Tag Archives: President of the United States

February 22, 2011 · 2:36 pm

This Day in History 2/22: Happy Birthday, George Washington!

A big birthday salute to our first President (under our current Constitution) George Washington, born on February 22, 1732 (according to the current Gregorian calendar) in Virginia.

Needless to say, almost every school boy and girl can recite Georgie’s accomplishments ad nauseum–well, at least my kids can: Planter (and slaveowner), surveyer, inadvertantly began the first real “world war” in the French and Indian War, delegate to the Virginia House of Burgesses, commander of the Continental Army, president of the Constitutional Convention, and of course the first President under the document that came out of said convention.

Attached is a scene from the 1999 A&E film The Crossing, which deals with Washington’s Christmas victory at Trenton in 1776. General Horatio Gates, a former British soldier, outlies his reservations about Washington’s plan–and Washington himself. In his response, played by Jeff Daniels, you can note Washington’s stature, resolve, reckless nature and his fiery temper: something often forgotten about him.

It’s a great scene to use in the classroom to compare with the idealized Washington of paintings, prints, books and film. Hope you enjoy the rest of Washington’s birthday.

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Tagged as American History, Commentary, Constitutional Convention, Continental Army, Curriculum, Education, Educational leadership, French and Indian War, George Washington, Gregorian calendar, History, Jeff Daniels, Leadership, motion pictures, movies, President of the United States, Social studies, Teachers, Teaching, television, The Crossing, U.S. History, United States, Virginia, war

February 11, 2011 · 6:18 pm

What’s your Favorite Book for Presidents’ Week?

Image via Wikipedia

Like so many parts of American life, our holidays lend themselves to self-gratifying aggrandizement.

Presidents’ Week nee Presidents’ Day nee Washington‘s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday have taken a strange path through American education. At first, the days were merely milestones to remember two of our most important Presidents. Then, in some odd spirit of inclusiveness, the holidays were combined to form Presidents’ Day, thus including all Presidents–even James Buchanan, and that’s a stretch.

Today, the mere day just won’t do: retailers and car dealerships require a WEEK to find an excuse to dress two schmucks as Washington and Lincoln so they can hawk their crap while the kids are home on their winter break.

For teachers, the days leading up to Presidents’ Week inevitably involve books concerning our chief executives. As a nifty way to share resources, The Neighborhood is now asking its readers to submit their favorite book for the holiday. They can range from the tried and true childrens’ biographies of the past (Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire‘s incredible 1939 classic Abraham Lincoln comes to mind) to the modern tomes that deal more realistically with the office (Such as Judith St. George‘s So You Want to be President?).

Please leave your suggestions in the comment box. I’d love to see the different resources our readers use and share them with fellow teachers.

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Tagged as Abraham Lincoln, American History, Barack Obama, Children's books, Comedy, Commentary, Curriculum, Dominic Cooper, Education, Educational leadership, History, Holidays, Humor, Humour, James Buchanan, Judith St. George, President of the United States, Presidents Day, Presidents Week, Social studies, Teachers, Teaching, U.S. History, United States, Washington D.C., Washington's Birthday

August 9, 2010 · 11:22 am

This Day in History 8/9: Nixon Resigns the Presidency

It was a day my parents, and probably many of you in the Neighborhood, remember all too well.

On August 9, 1974, after two years of investigation, scandal, cover-up and tumult, President Richard Nixon became the first chief executive in the United States to resign from office. He did so after the failed cover-up of the Watergate affair, in which members of the Nixon campaign broke into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel in Washington, DC in 1972.

To many people, most I gather, the resignation of President Nixon was a cause of relief, exasperation and even joy.

I however, take no joy in this event.

I report it and teach it because it was necessary for Nixon to resign to save what was left of the integrity of the office of President. He was a man of many personal demons, most of which manifested itself in the Oval Office through a culture of surveillance, deception and paranoia. It is very clear to me, as it was to even his fellow Republicans in Congress, that Nixon brought this on himself and had to go.

Yet what pains me most is what could have been.

To many moderate conservatives like myself, we saw in Nixon a pragmatic internationalist that we could model ourselves. His belief in a limited government, yet one that protected basic rights and ensured an opportunity for all, is one we can all get behind–he even supported a health care bill that was even more far-reaching than Obama’s!

On the international stage–where he shined–Nixon saw the clear need for rational, open discussion with leaders on the opposite side of the Cold War, such as Leonid Brezhnev and Mao tse-tung. Even though he did stumble–as the escalation of the war in Vietnam into Laos and Cambodia suggests–he did keep a blueprint for our withdrawal that culminated in finally leaving Vietnam in 1973. The Republicanism of his generation was a far cry from the free-spending cowboy antics of Dubya, and a more nuanced version of Reaganism.

I’m a Republican because of Richard Nixon, not because of Ronald Reagan. I still believe in those ideals–even though the man behind them was so flawed as to self-destruct and almost take the executive branch with him.

This is why I take no joy, no cheer in his downfall.

Attached is the excerpt from his August 8, 1974 speech, thanks to the Miller Centerof Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.