The American Presidency

Part B – The First Three, Leadership and Lifeskills

The second part of the unit will start with a review of what "personal best" means and the Lifeskills that underlie this community guideline. We will follow with a small group discussion about which Lifeskills the students feel they have progressed on and which ones are still emerging. We will also address how external circumstances can, at times, help these qualities become more a part of our personality or how the opposite can also emerge (for example, courage can appear in a moment of fear; cowardice can be present when there is pressure to conform to established standards.) Encourage students to give examples of their own lives or people they know well –try to avoid generalizations or assumptions.

For the next activity, students will be given cards with the names of important people from the Revolutionary Era of the United States; their task is to choose two or three Lifeskills they will reason these people had to use at a certain moment in their lives; the students will be speculating but they will have to have knowledge of these people or the teacher will have to write a short biography on the card given to the student. Key events in this person's biography will have to be included so that the students can identify the Lifeskill needed when making a decision or acting in a determined way.

Next, the students will be divided into three groups and instructed to start a research about the first three presidents: they are asked to consult at least three different pieces of research material (book, Internet site, and a video) and present their results in the form of a poster. Each group will do a different president and, once their poster is ready, will make a short presentation for the whole class. Research guidelines may include: short background of their leader before becoming president, family and children, term or terms in office, their vice-presidents, political party they were associated with, achievements and their significance in the United States' political life. Although not as significant but certainly fun for children they can find about the presidents' pets, and places or things named after them or where their images or names are depicted.

In future sessions, the students will receive three documents –I suggest doing one per class or period: George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion; John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts, Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. Ready to use documents about Washington and Jefferson can be found in Presidents & the Constitution, a book by the Bill of Rights Institute. The document about John Adams can be easily created using the essay John Adams's Views on Citizenship: Lessons for Contemporary America by Todd Wallingford from the Massachusetts Historical Society (http://www.masshist.org/education/resources/wallingford/Wallingford_Complete.pdf)

Using these events and documents, the previous research and a set of discussion questions/scenarios, the students will identify which Lifeskills were most present in the first three presidents. A final conclusion should also be reached regarding how the Constitution was upheld or not during these presidencies and if some of their actions could be labeled "tyrannical". If so, lead a discussion on how the Constitution helped ensure that the presidents would still endorse a democratic instead of an autocratic government. Also, bring to the students' attention the socio-economical of the country and other important world events at the time of each president's term.

The last session will help students gain insight into the Lifeskills embedded in leadership, and discern if strong leadership qualities is enough to guarantee that a president will succeed in selling his ideas to the people who have elected him. The lesson starts with the dictionary definition of leadership and the students' views on what traits a person needs in order to become a leader. These are written on the board and later associated with the Lifeskills. We then look back at the presidencies of Washington, Adams and Jefferson to find evidence to support or refute the assertion that a strong leader can influence people to follow their agenda and ideas. The teacher follows with a short lecture emphasizing the social and economic circumstances in the background of these presidencies during the first twenty years of the new republic. When appropriate, the teacher invites students to participate using their background knowledge from the unit and their research

During a final session, students work in small groups to create a Triple Venn Diagram to compare/contrast the three presidencies. Use big pieces of paper so they can comfortably work together on the floor. Display their work and invite comments that reflect on what the students learned about the Constitution, the concept of tyranny and how it was dealt with; the first three presidents, how they governed and the importance of the Lifeskills included in their leadership. I suggest having the students, as a final tool of assessment, present a reflective conclusion in any form they feel most successful with (writing, drawing, a skit or play, etc.)