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Presidential Challenge
Essential Debate Question:
Who was the greatest President of post WWII America?
Objectives:
□ Research and analyze presidential policies and implications to
determine the best president in post WWII America.
Procedure:
□ Students will draft a President, and compete against classmates to
determine the greatest President of post WWII America within the
class.
o Students must complete a PowerPoint presentation to accompany
them for the debate
□ The winning team will then move onto the final round; a competition
against other American History classes and debate in front of a panel
For more information see whhscat.weebly.com
Part I: Draft
□ Students will be divided into pre-determined groups and will draft
Presidents.
□ Each group will be assigned a number at random and will draft
according to that
Part II: PowerPoint and Group Work
□
□
In groups students will analyze the policies of one President and create a
PowerPoint presentation to share with the class
Each student will have a role(s)
o Group Leader(s)
 Background
 Makes sure everyone is on task
 Give the background of the President
 Spin Doctor
 Taking the negative parts of the presidents term and
“spinning” or turning it into a positive
 Mudslinger
 Find “dirt” on the other presidents to disqualify or have the
audience perceive them as being not the greatest
president
o Foreign Relations Specialist
 Policies the president put in place dealing with foreign nations
o Economy Specialist
 Policies created by or during the presidents term that affected the
economy
 The state of the economy prior to and during the term of the
president
o Human Rights Specialist
 Policies under the presidents term(s) that deal with the equal
treatment of humans both national and internationally
o Domestic Policy Specialist
 Policies that deal with domestic issues (issues in the United
States) and how the president deals with them
Part III: Web page
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Presidential Challenge
□ Create a weebly web page for your president
□ Rubric and expectations attached
Part IV: Bracket Madness
□ Students will compete against their classmates to discover the greatest
President post WWII
□ In between the bracket madness and the panel debate the class as a
whole will help the winning team prepare for the panel debate
Part V: Presidential Report Card
□ Students will view all websites (11 not including your own) and give the
president a letter grade
o Worksheet and grading rubric attached
Part VI: Panel Debate
□ The winning Presidential group for each class will debate in the
auditorium
o Each groups goal is to convince a panel of judges that your
president was the “greatest in post WWII America”
Grades
Assignment
Worksheet with questions
(use for PowerPoint) (I)
Questions for opposition
(other Presidents) (I)
PowerPoint/Debate (G)
Presidential Report Card (I)
Weebly Page (G)
I= individual grade
G= Group grade
Points Earned
Points Available
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Presidential Challenge
Presidential Debate Worksheets
Group Rolls
Directions: In your groups divide up the work by assigning rolls. Some rolls may
have to be doubled up while others may have two or more rolls.
Student Name(s)
Group Leader
 Background
 Spin Doctor
 Mudslinger
Foreign Relations Specialist
 Policies the president put in place dealing with foreign nations
Economy Specialist
 Policies created by or during the presidents term that affected the
economy
 The state of the economy prior to and during the term of the
president
Human Rights Specialist
 Policies under the presidents term(s) that deal with the equal
treatment of humans both national and internationally
Domestic Policy Specialist
 Policies that deal with domestic issues (issues in the United States)
and how the president deals with them
Questions to Answer
Directions: Answer the following questions based on the information you find
online. The questions that you will answer depend on the roll that you choose
(above).
Use a variety of creditable internet sources to find information on your president
and the ones you are opposing. You will use each of these questions to create
an Outlook Presentation (PowerPoint).
1. Pre-Presidential Biography: Give a brief history of your president
prior to them becoming the nation’s commander and chief.
a. Spin Doctor
b. Mudslinger
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Presidential Challenge
2. Foreign Relations: What are your President’s foreign policies? This
includes policies for relationships with other countries, any wars or
quasi wars that might have occurred.
3. Domestic Policy: What are your President’s domestic policies? This
includes policies for relationships within our country, social turmoil,
divides/ fighting in congress, etc.
4. Economy: What is your president’s policy on our economy ($) and
how the country show be run? Are we in debt, a recession, etc.?
5. Human Rights: How did/does your president’s deal with human rights
both nationally and internationally. Immigration policy, NATO forces,
UN forces (U.S.’s role within the organizations).
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Presidential Challenge
PowerPoint Slideshow
Directions: Below is an outline of the order for the slideshow.
Slide
Biography
 Pre-Presidential history
Domestic Policy
Check Mark (if completed)
Economics
Foreign Relations
Human Rights
Important Due Dates:
May *, 2012

Weebly and PowerPoint Due
o Email your PowerPoint to your respected Johnson (Ms. Or Mr.)
May *, 2012

BRACKET MADNESS
o Debate in class
June 1, 2012

PANEL DEBTE!!!
o The top teams from each of the Johnson’s U. S. history classes will
debate in the auditorium at 1:00 pm
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Presidential Challenge
Supplemental Documents
List of Presidents Post WWII
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37
38
39
40
41
42
43
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Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969)
Richard Milhous Nixon (1969-1974)
Gerald Rudolph Ford (1974-1977)
James Earl Carter, Jr. (1977-1981)
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1981-1989)
George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993)
William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001)
George Walker Bush (2001-2009)
Barrack Obama (2009-)