Who’s This?
• (If you don’t know, quietly get
up, gather your things, and leave
the class…now. The guidance
department will help you drop
this course.)
44th President of the
United States, Barack
Obama; Nobel Peace
Prize Winner 2009;
Birth Place: USA
And This?
(Note the natural
smirk…I think he was
born with it.)
Vice-President
Joe Biden
What term refers to the perk given to members of Congress
giving them free use of the mail to communicate with the
folks back home, as well as a sweet machine that
duplicates their signature in real ink (whoooo-hoooo!)!
“Franking” privileges
Who’s This?
Pres. Obama’s
Chief-of-Staff,
Dennis
McDonough, a
non-Cabinet,
Cabinet-level
position
And how about this guy?
Chief Justice of the
United States
Supreme Court,
John Roberts
And yet another…
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of
Education; former
CPS CEO, Obama’s
basketball partner
Who’s This?
Junior Senator
from Illinois,
Mark Kirk,
Republican
What do we collectively call the “folks back home”, the people
that you as an elected official represent?
Your constituents
Who’s This Person?
Rod “You could make a
full sweater out of my
magnificent hair”
Blagojevich, former
governor of Illinois,
Democrat
And this one?
Eric Holder,
Attorney General
of the United States
(heads the Justice
Department)
Not Stedman…
Three More…
Three men who
helped bring
down the Nixon
presidency: Bob
Woodward & Carl
Berstein,
journalists, and
W. Mark Felt, aka
“Deep Throat”
When government agencies, outside interest groups, and
Congressional subcommittees form strong, interdependent
relationships that ultimately shape government policy, we say
that this has formed.
An “Iron Triangle”, a form of
“subgovernment”
Who’s This?
Secretary of State
John Kerry
\And this guy?
Senate Majority
Leader Mitch
McConnell ,
Republican
How about this?
Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid
(great picture, huh?),
Democrat
And another? (yes, I did
consider taking this out, but scandal
is apart of American Government!
Yorkvillian former
wrestling coach &
former Speaker of the
United States House of
Representatives,
Dennis “Denny”
Hastert, Republican
Another lovely pair…
Media members
Chuck Todd
(television
journalist) & Julie
Pace (print
journalist)
Just one more?
Charlton “Soylent Green is made outta people/just call me
Moses” Heston, “actor” & former NRA pres.
Class Disclaimer…
• I do not care what your personal politics
are; don’t try to persuade me and I won’t try
to persuade you! That’s not what this is
about. This course surveys the structure and
function of the American Political System.
Where have we been? How did we get
here? Where are we going? Why do you
believe what you do? (Political SCIENCE)
It looks at ALL aspects of American
Government, so be prepared to hear and
reference other points of view!