Presidential Legacies-54321

Here we are...our final blog!

I have assigned you a president below. Please complete a 54321 on the legacy (good and bad) of your assigned president and email it to me by Sunday PM.

I have loved being your teacher this year. Thanks for your hard work. Enjoy your well-earned summer vacation.

Lainey-FDR
Connor-Truman
Cam-Eisenhower
Kate-JFK
Guff-LBJ
Sean-Nixon
Weston-Carter
Mack-Reagan
Poe-Clinton
Kyle-G W Bush
TJ-Obama

1980s: The Reagan Revolution

As we have seen, the 60s and 70s were a turbulent time in America. By 1980 we had finally dislodged ourselves from Vietnam and were no longer under the immediate shadow of Nixon's Watergate crisis.

But...our economy was a mess, Iran was holding Americans hostage in our embassy and the Cold War was still raging with the Soviets.

Enter...Ronald Reagan.

Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and Governor of California, became the face of the American Conservative Movement. His was able to galvanize support from Nixon's "Silent Majority" around the main ideas of pro life voting, limiting the size of government and putting an end to the Cold War.

To some, RR is a major hero. To others, RR is a tyrant. I'm interested in your thoughts.

For this week's blog, watch the Crash Course episode about Reagan.

For the comments...

1) Write a Top 10 list of the most interesting things you learned about RR from this video. (100 words)

2) Write a paragraph detailing the BEST and WORST thing RR did while President. (100 words)

Watergate: The Scandal That Shook America's Confidence

President Nixon, as we'll see this week, made some brilliant moves while in office. It seems, though, he couldn't "get out of his own way" and his 2nd term ended with the humiliation of the Watergate scandal.

Use the following resources to gain background knowledge on the Watergate scandal:

1-Video
2-Website

For the comment section...
Discuss what this scandal was about AND detail how Nixon should have handled it.