified “secret,” and no PEAD has ever been declassified or leaked. Indeed, it appears that they are not even subject to congressional oversight. Although the law requires the executive branch to report even the most sensitive covert military and intelligence operations to at least some members of Congress, there is no such disclosure requirement for PEADs, and no evidence that the documents have ever been shared with relevant congressional committees.

    Although PEADs themselves remain a well-kept secret, over the years a number of unclassified or de-classified documents have become available that discuss PEADs. Through these documents, we know that there were 56 PEADs in effect as of 2017, up from 48 a couple of decades earlier. PEADs undergo periodic revision; although we do not know what PEADs contain today, we know that PEADs in past years—

    • authorized detention of “alien enemies” and other “dangerous persons” within the United States;
    • suspended the writ of habeas corpus by presidential order;
    • provided for various forms of martial law;
    • issued a general warrant permitting search and seizure of persons and property;
    • established military areas such as those created during World War II;
    • suspended production of the Federal Register;
    • declared a State of War; and
    • authorized censorship of news reports.

    The Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program researches PEADs and advocates for greater transparency and oversight of them. As a resource to others interested in this topic, below we have compiled our own analyses and op-eds; a running list of congressional actions; and government documents discussing PEADs, including documents that others have obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and placed on the internet and documents that we have obtained through our own FOIA or Mandatory Declassification Review requests.

    Congressional Actions

    • On April 24, 2020, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Chairman Steve Cohen sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr requesting a briefing and documents related to PEADs.
    • On May 5, 2020, Senator Ed Markey introduced the Restraint of Executive In Governing Nation Act of 2020 requiring that the president disclose PEADs to the appropriate congressional committees.
    • According to the Associated Press, in May 2020 a bi-partisan group of Senators sent a letter to then Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell asking to be briefed on PEADs.
    • On September 23, 2020, House Democrats introduced as part of the Protecting Our Democracy Act a requirement that the president disclose PEADs to the relevant congressional committees.
    • On May 17, 2022, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on reforming emergency powers, including PEADs.

    Documents

    President Dwight D. Eisenhower

    • 1956 Letter from White House Executive Office of the President, Office of Defense Mobilization to Director of the CIA, with attached memo on “Procedure for Agencies to Follow in Submitting Emergency Action Documents to the President”; Letter from CIA to Office of Defense Mobilization responding.
    • 1956 Letter from Maxwell M. Rabb, Secretary of the Cabinet, with attached memo on “Emergency Action Papers.”
    • April 1959 “Federal Emergency Plan D-Minus,” prepared by White House Executive Office of the President, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, and circulated to 40 federal agencies.
    • June 1959 “Federal Emergency Plan D-Minus,” prepared by White House Executive Office of the President, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, and circulated to 40 federal agencies.
    • June 1959 Annex to Federal Emergency Plans, prepared by White House Executive Office of the President, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, on “Procedures for Presidential Actions and Documents.”
    • 1959 Letter from Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Personnel, and Reserve Charles Finucane to General Andrew J. Goodpaster on the “Joint Chiefs of Staff Emergency Actions File.”

    President John F. Kennedy

    • 1962 Report to the President, prepared by Emergency Planning Committee, on “Federal Policy with Respect to Emergency Plans and Continuity of Government in the Event of Nuclear Attack on the United States.”
    • 1962 Memorandum from Edward A. McDermott to Captain Tazewell Shepard, on “Civil Emergency Action Documents,” with attachments. 

    President Lyndon B. Johnson

    • 1964 Interview William Manchester with Major General Chester Clifton on the “emergency war orders” inside the Football. 
    • 1964 Interview William Manchester with General Godfrey McHugh on the Football.
    • 1964 Interview William Manchester with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Maxwell Taylor regarding concerns about the Football on the day of the Kennedy assassination.
    • 1964 Interview William Manchester with Captain Tazewell Shepard on the Football protocol.
    • 1965 Memo from Office of Emergency Planning to White House Assistant Press Secretary on “Intended Press Releases Relating to Presidential Emergency Actions.”
    • 1965 Memo from J.V. Josephson to General Clifton regarding PEADs, the Football, and other topics
    • 1965 Memo, likely from General Clifton, regarding PEADs
    • 1967 Memo from FBI to unknown; Memo from FBI to DOJ
    • 1967 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo regarding review of PEADs

    President Richard Nixon

    • 1972 CIA Memo and proposed letter to Office of Emergency Preparedness
    • 1972 Transmittal slip; CIA Memo
    • Unknown date CIA letter to Office of Emergency Preparedness
    • 1972 CIA Routing slips, CIA Memo; Signed letter to Office of Emergency Preparedness
    • 1972 CIA Transmittal slip; CIA Memo; CIA Note; CIA Routing Slip; Memo from Office of Emergency Preparedness to “Head of Departments and Agencies”

    President Gerald Ford

    President Jimmy Carter

    • 1977 Federal Preparedness Agency Briefing for Vice President Mondale prepared by Dalimil Kybal on key elements of PEADs
    • 1978 Memorandum from William Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski on out of date PEADs
    • 1978 Memorandum from Denis Clift, Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs, to Tred Davis and Marty Beaman, Assistant Director, White House Military Office on reviewing new PEADs
    • 1979 Memorandum from Denis Clift to Vice President Mondale on “interim” PEADs
    • 1979 Memorandum from Denis Clift to Hugh Carter/Marty Beaman on the Football at the Vice President’s residence
    • 1979 Memorandum from Denis Clift to Vice President Mondale regarding an update on PEADs
    • 1979 Memorandum from William Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski on a meeting with the Vice President and Hugh Carter on PEADs and FEMA
    • 1980 Memorandum from William Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski regarding updated PEADs
    • 1980 Memorandum from Chief of Staff Richard Moe to the Vice President on mention of “White House Emergency Procedures”
    • 1981 House Appropriations Committee Hearing (PEADs discussed on page 529)

    President Ronald Reagan

    President George H.W. Bush

    President Bill Clinton

    President George W. Bush

    Click here to read more about documents obtained from the George W. Bush Presidential Library through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    President Barack Obama

    President Donald Trump

    Multiple Presidencies 1956–1978

    Brennan Center PEADs Analysis and Op-Eds

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