Free Lesson Plans for Teachers: The Courage of the Presidency

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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
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Newsweek is running an article entitled, "The Truman Primary:
Courage and the '08 Field."

The article states, "Americans say they want to see courage from their
politicians. As the historian Michael Beschloss illustrates in his new
book, "Presidential Courage," the greatest presidents were willing to
risk their political careers to do the right thing for the country. Being
courageous is usually hard to fake; voters, even apathetic ones, have a
way of spotting phonies. But it is difficult to tell whether a candidate
will make the hard choices until he or she actually becomes president-
by which time, it's too late."

According to the article, Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy
and Ronald Reagan demonstrated this kind of courage at certain points
in their presidencies. Will any of the current candidates running for
President have the courage to act in this way at pivotal moments of
the future?

Read the article!!

Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

Ask your students what it means to be brave? Do they know
anybody who's ever done anything brave? What did this person
do?

Consider asking students to create an acrostic out of the
word Brave. They should write the word "Brave" along
the top of a page and then words that begin with each
letter of the word, down the page.

What do your students think it means to "do the right thing?"
Can they give an example of a time when they did the right
thing? Is it sometimes hard to do the right thing? Why/why not?

Students could develop skits in which they demonstrate
what it means to do the right thing.

Do your students think that sometimes people say things that
are not true to get what they want? Why/why not? Do your
students think that it's important to tell the truth? Why/why
not? (This might be a good opportunity to discuss safety issues
with your children.)

Students could create signs emphasizing the importance
of telling the truth.

Have your students ever done something that they did not really
want to do because one of their friends asked them to do it?
What did they do? Would they do this again? Why/why not?

Ask students to write short sentences in response to
these questions.

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

Vocabulary terms to discuss: Iconic; Verities; Fortitude; and,
Placate.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged Congress to pass
civil rights legislation. Eventually, this legislation did pass.
Among other things, universities receiving public funding were
required to allot a certain number of seats to minority groups
that had traditionally been denied access. How might the United
States be different today if this legislation had not passed?

Consider asking students to write a commentary
describing a typical school in America today if this
legislation had never passed.

Do your students believe that the Jewish people deserve to have
a country of their own? Why/why not? If President Truman
had not supported the creation of the State of Israel, do your
students think that there would have been a Jewish state today?
Why/why not? How might the Middle East be different today?
Explain!!

Students could respond to these questions in persuasive
essays. Ask them to include reference to a core
democratic value in their essays.

In what ways do your students think that the tools of the
modern "Information Age" have effected the life and job of the
U.S. President? In what ways have these effects been good for
our country? In what ways have these effects been negative?

These questions could prompt an interesting class
discussion.

The Courage of the Presidency
May 9, 2007

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