Meeting of the Minds: Happenstance
By Mira Spiegel Cohen

Overview

A president dies and the nation is gripped with tragedy.  Who will fill the shoes of our country's leader?  Nine times in our history, the sitting vice president has been called upon to become president.  John Tyler took office on the death of William Henry Harrison.  Just nine years later, Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor.  When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson became the nation's chief executive.  In a similar situation, Chester Arthur ascended to the presidency when America experienced its second presidential assassination—that of James A. Garfield.  Harry S. Truman took office upon the death of our only leader elected to four terms, Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Al Gore, our current vice president would have fallen into the category of successor presidents had the impeached President Clinton been removed from office.  Can these men feel prepared to assume the highest office?  How does the American public react to vice presidents who assume the office of the presidency as a result of a crisis?

This lesson helps students explore and address these and other questions as they extend their understanding of the role of vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency, as developed in "Happenstance," one of the programs of The American President documentary series.  Students will use the knowledge they gained from the video and apply their ideas to contemporary times.  The project involves creating a conversation among successor presidents profiled in "Happenstance" and Al Gore, our current vice president and a potential Democratic nominee for president in the upcoming election.  This lesson could be used in any high school U.S. history or government classroom with 11 ^th or 12^th graders.

Objectives

Students will:

• Research the careers of John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Harry S Truman, and Al Gore
• Compare and contrast the careers of John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Harry S Truman, and Al Gore
• Report their findings in written responses that involve role-playing
• Present their responses to the class

• "Happenstance" video from The American President series
• The American President website biographies on John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur and Harry S. Truman
• Magazine and news articles
• Internet access

1. Introduce the lesson using the Initial Motivation. Tell students that they will be taking on the roles of and answering questions about following presidents—John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, and Harry Truman.  They will also be including Vice President Al Gore.
2. Show the "Happenstance" video.  Have students take notes on all of the featured presidents.
3. Assign students to six groups.  Five groups will be assigned to take on the role of one of the former presidents and one group will be assigned to take on the role of Al Gore.
4. Direct students to The American President biographies and other Internet and library resources for information on these leading figures.  Each of the groups should create a one- to two-page response to the following questions based on the character they have been assigned:
    
1. Beginning with John Tyler, successor presidents have often been labeled "accidental presidents."  Do you think this is an accurate description of your position and role as president?  Explain.
2. Did you make an inaugural address when you assumed office? Why or why not? 
3. Do you feel you were prepared to take on the office of the president?  Why or why not?
4. What word would you use to describe the reaction of the American people when you took office?  Explain why you chose this word.
5. Do you feel the American people were prepared for you to assume office?  Why or why not?  Explain.
6. Did the office of the presidency change you?  Why or why not?
7. Did you run for a second term?  Why or why not?
    
8. Note:  Students who take on the role of Al Gore will be asked to make predictions about a potential situation.  The role of Al Gore will be somewhat different from that of the past presidents particularly because he is currently running for president himself from the position of the vice presidency.
    
5. Have each group present its responses to the class.
6. Ask the class to take notes on the presentations.
7. You may ask students to write follow-up essays to address the following:
    
1. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks to a "successor presidency."  Use at least four presidents as examples in your response.
2. Define the term "accidental president."  Determine whether a president who takes office as a result of the death of a president can be prepared to lead the nation.  Use at least four presidents as examples in your response.

– OR –

You may ask the students who represented the different characters to create a new conversation in groups or pairs in which they argue that the way in which their president handled the assumption of office was superior.  Students may complete this second part of the assignment either orally or in writing.

Assessment

The following group-grade assessment is based on a 10-point scale:

9 - 10	Clearly and accurately answered the seven questions.
8	Six questions were answered clearly and accurately.  One of the questions were vague.
7	Five questions were answered clearly and accurately.
6	Four questions were answered clearly and accurately.
0 - 5	Three or fewer questions were answered clearly and accurately.

Grade the written composition as a standard essay assignment, paying attention to content, structure, and grammar.  Make sure students include accurate information about at least four presidents.  Check to make sure that the examples were used appropriately.

Additional Resources

Official campaign website of Al Gore: http://www.algore2000.com

The Washington Post series, "The Life of Al Gore," contains articles on the vice president's background:
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/goremain100399.htm

Library resources, books and periodicals

Interdisciplinary Connections

English teachers may want to assign biographies of presidents.  English classes could read historical novels involving the time periods of each of the presidents listed above.  Students could also study the dialogue format by reading plays in English or studying theater.  Students may want to produce their conversations in a theater class.

Mira Spiegel Cohen teaches AP American government and world history at Beverly Hills High School in California.