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.

The Vietnam War: America Will Never Be The Same

This week's blog will be in four parts. Each part will cover a different aspect of the Vietnam Conflict. For each part, write 100 words for the comment section. Please don't post your comments separately. Post all four parts as one large comment. This blog is worth 100 points.

Conduct your own Google/YouTube Searches for the following topics. 

Part One: Basic Facts
-Write ten interesting facts about the Vietnam War (100 words minimum)

Part Two: Difficulties Fighting
-Describe the difficulty the U.S. Troops faced fighting "inferior troops" in the landscape of Vietnam. (100 words minimum)

Part Three: Governmental Deception
-How did the U.S. Government (LBJ Administration) cover-up/hide certain details of the Vietnam War? (100 words minimum)

Part Four: Protests At Home
-Why was there such a backlash at home, manifesting in protests and draft-dodging, regarding the Vietnam War? (100 words minimum)

LBJ's Vision: The Great Society

As we will see in a few chapters, President Johnson (LBJ) was a very controversial figure in regards to the Vietnam War. His foreign policies, and his tendency to not tell the whole truth, caused him a lot of problems.

One of the brighter spots in his administration was his determination to help the underprivileged in America. He called his program "The Great Society".

For this week's blog, watch this video. For the comment section, do the following...

1) Create a Top 10 List of the most important things you learned from this video (100 words)

2) Write a paragraph discussing whether or not you thing the federal government should be responsible for "eliminating poverty". (100 words)

Camelot: The Kennedy Mystique

JFK ushered in a whole new era in American politics. He is the youngest president ever elected and with that distinction brought a "glitz and glamour" type atmosphere to the White House.

And then in 1963 he was tragically assassinated while in Dallas, TX.

His age, his family's wealth, his tragic death...all of it has created a shroud of mystique around his life.

For this week's blog, choose ONE of the following topics about JFK's life to look into further. For the comments, write 200 words about what you learned and how it adds to the mystique surrounding the Kennedys.

Choices:
-Kennedy family wealth
-Did the Kennedy's steal the 1960 election away from Nixon?
-What happened to JFK in World War II?
-Conspiracies surrounding his assassination
-People in the Kennedy clan who have died mysteriously/tragically other than JFK

1950s: "The Happy Days"

We will be discussing the impact of decades from now until May. Each decade in the 20th century is known for its political, social and cultural impact.

For this week's blog, independently research the decade of the 1950s.

Choose ONE 1950s political event (presidential, law, Supreme Court case, Cold War related event, Space Race event, war etc.) and ONE 1950s cultural event (movies, music, sports, comic books, tv, radio, books, plays etc.) that interests you.

Write 100 words for each choice. Explain what you learned about the 1950s from the two topics you chose.

We Continue To Spend $$$$: The Marshall Plan

Perhaps one of the greatest contributions America made to the WW2 era was actually after the fighting concluded.

In 1948, three years after the war concluded, President Truman authorized a massive spending bill we've come to know as the Marshall Plan.

For this week's blog, visit these sources to learn more about the Marshall Plan:
Source One

Source Two

Source Three

For the comments section...

1) Write 100 words explaining the key details of the Marshall Plan

2) Write 100 words responding to this prompt..."Did America have a moral obligation to economically 'save' Europe the way they did with the Marshall Plan"?

Korea: America's Forgotten War

Many people skip directly over Korea and move into Vietnam when they think of global conflicts after World War II. In fact, the Korean Conflict (so-called because America never officially declared war on North Korea) is often called the "Forgotten War".

For this week's blog, you are going to watch this video which gives the basic details of the Korean Conflict.

For the comment section, create a Top-10 List of the ten most important facts you learned about this global event.

Then, write a 100 word summary answering this question: If the Korean Conflict is so important to the history of the U.S., why is it a "forgotten" war? 

World War Two: Through Their Own Eyes

Visit this website to find the article you signed up for in class.

For the comments, write 200 words on what you learned from your eyewitness account.

Fighting The War: With Cartoons???

The art of war began to dramatically change in the 20th century. An interesting element to WW2, which people are often unaware, is the role of cartoon propaganda. Characters like Bugs, Daffy and other favorites were placed into "global situations" to get Americans on board with the war effort.

For this week's blog, watch a famously controversial cartoon called "Tokio Jokio".

Also, read this article that describes the role of cartoons as propaganda.


For the comment section...

1) Write 100 words on your observations from the cartoon. Did anything surprise/shock you? Why might Tokio Jokio be considered controversial?

2) Why do you think Warner Brothers and other entertainment companies would spend time, in the early 1940s, creating war propaganda? (100 words)

The 20th Century's Greatest Villain?: The Rise of Hitler

For this week's blog, do some research on the life of Hitler. Notice his early struggles and his rise to controlling Germany by the 1930s.

In the comments...

1) Create a 10 point timeline of Hitler's life that you think covers the most significant events in his life that lead him from being a WW1 soldier to leader of Germany. Each point should have a date and a brief explanation of what happened in his life at that time. This section must be at least 100 words.

2) Write a 100 word paragraph answering this question: "What was it about Hitler's personality and/or ideas that allowed him to gain as much power as he did over the German people?".

The Great Depression: In Their Own Words

What makes history so interesting, and relevant, to us today is something we often forget....these events happened TO REAL PEOPLE!

People with families, struggles, senses of humor, mortgage payments, in love etc. all went through these events and experienced them differently.

So, for this week's blog, please listen to journalist Studs Terkel interviewing people from the Depression era to get a glimpse into their stories.

For the comments, write 200 words on what you took away from this listening assignment.

Start at 5:30 and end at 37:45.

New Deal: Political Cartoons

As we've noted in the past, political cartoons are an entertaining way to get a glimpse into how people thought about major issues in our history as they were happening.

For this week's blog, please conduct a Google search on "New Deal Political Cartoons". Find one that seems interesting and do some research on it.

Look for items like-where was it published? when? what is happening in the cartoon? what symbolism do you see in the cartoon? was the artist critiquing or supporting FDR's New Deal?

For the comments, post a link to the cartoon and write 200 words detailing the information you found.

Remember-you cannot do the same cartoon as someone else!

The Great Depression: The Roaring Twenties End With A Thud

For this week's blog, you are going to write two 100 word responses.

#1-Google "Dorothea Lange photography" and look at images she took during the Great Depression. Write 100 words on which photograph(s) made the greatest impact on you and why.

#2-Google "causes of the Great Depression". Write a 100 word response on at least THREE different events/causes that led to the Great Depression.