Presidential Research Paper
American Government
The presidential research paper will include key elements of the material learned over
the course of the semester and explore the roles of the President of the United States,
including chief executive, commander in chief, chief citizen and numerous others.
Chapter 13 of the textbook provides a decent overview of these roles, and more in-depth
resources are available in the library and online. The paper will be formal, including
proper citations with parenthetical references and a list of works cited. Each student will
be assigned an American President at random.
Discuss the following in your paper, not necessarily in this order:
1. Political experience before assuming the presidency. Do NOT include irrelevant
details about the person’s private life. Do include leadership positions held prior
to the presidency, whether they are political in nature or not.
2. His election. This includes the campaign and margin of victory. This should
include primaries and the general election for each and every time the candidate
ran for the Presidency, including defeats. Describe important economic, social,
domestic, and foreign issues during the campaign. Margin of victory is more than
just the numbers; include opinion, backed by facts, on why the candidate won or
lost.
3. Political affiliation and philosophical views, including the president’s party and
its platform at the time he was elected. You should be sure to include his views
on economics, social issues, domestic policy, and foreign policy. This should not
be a laundry list; it should be a narrative.
4. Major decisions of his presidency and the effects of those decisions, including,
but not limited to, economic, social, domestic, and foreign policy. This also
includes legislation the President pursued, and crises and how the president
reacted to them. This should be very detailed. Include all major events
5. Important Cabinet selections. Be certain to include the secretaries who impacted
the president’s administration, usually this includes the Secretary of State,
Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Treasury, and Attorney General. Other
cabinet officials may need to be included, depending upon the president. If in
doubt, ask! Please be sure to link the accomplishments of the Cabinet members to
your thesis. For example, if you are arguing that the president had a successful
foreign policy, then show me how his choice of Secretary of State helped him.
Also, if appropriate, discuss why a particular individual was chosen by the
president to fill the Cabinet position.
6. The President’s relationship with Congress. Discuss which party had control of
Congress during the president’s time in power, and how that affected the
president’s agenda. If possible, include an example of at least one major piece of
legislation to show how the president worked with or against Congress to pursue
his policies. For example, the president may have personally appeared in
Congress or encouraged legislators to support his program in exchange for federal
projects in their home districts.
The paper:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Must be typed and edited.
Must not include 1st or 2nd personal pronouns (For example, “I,” “me,” “you”)
Must be free of fragments and run-ons.
Will be cited according to MLA, APA, or Chicago Style standards, including
parenthetical notation and a Works Cited page. If you use Chicago Style, you
may use either footnotes or endnotes, and they must be numbered sequentially.
And, Chicago Style, like APA and MLA, requires a works cited page, so be sure
to include it. Failure to properly cite sources is a form of plagiarism and will
result in a score of zero (see the Purdue Owl or type in the name of the citation
type into a search engine for help). The Works Cited page will clearly specify
which standard you chose to use.
5. Will include a clearly defined thesis, a statement that shows what the author
intends to prove in a paper. For this paper, it will probably be a statement
regarding the overall effectiveness of the President, and then you’ll spend the rest
of the paper proving the thesis.
6. Does not have any required length in pages, but must cover all topics in detail to
support the thesis.
7. This paper counts as two exams – one exam grade for the research, and one exam
grade for the content.
Rubrics
The paper MUST conform to the rules established under “the paper” to be scored on
the rubric. Any plagiarized or improperly edited paper will receive a score of zero and
cannot be remediated. Papers must include proper internal citations and a works cited
page in order to receive credit. If the paper is not cited properly, it will receive a zero.
Research rubric:
Standard A1:
Students
research,
develop,
present, and
defend
positions on
current social
studies issues
by developing
and modifying
research
1
Student uses
one to two
sources, AND
develops a
thesis that is not
well supported
by the rest of
the paper, AND
uses
information that
is sometimes
irrelevant to the
2
Student uses at
least three
sources, AND
develops a
thesis that is
mostly
supported by
the rest of the
paper, AND
uses
information that
is mostly
3
Student uses at
least four
sources, AND
develops a
strong thesis
that is
supported by
the rest of the
paper, AND
uses
information that
is relevant to
4
Student uses at
least five
sources, AND
develops a
strong thesis
that is
thoroughly
supported by
the rest of the
paper, AND
uses
information that
questions, and
locating,
selecting,
evaluating,
and
synthesizing
information
from multiple
and varied
sources.
purpose of the
paper.
relevant to the
purpose of the
paper.
the purpose of
the paper.
Research was
conducted
using primary
and secondary
sources.
Wikipedia and
other wiki sites
were not cited
as sources for
the paper.
is relevant to
the purpose of
the paper.
Research was
conducted
using primary
and secondary
sources.
Wikipedia and
other wiki sites
were not cited
as sources for
the paper.
1
Paper includes
at least 2
elements under
“Discuss the
following in
your paper…”
and those
elements are
somewhat
supported by
facts, though
numerous
errors detract
from the overall
quality of the
paper.
2
Paper includes
at least 4
elements under
“Discuss the
following in
your paper…”
and those
elements are
supported by
facts, though
errors may
sometimes
detract from the
paper.
3
Paper includes
at least 5
elements under
“Discuss the
following in
your paper…”
and those
elements are
clearly
supported by
facts. Errors
may exist, yet
do not detract
from the paper
overall.
4
Paper includes
all elements
under “Discuss
the following in
your paper…”
and those
elements are
clearly and
thoroughly
supported by
facts. All major
events in the
presidency are
discussed. The
paper is free of
factual and
conceptual
error.
Content rubric:
Standard B1:
Students
understand the
ideals,
purposes,
principles,
structures, and
processes of
constitutional
government in
the US.