United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions

The so-called Plum Book - the official title is United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions - is a handbook that will always re-issued by the U.S. government after the presidential election. It provides information on all 7,000 offices in the federal administration, which are not advertised in open competition. These include, for example, all appointed by the U.S. President Government employees.

The list of these offices was first published in 1952 during the tenure of Dwight D. Eisenhower. When Eisenhower was elected president, Republican politicians demanded a list of all offices, whose occupation it can determine. The next edition appeared in 1960 and regularly thereafter every four years.

The term " Plum Book" refers obviously the plum colored design of the cover ( = plum plum).