How to Evaluate a President January 6, 2013

Evaluating a President Evaluating a President Evaluating a President Date Assignment Page 1/6 Evaluate Clinton 62 Evaluating a President 63 Date Assignment Page 1/6 Evaluate Clinton 62 Evaluating a President 63 Date Assignment Page 1/6 Evaluate Clinton 62 Evaluating a President 63

Do Now: Top of Page 62 What are characteristics that define a good president? What are characteristics that define a bad president?

Presidential Project Over the next two weeks, you will be studying 6 of the first 7 presidents. Your project will be to create a report card where you will evaluate each president based on the actions he took while in office. Today, we will practice evaluating a president by looking at the presidency of Bill Clinton.

What is the job of the President? The president takes an oath of office where he promises to defend the Constitution. The Preamble, or introduction to the Constitution states: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” You will evaluate each president based on how well he defended the goals laid out in the Constitution.

Goal What does it mean? “To form a more perfect union” To unite the people of the country “To establish justice” To make our country a place where people are treated fairly- but it means the president must also follow that law, too. To “ensure domestic tranquility” To keep law and order at home. It might also mean keeping peace between different parts of the country. To “provide for the common defence” To defend our country against foreign enemies and against future attacks. To “promote the general welfare” To create a country where everyone has a chance to good job and a healthy life.   If a president is doing things to improve our economy [helping us make money], he is achieving this goal. To “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” The president should make sure our people have freedom (like free speech) now and in the future.

What does the Preamble mean? Goal What does it mean? To “provide for the common defence” To defend our country against foreign enemies and against future attacks. To “promote the general welfare” To create a country where everyone has a chance to good job and a healthy life.   If a president is doing things to improve our economy [helping us make money], he is achieving this goal. To “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” The president should make sure our people have freedom (like free speech) now and in the future.

Using a Decision Matrix

Presidential Example

Bill Clinton With the people at your table: Read the 4 short description of actions taken by President Bill Clinton Fill out the decision matrix for Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton Goals of Constitution The Economy The Middle East To form a more perfect union To establish justice To ensure domestic tranquility. To provide for the common defense To promote the general welfare To secure the blessings of liberty

Argument/Thesis Evidence Bottom of Page 62 Bill Clinton was a ________________________________________ president. Argument/Thesis Explain how evidence supports argument Evidence

Bottom of Page 62 Evaluate Clinton using the below procedure Your first sentence should be a STRONG statement -- "President [fill in the blank] did a poor job as president!"  "He did a bad job as president!"  "He was a bad president!"  "Let's face it, the guy was pond scum!"  OR  "He did a good job as president!"  "He did a great job!"  "He was the best president, EVER!” You MUST use the THE GOALS in the decision matrix to help you add details You must include 1) the event   2) what the president did   3) what goal was achieved or not -- "President X did his duty to provide for the common defense; he won the war and defeated the "Evil Empire."  However, while he was president he cut off trade with countries that criticized us.  This caused many to lose their jobs and higher prices for all - he failed in his duty to promote the general welfare.  Finish with a concluding sentence {or two} -- "Although he did win a war, he was a failure as a president.  His decisions destroyed the lives of too many Americans."