 starter activity
Johnson
Nixon
Jefferson
Roosevelt
Ford
Coolidge
Dole
Truman
Spot the odd man out. Clue, they nearly all have one thing in common
connected with the Whitehouse
 Aims
Who can be a US
president?
To find out requirements for a US
presidential candidate
To take part in a balloon debate of
presidential hopefuls
 Your task
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Read Bennett p.28 and note why presidential elections
are the focus of so much media attention. Make your
own copy of the 4 stages of presidential elections
(p.29).
Explore the 2008 Presidential election results on the
BBC News website, note down:
How many electoral college votes each of the main
candidates won
Obama’s share of the popular vote
Areas of USA in which his support was strongest
Voter turnout out
 Your task
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Explore the 2008 Presidential election results on
the BBC News website, note down:
How many electoral college votes each of the
main candidates won (356 Obama v. 173
McCain)
Obama’s share of the popular vote (52.3%)
Areas of USA in which his support was
strongest (N.E. & West Coast)
Voter turnout out (62.8%)
 Your task

Create a spider diagram listing the requirements
of a US president (p.29-32). Include the
following headings: constitutional requirements,
political experience, major party endorsement,
personal characteristics, ability to raise large
sums of money, effective organisation, oratorical
skills and being ‘telegenic’, sound & relevant
policies’.
Constitutional requirements
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Natural-born US citizen
Minimum 35 years
Resident in USA for at least 14 years
2 terms of office
Theodore Roosevelt, 42 when became
president after death of McKinley
(1901)
Kennedy, youngest elected
president, 43 (1960)
Political experience
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Typical presidential candidates: vice-presidents
(e.g. George Bush Snr), state governors, (e.g.
Ronald Reagan) Senators (e.g. Barack Obama)
Occasionally military leaders, e.g. Eisenhower
President Reagan & Vice
President Bush
Party endorsement
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Endorsement by Republican or Democrat party
necessary
Recent independent candidates, include Ross
Perot (1992 & 6) & Pat Buchanan (2000)
Not everyone agreed with Pat
Buchanan’s conservative ideas!
Personal characteristics
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Predominantly, white male -43 out of 44 US
presidents white, all male
2004, 14 women out of 100 members of Senate
Married – no bachelor president since C19th
Free from personal scandal, e.g. Chappaquiddick
affair (1969) ended Edward Kennedy’s bid for
presidency
Mary Jo Kopechne
Fund-raising ability
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Ross Perot (1996 & 6) Texan oil billionaire
2008, Obama spent c. $650m dollars (privatelyfunded) / McCain $84 (publicly funded)
Organisational skills
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Major parties cannot endorse candidates during
selection process
Candidates such as Michael Dukakis (1988) &
Bob Dole (1996) suffered from poorly organised
campaigns
Michael Dukakis
Oratorical skills & telegenic
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FDR tried hard to conceal effects of polio
which left him wheelchair bound
Walter Mondale, ‘I’m no good at television’
(1984) – opponent, Reagan, former Hollywood
movie star
Senator Phil Gramm, ‘I’m too ugly to be
president’
Phil Gramm
George Bush also
struggled to convince
younger voters he
was the best-looking
candidate for the job!
Sound & relevant policies
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Issue saliency increasingly important
Candidates need clear policies on issues of day,
different from their rivals
Bill Clinton, main policy issue was ‘the economy
stupid’ (1992)
Obama, anti-Bush campaign
 Your task
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Imagine all the top US presidents are in a balloon. It is
slowly sinking. Who do you keep and who do you
throw out to save as many as you can. You will take on
the part of a US president. You must argue on the basis
of the skills outlined above who must stay in the
balloon and who must go.
 Plenary
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What are the key constitutional requirements to
becoming a US president
Name 5 important extra-constitutional
requirements
 Extension

Produce a promotional advert for your
president’s election campaign using MovieMaker
or PhotoStory.