Citing Presidential Address from GPO Access Page

October 12, 2013 2:01 PM

I'm trying to figure out how to cite a presidential address that I retrieved from the GPO Access Page using Chicago Style. I can't find examples that seem correct and the Chicago Manual of Style Online is not being helpful either. What all do I need to include? I will post below some of the data I think goes in the citation.

Some of the data:

George W. Bush
"Address to the Nation on the War on Terror"
September 7, 2003
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
p. 1165
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-2003-09-15/pdf/WCPD-2003-09-15-Pg1163.pdf

There are many speeches and I accessed them on several occasions. Should I use the language, "Last accessed: 7/7/11"?

I am so grateful for any help. Thank you!

posted by Original 1928 Flavor to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

Copy editor for too many years here. I would consider this acceptable:

Bush, George W. "Address to the Nation on the War on Terror." Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. September 7, 2003. Last accessed October 12, 2013. http://www.thatlengthyURL.com.

It seems to me that this is all the data you need. Since you accessed the address online, my feeling is that there's no need to include the page number.
posted by scratch at 2:14 PM on October 12, 2013

Response by poster: I accessed it online by downloading a pdf, which is an excerpt of the relevant pages from the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, which is a print publication. So, for example, the end of the previous speech or proclamation (or what have you) is on the first page of the pdf and the beginning of the next is on the last. It is this connection to a very specific print publication that confuses me. Do you still think I don't need page numbers?
posted by Original 1928 Flavor at 2:52 PM on October 12, 2013

Most U.S. government documents specify how they are to be cited and this one is no exception. See About Compilation of Presidential Documents.
posted by Wordwoman at 9:57 PM on October 13, 2013