Critical Analysis
1. What in the world is a press conference, anyway? 2. According to the chart above, which president held the least number of press conferences per year? 3. According to the chart above, how many press conferences per year did John Kennedy hold? 4. Identify one trend (change over time) in the data from the chart above. 5. Why do you think that is happening? 6. What is one consequence of it? 7. Joe Biden held his first presidential news conference yesterday. Did he fall asleep in the conference? And how many times did President Biden say, “hey man!”? 8. Given that his first press conference came on the 64th day of his presidency. How many conferences do you think Biden will hold this year? 9. Some people say that press conferences are a waste of time. Explain the connection between press conferences and democracy. 10. Unlike his 15 most recent predecessors (back to Herbert Hoover), who all held their first press conference within 33 days of taking office, Biden has gone more than 42 days without one. Why do you think he waited so long? 11. What is one reason presidents hold press conferences?
gopopro.com 12. On February 08, 1977 Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States gave a press conference. Read the transcript to this press conference and try to feel good about the fact that you weren’t there. Then read the transcript of Donald J. Trump's News Conference With President Sauli Niinistö of Finland from Aug 28, 2017. Why do we have press conferences anyway? 13. Explain the connection between the First Amendment and Press Conferences. 14. When president Jimmy “Jazzy-J” Carter was asked about the power of the veto (Latin for I forbid) he replied that he prefers the bully pulpit (the ability to reach and persuade the American people) to the veto (something he did 31 times). Wow. Carter held 59 press conferences during his presidency. Make a claim about whether Carter was right that the bully pulpit is more powerful than the veto.
Learning Extension
The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara is DYNAMITE! Check out all their crazy POTUS data and check out their section on POTUS press conferences (yest, there is a whole section devoted to that!) These guys are insane!
Action Extension
Contact the White House and tell them what you think about the infrequency of President Biden’s press conferences.
Visual Extension
Watch the instant replay of the first Biden press conference in super slow-mo.
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