The Presidents Speak Out on the Presidency
 By Linda Donald Harris

Overview

What do the 41 men who have occupied the office of the President think of the presidency?  This lesson is designed to have students evaluate what a number of presidents said about the presidency, and recognize why they said it.  Odd and amusing facts about each president are included with more "traditional clues" provided to help students identify the president who made the statement.  Students will be able to recognize the connection between the president's experiences and the statement that he made about the presidency. This lesson may be used in any class (8-12) studying U.S. History, U.S. Government, or the presidency.  It is easily adapted to a variety of ability levels through the choice and use of clues and supplementary activities.  "The Presidents Speak Out" may be used in conjunction with an introductory lesson or as an extension activity in a government unit on the presidency. In a U.S. History class, the "basic" plan can be used to introduce students to their new textbook at the beginning of the year or it may provide a game type activity such as a "treasure" or "scavenger hunt" later in the year.

After the introduction of the lesson by the teacher, the class will read and discuss the statements (this may be done as group work if the teacher desires). The student will rewrite the statements in his/her own words.  Using the clues provided, the student will determine which president made each statement.  Depending on the ability level of the class, students may conduct further research to explain each President's comments in terms of the events that occurred during his administration.

Objectives

Students will:

  • Identify "clues" to determine which President made each statement.
  • Analyze the presidents' statements and rewrite the statements in their own words.
  • Interpret and explain the statement based on their research of the experiences and events which occurred during that president's administration.
  • Assess the validity of the President's statement using facts to substantiate their assessments.

Time Required

This lesson is flexible and lends itself to a variety of activities. It could be used for 3 to 12 hours of class time depending on the activities selected by the teacher.  In addition, homework assignments would extend the time devoted to the topic of the presidency.

Materials

Initial Motivation

  1. Drawings, photographs and cartoons of the presidents are placed around the room.
  2. Teacher writes one of the quotes (an amusing or obvious one is best for this) on the board.
  3. Journal Entry choices:
    1. From whom do you believe this quote is taken?
    2. Would you want to be the President of the United States?  Why or Why not?
    3. Give three reasons why someone might want to be a president.
    4. Do you think most Presidents have liked being President? Why or Why not?

Procedures

1.  Students will be given the handout, "The Presidents Speak Out on the Presidency"

  1. Individual students will read the quotes as listed
  2. Teacher will underline words in the quote that may pose a problem for his/her students
  3. Teacher will clarify or have students define such terms  
  4. Students will analyze the quotation and rewrite it in his/her own words on the handout
  5. Students will read over the "clues" found on the handout
  6. Teacher may add or delete clues from the original handout depending on ability level of class

2.  Students will use their textbooks, and The American President's Website biographies, to locate clues and determine which president made the statement that is quoted.

3.  Students will write the name of the President in the appropriate space on the handout.

4.  If desired, a "prize" can be given to the first person or group to find the correct name(s).

5.  Students will list on each "President's Page" the name of the President, the years he served as president, and  events, people and situations that were important to his administration.

6.  Each person/group will explain why the statement about the presidency was in keeping with the experience of the president quoted.

7.  Students may use newspaper articles, political cartoons, additional quotes to substantiate their explanations and add to the "President's Page".

8.  Students will assess the validity of the President's statement.

9.  Depending on ability level and available time, this might be a written assignment or it could be an oral presentation using the visual materials collected.

10.  The students will use specific facts to substantiate their conclusions.

11.  Students will place the "President's Pages" in chronological order.

Additional Activities (ability level and available time allowing)

1.  Student will select the man who was the president at the time of his/her birth and find a quote in which he discusses the presidency.  Student will complete a "President's Page" for that president.  This will include the student's selection of "clues," pictures, cartoons, etc.

2.  President Clinton
Students will create a quotation that President Clinton might write regarding is time in office.  One quote for each of his two terms.

3.  Students will find other presidential quotes and illustrate.  Political cartoon techniques, collages, pen and ink, etc.

4.  Students select the criteria for a good president and create a rubric.  Class members rate presidents based on this rubric using facts evidence.

Assessment

1.  Handout:  Names and rewritten statements
2.  President's Page: 

    Interpretation of statement with substantiating facts
    List of important events, people and situations
    Additional pictures, cartoon, quotes

3.  Matching Quiz using Quotes and Presidents
4.  Class participation/oral presentation

Additional Resources

Any of a number of reference books on quotations
Presidential Libraries
Presidential Exhibits

Interdisciplinary Connections

Language Arts:

  • Students can approach this activity by reading the work of reporters, journalists, and other contemporaries of the presidents
  • The writing elements of this activity can be expanded

Art/Art History:

  • Students can be asked to focus more on the work of artists in the political arena during

Linda Donald Harris teaches U.S. History, AP U.S. History, American Government and Law at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California

Handout #1

The Presidents Speak Out on the Presidency

The following quotes were made by some of our past presidents when they were referring to the presidency.  Do you know which president made each statement?  In order to assist you in your search, some clues have been provided below.

Read the clues and use your textbook to help you find the president who made each statement .
Write the name of that president in the space provided under the quote.
On the line (A) below his name, rewrite that statement in your own words.

********

"Many years ago I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man.  The President differs only from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe."

CLUES: "rugged individualism," he turned each of his federal salary checks over to charity for 47 years, he was an orphan, graduate of Stanford, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Bonus Army fiasco

1. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"Franklin, I hope you never become President."

CLUES:  first and only President to be married in the White House, nicknamed "Uncle Jumbo," did not serve his two terms as president consecutively, his wife was the youngest First Lady (she was 21)

2. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"I'll be damned if I am not getting tired of this.  It seems to be the profession of a President simply to hear other people talk."

CLUES:  First president to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, he weighed over 300 pounds, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, sponsored the 16th and 17th Amendments

3. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"My God!  What is there in this place that a man should ever want to get in it?


CLUES:  Youngest brigadier general of the Civil War, last president to be born in a log cabin, assassinated by Charles Guiteau, held the offices of President of the United States, member of the House of Representatives and Senator from Ohio all at the same time

4. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"The Office of President requires the constitution of an athlete, the patience of a mother, the endurance of an early Christian."

CLUES:  Only president with a PhD., his wife grazed sheep on the White House lawn, Fourteen Points, established Federal Reserve System


5. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"Had I been chosen President again, I am certain I could not have lived another year."

CLUES:  He lived to be older than any other president, defended British soldiers of the Boston Massacre, spent most of his presidency back home on the farm, one of his sons committed suicide

6. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"Oftentimes...I don't seem to grasp that I am President."

CLUES:  Ohio Gang, "return to normalcy," Teapot Dome, first president who knew
how to drive an automobile, wore a size 14 shoe

7. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"If you are as happy, my dear sir, on entering this house as I am in leaving it and returning home, you are the happiest man in this country."

CLUES:  Only bachelor in the White House, near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other, a prizefighter before becoming president, first and only presidential candidate to win after three unsuccessful attempts.

8. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"No man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it."

CLUES:  Established the University of Virginia, did not address the Congress directly due to a lisp, invented a swivel chair and introduced ice cream and spaghetti to the U.S.

9. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"I feel like the man who was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail.  To the man who asked him how he liked it, he said: "if it wasn't for the honor of the thing, I'd rather walk.'"

CLUES:  Only president to have a government patent, his son was present at the assassination of 3 U.S. Presidents, he and Stephen Douglas were engaged to the same woman

10. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"No other President ever enjoyed the Presidency as I did."

CLUES:  First American to win a Nobel Prize, Bull Moose, "build a battleship in every creek," Panama Canal, Progressive conservationist

11. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"Presidential plans for future engagements are, I find to my sorrow, more susceptible to change than the plans of any private citizen."

CLUES:  He served hot dogs to the King of England, Al Capone's confiscated armored automobile was used to transport him, and  his mother was the first who could vote for her son for President, Fireside Chats.

12. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

"If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it."

CLUES:  "The business of America is business," he loved to have his head rubbed with Vaseline while he had breakfast in bed, born on the 4th of July, refused to sign veteran's bonus bill,  sent militia to the Boston Police Strike

13. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"I have been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political  history."

CLUES:  He was swindled out of life's savings after his presidency, set aside land for Yellowstone National Park, Credit Mobilier, "Unconditional Surrender"

14. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

"The four most miserable years of my life..."

CLUES:  A published poet, he took a bath in the Potomac every morning, he was accused of a "corrupt bargain," and at 14, he was the private secretary to the American envoy to Russia 


15. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"Within the first few months I discovered that being a President is like riding a tiger.  A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed.

CLUES:  He was rejected by West Point because of his poor vision, he desegregated the armed forces, he courted his wife for 30 years before marrying her, and he was a haberdasher

16. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

"I probably long ago used up my time; but you know, there is one thing about being the President, it is hard to tell him to sit down."

CLUES:  First U.S. President to be televised in color, had a farm at Gettysburg, when his mother discovered her son reading books about war, she took them away because she was a pacifist, Supreme Allied Commander


17. ________________________________

A_______________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Handout #2

The Presidents Speak Out on the Presidency
PRESIDENT'S PAGE

PRESIDENT:  ________________________________________________________

BORN:  ________________________ DIED: ___________________________


YEARS IN OFFICE:  _____________

PARTY AFFILIATION: _____________

PRESIDENT'S QUOTE ON THE PRESIDENCY:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT EVENTS AND PEOPLE OF THIS PRESIDENCY:
(You may attach a second sheet with pictures and cartoons in addition to this written information)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT OF PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT:
(Use specific facts to substantiate your conclusions)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Handout #1 Answer Key

The Presidents Speak Out on the Presidency

Herbert Hoover
Grover Cleveland
William Howard Taft
James Garfield
Woodrow Wilson
John Adams
Warren Harding
James Buchanan
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Ulysses s. Grant
John Quincy Adams
Harry Truman
Dwight David Eisenhower