Student Perceptions of Post Civil War Presidents: a Survey Conducted at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1979-1981

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AUTHOR St John, Jacqueline D.; Keller,Jane TITLE Student Perceptions of Post CivilWar Presidents: A Survey Conducted at the University of Nebraskaat Omaha, 1979-1981. /PUB DATE 84 / NOTE 87p.; For shorter, preliminaryversion presented at the Missouri Valley HistoryConference (27th, Omaha, NE, March 10, 1984),see ED 243 732. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Availablefrom EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Educational Research; Higher Education;*Knowledge Levelr Leadership; *Presidents; SocialStudies; *Student Attitudes; *UnitedStates History; *Writing Evaluation ABSTRACT Based on a preliminary version of thisstudy, project aims were to learn what collegefreshmen knew about presidents in office from the late 19thcentury to the present and to determinethe students' writing levels. During thefirst class of each of five semesters, students enrolled inan American History Since 1985course were asked to write one paragraph aboutany post Civil War president. Student evaluations of 17 post CivilWar presidents (compared to only 4 in the preliminary -study)were analyzsi. The following categories were used to classify student statements:background/biography, integrity, leadership, intelligence,policies/accomplishments, courage, public image, value to country, historicalperspectives, sophistication, and factualerrors. In addition, an analysis of student spelling resulted ina listing of 75 most frequently misspelled historical terms. Thebulk of the document consists ofa category-by-category analysis of studentresponses for each president in the order chosen: RichardM. Nixon, John F. Kennedy, JimmyCarter, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford,Ronald Reagan, Harry S.Truman, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt,Lyndon B. Johnson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, WoodrowWilson, Andrew Johnson, Warren G. Harding, Rutherford B. Hayes, andCalvin Coolidge. Findings indicate that although studentsdemonstrated a substantial body of knowledge concerning post CivilWar presidents, attempts to communicate their knowledgewere marred by their inability to communicate in wr3.tten English. (LH)

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U.S.DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER ,LRIC) This document has been reproducedas received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality

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"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS MATERIAL IN MICROFICHEONLY HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY

-YCIZI3r . S M.\ I\ O

TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER(ERIC)."

Jacqueline D. St John Jane Keller Professor of Hiscory Instructor University of Nebraska at Omaha Mathematics Department 60th & Dodge Streets Metropolitan Technical Omaha, Nebraska 68182 Community College 30th & Fort Streets Omaha, Nebraska 63103

2 This project developed froman ipclass exercise to

assist Jacquebline St JohA in lectureand class preparation.

Its aim was twofold: first, to determine the writing level

of the freshmen American historysurvey students and their

common historical fund of knowledge relatingto presidents

since 1865 and second, to identifythose students poorly

prepared in language skills and historicalwriting.

Students deficient in writing skillswere referred to the

Learning Resource Centerat the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO); theywere also advised by the instructor that they would have to makea special effort to keep uptodate and to secure assistance from the teaching assistant in ' notetaking and test preparation.

Probably the most potent motivatorfor the authors in

writing the articlewas curiosity. Rather than waiting 25, 50 or even 100years to learn what historians believed and

wrote concerning the modern presidents (1865to 1981) we

believed that it would beinteresting to learn what college

freshmen knew or believed they knewof the late nineteenth and twentieth century presidents.

HoKthe Data Was Collected

During the first class of each of thefive semesters from the fall of 1979 through the fallof 1981, St John asked each student in thecourse American History Since 1865 to write one paragraph about any president fromthis time

1 if. period. In her directions. she indicated thatthe students

could choose their favorite president, thepresident that

. they felt was the bestor the worst leader, or the president

they knew the most about. This course is.a one semester, freshman level survey.

Of the 386 respondents,seven students did not follow the directions and either didnot write a paragraph about

one president or did not select a president in thecorrect time period.

This paper will discuss studentperceptions of post

Civil War presidents, 1865-1981. The discussion of the

presidentslwill be in the order of theirfrequency of

Wtudintsel:ection. T'able'l presentsa summary of the number

i of student's who chose each president.

The authors developed categoriesto classify the

statement students made concerning the presidents. The categories and their descriptionsare as follows: #1 Background/Biography

We included in this categoryany reference the student

made to the president's family, his experienceprior to or

following his presidency, his education,his political party, his campaign(s) for public office, his personaltlie,

events leading up to his election, and theway he left

office (i.e., losing to another candidate,death in office, assassination or resignation).

2 Table 1

STUDENTS WHO SELECTED EACH PRESIDENTBY SEMESTER*

Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Total 1979 1980 1980 1981 1981

Lincoln, Abraham 3 1 5 5 6 19

Johnson, Andrew 0 1 0 0 1 2

Grant, Ulysses 1 2 0 0 1 4

Hayes, Rutherford . 0 0 1 0 0 1

Roosevelt, Theodore 4 2 3 3 4 16

Wilson, Woodrow 0 0 2 1 0 3

Harding, Warren 0 1 0 0 1 2

Coolidge, Calvin 0 0 0 0 1 1

___Roose.velt, Franklin -- 7 5 16 ---6----5 39

Truman, Harry 5 3 4 2 6 20

Eisenhower, ..Dwight 1 1 4 0 0 6

Kennedy, John 13 4 12 9 14 52

Johnson, Lyndon 5 1 2 0 0 8

Nixon, Richard 27 9 18 18 32 104

Ford, Gerald 7 15 3 7 8 30

Carter, Jimmy 1 8 13 19 50

Reagan, Ronald 0 0 0 0 22 22

Total students/papers 379

*Seven students did not follow thedirections and wrote either on a president whowas in office before 1865 or wrote on more than one president. The authors disregarded these papers in analyzing student, responses.

3 #2 Integrity

Integrity was a difficult qualityto define, although

it was obvious that thestudents made value judgments about

the character of the presidentthey chose. Since students could choose the bestor the worst president there were both

positive and negativestatements about the integrity of the

president. To qualify for inclusionin this category the student had to makea statement about the president's

honesty as a leaderor as a person, his sincerity,, his moral

character, or his intent to do the "rightthing." #3 Leadership

Student perceptions were. . of...the hestor.the worst

president, or the most memorable. Thus, there were two

subsections emphasizing positive andnegative

characteristics of presidentialdecision-making. To qualify for inclusion in this category, the student had to makea .

statement regarding the quality of the president'sguidance or direction of the American government and/ornation. #4 Intelligence

Although a most abstract attribute,student comments relative to a president's knowledgeability,comprehension, understanding and critical thinkingwere included in this category. It was interpreted broadlyto include common sense, problem-solving ability, creative/innovativeand effective thinking.

4 #5A Policies/Accomplishments: Domestic

We included in thiscategory any references the

students made to legislation,acts, domestic' policies,or

\internal achievements madeduring the president'sterm of office.

In evaluatingpapers concerning Richard Nixonwe

divided this categoryinto two parts: statements concerning

'Watergate andstatements concerning domesticachievements or policies that were not relatedto Watergate.

#5B Policies /Accomplishments: Foreign

We included in thiscategory any reference the students

made .to-extermal.policiesi-diplonaty, acts '.or .piOpoSals

relative to foreign countries,wars, and world affairsor concerns made during the president's term of office. . #6 Courage

We included in thiscategory any references the

students made to the president'sstrength of conviction, his bravery, or his abilityto face tough decisions with courage. There was some overlappingbetween this category and that of leadership.

#7 Public Image

This is a most ambiguousterm to define and one that applies primarily to the "modern"presidents - those of the

World War II andpost World War II generation- i.e., Franklin,D. Rooseveltto Ronald Reagan.

5 It includes such nebulousattributes as

personality/personalcharisma, rhetoric of thepresident and the American people'sperceptions of the president.

Public image hascome to mean a media reflection- accurate or distorted- of the man as president and the

institution of the presidency. Broadly interpreted itis the popular view of the presidentand historically the folklore surrounding the presidents.

We included studentstatements describingany foreign

or domestic assessment 9f thepresident as portrayed inthe printed and audio-visualmedia. #8 Value to Country

Several students includedtheir personal opinions

regarding the president'sworth/value to thecountry and/or the world. Others wished thata designated past president

was currently in office. We viewed thisas a category where

students could discuss thesignificance, importance and/or

the long-term value of apresident to the country.This category virtually excluded thosepresidents from Lyndon B.Johnson onward.

#9 Historical Perspective

We included in thiscategory student statements revealing a more analyticinterpretation of the presidents,. historical events, comparisonsof presidents, presidential policies as wellas the long range implications ofpresidential

8 action(s). Again, it was more relevantto the earlier 'presidents

excepting the "special nature" ofthe Nixon presidency i.e., /I . . . he didn't do anythingany other president did not do except that he got caught."

#10 Sophistication

Several of thepapers were wellwritten and illustrated

not only the students' factual knowledgeabout the presidents bat also their abilityto make comparisons

between presidents andto evaluate and/or interpret the

presidents' contributionsto the nation and the world. We

felt that these statements, oftenquite lengthy, needed a

separate category. Some overlappingoccurs between this

category value to country and historicalperspective. #11 Factual Errors

We included in thiscategory factual errors the

students made in areas suchas dates, policies, events,

order of the president,etc.

In evaluating papers concerningRichard Nixon's

pr'esidency, we divided thiscategory into two parts:

statements concerning his ending the VietnamWar and

statements not dealing with his ending the VietnamWar.

#12 Historical Spelling Words

In analyzing the students' paragraphsit would be impossible to ignore thenumerous spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors. We kept a list of all the wordsthe

9 students misspelled, althoughwe did not keep track of how

often the word was misspelled. In all, over 400 wordswere misspelled ih thepapers we analyzed. We were especially interested in those wordswe felt were historical terms, names of presidents, countries,wars, etc. Students misspelled approximatelyseventy-five of the "historical" terms. These are listed in alphabeticalorder, with the correct spelling listed first andthe incorrect spelling(s) after the diagonal line.

affair/afair

Afghanistan/Afganistan, afganastin,Afganastam

assassinated /assasins,assasinatin, assignted,

assassassinated, asassinated,assanated, assassanated, assinated Begin/Bezein

believe/belive

bureaucracy/beauacray, beauraeracy cabihet/cabinate

campaign/campain, campins

candidacy/canidacy

chief/cheif

colleagues/collegues

Communists/communist

competition/competion

condemning/condeming

A confrontation/confrentati.on controversy/controvery

country's/countries

charismatic/carismatic

crises/crisises, chisises

criticized/critized, 'criticized decisions/desicions Delano/Deleno

democrat/democrate

depression/deppression diplomacy/deplimce

economics/econimans

. Eisenhower/Eisinhower, Eisenpuhower electors/electiers

enterprise/interprise

executive/exectutive

experience/experance

foreign/forgein, forigine,forgien General MacArthur/McAurther

Gerald/Gereald

government /Goverment, goverment

governor/govene helm/hem

incident/inceident

indecisive/indesive

Ii interest/intrest invasion/envasio

John Wilkes Booth/JohnWilkesbooth Johnson/Johnsen Kennedy/Kenedy

legislation/legistration liar/l/er

Libyans/Lybians

Lyndon /Lynden

missile/missle

Nixon/Nixion

numerous/nutberous

opinion /opton, oppinion

opponent/apponent

opposed/oppossed

opposition/oposition

paranoid/pairinoid

policies/policys

presidency/presidensy,presidincy

.president/presisent, presodent,presdent quitting/quiting

Reagan/Ragon, Regan, Reagen,Reagan rebels/rebles

represented/reprisented responsible/restonible

10 Roosevelt/Rosevelt

scandal / scandal, scandle

scandalous/scandeles

situation/sitution

IRO succeeded/suceeded

successor/succesor

troops /troupe

Truman/Thurman

turmoil/termail

United States/United State

Vietnam/Viet-Nam, vietnam

Wallace/Wollub, Walius

In addition students didnot capitalize the following

proper names: Ford, Iran, Russia, SovietUnion, Watergate,

O and White House.

In the body of thispaper we have extensively quoted

student papers. We have tried to portraytheir writings as closely as possible to theiroriginal material.

' )

13 Richard M. Nixon

One hundred and four studentschose 14chard M. Nixon.

/ !Thirty-nine students mentioned biogrphical details

concerning Richard.M. Nixon. The largese7category of

respondents, twelve, mentioned theresignation; eightmen- tioned Nixon's successor, GeraldFord and seven mentioned Ford's pardon of Nixon.

An example of comments in thisciategory: "Thb

combination of Nixon's resignationa d pardon by President

Ford made people wonder ifthat arrangement hadn't been discussed before Fordwas appointe If

Nine students mentioned Nixo s term of office and five

mentioned the time period. An e ample of the comment isthe

following: "Richard Nixonwas e acted President in 1968.

His running matewas Spiro Agne an unknown. One of his campaign promiseswas to get t e United States out of

Vietnam . . He was re-ele ted in 1972 forfour more years. He was President fortwo more years only."

Five students mentioned, hispolitical career and four commented about his candidaOy'ata specific time. Examples are as follows: "Richard Nixonwas the Rep. candidate in

1960 against John F. Kennedy. He was defeated by Kennedy but not by a large margin!'; and "FormerPresident Nixon had a long career in politics. Being such an experienced politician he also knewmany ways to reach a goal."

12 Three students mentioned otherexecutive members of the

Nixon Administrationin the following manner: "Gerald Ford

was his vice-president and HenryKissinger was Secretary of State." Three students 'mentionedNixon and his use of

power. An example follows: "Richard Nixon-asa man, and as a president he needed to fulfilla great thirst for power."

Three students commenteddirectly or obliquely abouthis

psychological state and theconsequences of his actions. An example is: "Richard Nixonwas raised a very frustrated person

which stayed with himthroughout his years."

Three students mentioned personaldata concerning him: that his wife's name is Pat, that his birthday is January9 and that he lived in San Clemente, California, . . . in

semi-seclusion with his wife (1979). Another wrote, "his personal life since hisquiting office has been somewhat

secluded, which is punishmentenough for the termoil he led this nation into."

Twenty-four students madestatements about Nixon's honesty or irtegrity. Eighteen students madestatements which indicate that theyfeel he is not honest. Their statements ranged from "hewas dishonest and sneaky" to

"Nixon wasa crook." They wrote such statementsas: "a man that had potential but used itin the wrong way"; "Richard

Nixon was not avery good human being"; "he wasn't totally honest"; "His accomplishmentsand deeds will always be

15 overshadowed by his dishonesty"; "hewas dumb enough to get caught in all his dishonesty"; "The 11\ dishonesty totally shot

down w1at our system is allabout in the. U.S."; "But all

along he was robbingeveryone. bless his heart"; "his

actions were that of a criminal"; "Hisbasic, morals in the

area of truefulness were far from good"; and "RichardNixon the one everyone thought hewas 'true blue President, found

out that he was not. and he foundto be a lyer and everything else."

Six students wrote statementsconcerning Nixon's

integrity which were either positiveor indicated their

willingness to accept his rationale forhis actions. These

students made the followingstatements: "He was a goodman

inside, but I believe the politicalsystem took him down"; "I believe that RichardNixon wasn't such a bad person"; and

"He covered up for hismen which I consider more a quality of loyalty than criminality."

Fifty-seven students madestatements about Nixon's leadership abilities. Forty-six of these statementswere positive. Students used such phrasesas: "one of the strongest presidents" (3 students); "handled job well";

uill be remembered favorably"; "oneof the most efficient presidents"; "highly underrated" (2students); "was a good president" (16 students); "one ofthe best (or excellent) presidents" (11 students); "stoodout above all presidents"; "he did a great dealfor this country" (4 students);"one of the most misunderstood presidents";and "made several important contributions to the nation."

Students who wrote negativeleadership statements said:

"President Richard Nixonwas the biggest disappointmentto

all America ofany man I can think of"; "Richard Nixonwas

the worst president theUSA had the Unpreledge ofknowing,

Because he totally screwedthe country up and the leftin

the hands of a bumblingboob, that Nixon reallyknew what he was doing when he did that"; "PresidentNixon in my opion

madk a bandname for the United States of America";and "Nixon wasa mistake "..

Six students commentedconcerning Nixon's intelligenc,.

They made suchstatements as "bugging the democratic

office was a very stupid thingto do"; "Richard Nixon when in office was avery smart and shrewed politician"; "Nixon-

He really was too smartfcr his own good. He knew what he had to be done and he knewhow to do it"; and "I stillfeel he was extremely intelligent."

Fourteen students madestatements about Nixon's domestic accomplishments suchas: "He tried to keep

Communism from spreading inthe U.S."; "During histime in office the countrywas stable, Unemploymentwas down, inflation was down, andmost people la generalwere living well"; also agreed with his pro-businesseconomic

15 a

policies"; "In 1973, hiswage and price controls were

foreign to me and I hadtrouble .understanding them, what

good they would do. Possibly some good would havecome had they been a blanket control,not one with loop holes'for certain groups of mass producers . . . . I can rememberno serious attempts to cleanup the environment, however during

his first office term, inkeeping with national fascination,

did try"; and "Our economywas certainly a lot better, our defense was probably thestrongest in the world."

Siity-four studentswrote about Watergate.

Forty students commented directlyconcerning Watergate.

The followingare the descriptive adjectives andnouns used and their frequency: scandal (17); involvement (8);

incident (6); issue (3); affair (2);"and.oneeach for; bit,

activity, situation andcontroversy. There 1.s some

confusion as to whether, PresidentNixon resigned (9)or was impeached (5).

Regarding the actual activityor activities that Nixon

was involved in twenty-one studentscommented on the following: wire-tapping and/or bugging (10); Democratic

headquarters and/or offices (4);interfering with the

political campaign (2);tapes (3); bribery (1) and the Washington Post (1).

Eleven students made negativecomments about Nixon's

conduct and/or personal character: vindictiveness; damage;

16 crook; ridiculed him; mistrustof Nixon and government; and wrong.

Fourteen students madestatements that were in the

nature of an apology: "He madeone mistake called

Watergate"; "He citeredup a few things but probably not

anymore than some former presidents. He did many good

things that outweigh anythingbad that he did"; "I regret

the Watergate incident becauseit tarnished his political abilities and prestige"; "Nowwe all know he was guilty of

crimes in the Watergate scandalbut this shouldn't be held against him"; "If not for Watergatehe might have gone down

as our greatest president"; "It isprobably true that hewas involved in Watergate, butthe people of America don't know

a lot of things that go on in Washington;this Was justan

incident that was broughtout in the open";'The only

trouble was is that hegot caught with theatergate

incident"; "someone involvedwith him in 'W tergate had itin for him"; "He waswrong about watergate, but his policys were good"; and "He was a very unluckyPresident because he was one of the very many governmental peopleto get cauglit in a scandal. With the Watergate scandal hebrought a lot of history to study."

Forty-six students madestatements concerning Nixon's foreign accomplishments. Students gave overwhelming positive support to Nixon's foreignpolicies with forty-

17 \

three students makingpositive statements, two making neutral statements andone making a negative statement.

Students making positivestatements focused on four

areas of foreign affairs: foreign diplomacy, the. United

States' relationship withChina, ending the Vietnam. War and

the United States' relationswith Russia.

In writing about Nixon'shandling of diplomatic

relations, students madestatements such as: "Nixon was the

best foreign policy presidentthe U.S. has eer had and that

is what this country needs now"; "Ifeel tha of the last

five presidents Nixon had thebest foreign po1.icy, He wasn't

as strong as Reagan but hewas a better diplomat "; "I think

his foreign policies andcombined efforts with Kissinger

will later be recognizedas helpful in our world standing."

Twenty-two students referredto Nixon's establishment of diplomatic ties withChina. They made such statements as: "He also openedup relations with China by visiting their country"; "He.got us in good with China. Presidents \ like Carter and Reagen ruinedthese good foreign relations";

"It seems tome that if Nixon would not have doneso well in Chinese relations, the east would bevery much more unstable then the present. With China on the back doorof Afganistan and so on that region of the worldis a bit more stable"; and "He opened the door to Chinawhich may one day beour greatest alley against soviet aggression."

18 Nineteen students made statementsdealing with Nixon's

handling of.the Vietnam War. They made such statementsas: "Mr. Nixons greatest featwas the U.S. withdrawal of troops

from Vietnam, without that factwe still might be fighting

in that senceless war"; "He mademany important

contributions while in officemost notably the Paris peace

talks which ended the Vietnam War"; "Somepeople feel that he did poorly on the Vietnamsituation, but he did as well

as possible.to try to keep pride in the UnitedStates in a

war they could not win, a situation that he didnot create"; "1973-74 escalation of thewar, a futile attempt to end a

winless SEar" (this is the onlynegative foreign

accomplishment statement); "He finallymanaged after 15 years or so to withdraw U.S. military troops from Vietnam";

"One of his Campaign promiseswas to get the United States

out of Vietnam"; "Nixon got U.S. out of the Vietnamwar, not by winning but by just pullingout for the sake of getting out" (this isone of the neutral statements about Nixon's

foreign accomplishments); "he did workto free prisoners of war"; and "He tried to establishpeace in Vietnam and his efforts to have them fight theirown war were just."

Six students commented concerning U.S:relations with Russia during the Nixon presidency suchas: "He was very strong and tactful in the issues abroad- such as V.N., the U.S.S.R.,

China"; "He also avoided confrontationwith Russia by settingup

21 arms ag'reements"; "He made many visits tomany foreign countries, like Russia and China"; and "Hisefforts to stop the growth of communism are shown also in thebombing of Cambodia."

Nineteen students wrote about Nixon'spublic image.

They made such positivestatements as: "If he were torun

again today I'd vote for him"; "Ifollowed Richard Nixon the

most, having arrived ata point when I cared about whowas president of the United Statesat about the same time that he took office. He seemed to be a professional

administrator andan old hand at Washington politics" (one

other student refers tobecoming interested in political

issues at the time Nixonwas in office); and "He was praised. for his job in.the ovaloffice throughout his firstterm and was re- elected in 72 by a landslideover Walus."

Two students referredto the press' influence on Nixon: "He was persecuted by thepress and his enemies"; and "I've read several bookson the media's persecuting of

Nixon, 'The Newstwisters' and 'HowC.B.S. tried to Killa Book' and I believe thatpart of Nixon's Watergate blunder was because of his paranoia with the media. The polls in the '72' election had him justa few percentage points ahead. Yet he won by one of thegreatest landslides ever. ;. I regret that hewas unable to direct the country through his second term, but I don'tagree with some of the acts of his administration."

22 Five students madestatements indicating that theyfeel that Nixon was misjudged: "Although he developedexcellent

foreign policies, theAmerican people disliked him";"A lot of Americans feltit was unfair for himto be pardoned"; "He

did nothing worsethan most presidents didbefore him, it's

just that he got in thepublic spotlight. The American

public blamed him fordirty dealings thatwent on in his

administration, whichmore on the public's ignorancethan on a president's ability"; "Thepublicity given to this

incident blew everythingway ,out of proportion and resulted in a fine man losing appointed position"; and "Thetapes that were discovered in his office reduced hiscredibility even more in the eyes of the public."

Four students madenegative statements about Nixon's

public image: "The Watergate scandalprobably didmore damage to other countries opinions of the U.S.than anything

in history"; "obviouslypairinoid that peoplewere talking

about him or doing him wrong";"Richard alias TrickyDicky";

andl"I remembereveryone making political comics ofhis face."

'Eleven studentscommented on President Nixon'svalue to the country. Five statementsare as follows: "hi's motives were for the best interest ofour nation"; "Although he'll probably be best known forhis mistakes, the goodthings he gave to our country far out do themistakes"; "1 feel the

21 U.S. was a lot saferwhen he was President thenit has been

since"; "The U.S.seems to be still effected by thescandle of Nixon"; and "I feeltoday W4 really needa president like Nixon."

One student wrotean analysis of President Nixon's value to the countryas follows:

I believe that RichardNixon even though he causeda scandal in ourgovernment was a president who opened America's eyes. 13y being involved in Watergate along with all his otheraides he showed Americans that we are not infallibleand that our government is not by any means perfect. He opened oureyes to the importance of choosinga good and honest president and he madea lot of people sit up and take notice to allaspects of politicians' lives. I feel that since Watergate,Americans are beginning to pay more attention to andwant more information about their potentialpresidential candidatesor any other politicians.

Students made fifty-five factualerrors in writing about President Nixon'.,Of these, twenty studentsstated that Nixon ended the VietnamWar and/or brought thetroops home from Vietnam. President Nixon received theentire credit for ending thewar in Sputheast Asia. Eleven students made errors relatingto the date of his election, time in office or hidtenure of office. Eight students believed that Nixon was impeached;one believed that he had had a trial.

Four students believedthat he had lowered the inflation rate or solved theinflation problem with lower interest rates. Another student believed thathe had guided

24 the U.'S. out of a recession. Two students believed thatthe

U.S. began relationswith China during hisadministration

and two otherswrote that Nixon and "all his aides"were

involved in Watergate. Two students commentedon the JFK-

Nixon election and made'errors. Fourteen students made miscellaneous errors.

Fifty-one students madestatements that were classified

as providing historical perspectiveon Nixon's

administration. All but two of thesestatements deal with Nixon's participationin Watergate.

Twenty-three students usedthe word "caught"to

describe Nixon's involvementin Watergate. A sampling of

their explanations forwhat happened to Nixonincludes:

"Richard Nixonwas not a very good human being, Allof his

gains were made for himself,He used people andmaterial for

his own personal gains. There were probablya lot more like himbut he was caught forhis way of life. We as Americans should learna lesson from this"; "What did thisguy really do wrong . . . or right for that matter?! Most people are really misinformedas to what went on with. PresidentNixon and h4s cohors . . . . He just .hadone little screw up and got caught"; "The president thatreally comes to mind forme is Nixon. I feel sorry for him andus that he was thrown out of office. In my opinion probablyevery candidate in the past 30 years hassome political espsionage and hewas

25 the one who was caught; Enoughof that"; "Even though he

wasn't totally honest,the other politicians weren'tany

better, and hewas always trying to find out what theywere doing. I think he wasa good president because every thing he did, even though itwas wrong, was in the best interest

of the Public"; "Presidentsare humans and we can not expect

them'to be Gods lacking inmistakes, Nixon just got

caught!"; "Hewas critisized about cheating withtaxes and

stealing money andmany cover ups. Well he's probablyno

more guilty than any other presidentin the past decade. I think he got a bum dealeven though many would not agree";

"I ,believe that the 'scandals'he was involved in,were highly typical of Presidents. He wasn't the only president

to be involved in'scandals, hewas just one of the

unfortunate ones that got caught. I think that a little bit of scandal isnecessary .;..o have a successful office."

Four students indicated that Nixon'sparticipation in Watergate led the American peopleto mistrust the government. Students made the foll6wingstatements: "Then the Watergate scandel occuredand people began to mistrust government- most of all, Nixon. Ne'ver had they heard. ofa president that we guilty ofa crime. All Republicans were to blame & Nixon was a crook"; "Heis criticized and made the scapegoat for the lack of faiththe American people have in government"; and "He made'allpoliticians look cheap and 24

26 untrustworthy. He did make us allvery aware of the humaness of the Presidentof the U.S.A."

One, student felt that thepublic cannot adequately assess Nixon's situation:

I feel he did nothingunusual or unjust in his efforts to carry out theresponsibilities of his office. The 'average' citizenis not capable of evaluating the problems &responsibilities of such an office. Total honesty & public disclosureare rediculous expectations ofa president - many necessary decisions - for the best interestof the nation - would obviously offenda majority of the unrealistic public.

Five students wrotestatements about Nixon'sconcern with power or his place inhistory. They made the following

statements: ,"Sure he usurpedpowers that were not his to

take, but' he got thingsdone. Sometimes I think pith all

the government beauracracyand red tape it is the onlyway. I'd like to heara little less criticism of Richard (Tricky

Dick) Nixon"; "Ican only feel that his zeal forpower overwhelmed him and he losthis emotional balance. For him to have brought such disgraceto our nation is inexcusable";

"He had an obsessingwith his power but I think hsdid more good for this country thanany president in the last thirty- five yeari he was not the firstpresident to be involved in closed door misdealings"; and "ThisInceident shows a few

Things of his characteristics. His basic morals in thearea of truefulness were far Fromgood. Which feeds to his feelings about his fellowman. He didn't care about anybody

25 except Those in hisway keeping him from the Top. And those people in hisway he wanted to Eliminate. Maybe he wasn't

To easy to do businesswith unless Therewas something in it for him."

Four students comparedNixon to other modern

presidents. They made statementssuch as: "Many presidents

have probably donemore illegal things than he has inpast

years"; and "I'msure he is not the only dishonestPresident in the history of the UnitedStates."

Eight students made valuejudgments about Nixon'splace in history and hisparticipation in Watergate. They made such statementsas: "I think hewas a good President

because every thiag he.did,even though it was wrong,was in the best interest of the Public";"I regret the Watergate

incident because it tarnishedhis political abilitiesand

prestige"; and "Ibelieve we can not crucifya man for one

wrong action. We must look at thegood he did for the U.S.

cand judge for ourselves"; "Hewas very private as a president which led tomany rumors. I honestly feel he could have done much goodfor the United States ifhe hadn't got messed up on scandals . .s.. His frustrations and temper caused many problems and itwould seem if he'd kept himself under better control,especially with colleaguesand the press, he'd have beenmuch more successfulin the eyes of the Public."

28 Three studnts commented concerning theinvolvement of

others in the Nxon administration in Watergate. Theymade suchstatementsas: "Everyone makesa bad call, some are

just a bit bigger thanothers. I feel he was not the only

one to blame, In fact I feelmany more, people were to blame

than were actualy believed to have been. He had the final

i\ ------w4:44-,--but-,--overalll-he-was-arr-axceIrentpresident While he

was in office";i4d"people seem onlyto remember him for attempting to coverup a stupid mistake that his underlings made." John F. Kennedy

Fifty-two students choseJohn F. Kennedy.

Thirty-six studentscommented about his backgroundand

personal history. Twelve students commentedthat he was the,

youniest elected president,eight knew that hewas the first Roman Catholic electedto the presidency anetwenty-eight

. cAmaented on his assassinationand death. Eleven students

located his election,administration or death in thecorrect time period. To a lesser extent,there were comments that: tI He had been a senator from Massachusetts; hisVice-President -) was Lyndon B. Johnson; .he defeatedRichard Nixon in the 1960

election; Lee Harvey 'Oswaldshot John Kennedy andwas subsequently killed by JackRuby; he was "one of several

children of the Joseph P.Kennedy family whowas involved in

politics"; he as shot in a motorcade in Dallaswith

Governor Connolly ofTexas,and he wasa Democrat. Three

mentioned Jacqueline Kennedyand their children,a son and a daughter. One mentioned his brother,Robert, and concluded

that "Kennedy'sname is a great politicalname which will probably help his brotheralong in politics."

The authors' nomineefor the most confused paragraph is:

President John F. Kenedywas assinated in June of 1961. His murderer was John Booth. President Kenedy was shot in thehead and killed instantly. John Booth was chased intoa barn and was shot in an attempt to capture him. President Kenedy was replaced by his Vice PresidentLyndon B. Johnson.

ze, Seven students madecomments concerning President

Kennedy's integrity. Two used the term "honest",one the

term "noble", another "moral" and another "good." The comments included: "he had away of making you feel that

you could really trust what he said"; "hewas going to help

every people in all ways"; and "itwas fortunate that he was

a moral man, he could have beena dictator with his. abilities."

Thirty-one students commentedregarding Kennedy's

leadership. They used such adjectivesas: best (8);

successful (3);, greatest (3); outstanding(1); standout (1); favorite (1); great.(1);very strong (2); strong (1);good

(2); and better (2) in evaluatinghis ability and ranking

among the presid^nts. One student concluded that, "Kennedy

had a firm hand on America & startedthem to their uprise in

world power." One student was negative inevaluation: "I would have to say Kennedywas the pres. that wasn't too high on my list of people. He was too Liberal and for the fact he was all for givingaway free inter prizes."

Three students commented abouthis intelligence. One said, "he was handsome and smart." Another student commented: "President John F. Kennedy-wasthe most smartest president in U.S. history."

Sixteen students commented about hisdomestic policies.

There were eight comments concerningcivil rights, five

31 relative to tht spaceprogram, one in regard to organizing the Peace Corps andone regarding, "the power he developed

7 in things as suchas our Military." The comment, "his all

out support of the spaceprogram was amusing," was the most

ambiguous. All others were favorable, especiallyconcerning the moon landing and hisconcern for the "poor and blacks."

Twenty-six made comments about Kennedy'sforeign

policies. There were nineteencomments about the Cuban

Missile C is, six about the Bay of PigsInvasion, three about involvingus in the Vietnam War, one relative to the

Berlin speech and Berlin Walland one commented that "he strengthened our ties with alliessuch as West Germany."

The following comments summarizethe evaluations: "Many

people dislike Kennedy forhis involvement in the Bay of Pigs fiasco" and "He startedus into the long Vietnam War."

Nine students commented about Kennedy'scourage One mentioned specifically his "courage& valour displayed

during W.W. II" and another "thisman was not afraid to tell people what to do."

Twenty-five students commentedabout Kennedy's public image. The following commentsare most pertinent: "He was loved and respected by theAmerican public"; "he had the ability to inspire and motivate"; "Heencompassed young ideas and identified with theyoung people of our country:

He had charisma"; "He spread loveand understanding

32 a

throughout the world and foughtfor human rights and

dignity"; and "I rememberhe had & nice smile anda quick wit with reporters."

There were negativecomments such as the following:

"The onlyreason John F. Kennedy was a hero in the 60'swas because of his assassination"; "thereare many scandals and much bad publicity about him";and "many people respected him for his actionseven though others criticized him."

Thirteen students wroteconcerning Kennedy's value to

the country. A few of their commentswere: "Perhaps many .events that have happened since thenwould have been different had he beenour leader for several,terms of

----- office"; and "The carismais important becaus reduced

the apathy toward government, and promptedthe citizens to have pride in thecountry and to take an active part in the

running of it." Another stated: "His assasination brought

about a turning point and downfallin our government after

losing him it seems like hewas still around things would be

different." Still another wrote, "I wish hewas alive today

to lead us again." A final comment was: "His death occured

when I was a young Kid and I alwayshear people say that

they would like a president likehim. People say that he did a lot for our country."

Twelve students made factualerrors in their

evaluation. Seven errors related to thetime period, date

kai of e ection,, years in office,and date of assassination.

One student, believed, that hewas a hero of the Korean War.

Other dealt with interpretation,i.e.: "He also made it

possib $:3r everyone to have equal incomeor equal wealth

("Shar Or wealth, campaign"). Another stated, "his wife's name was Jackie 0/Kennedy."

Si _students...madestatements indic-ati-ng-a .sense of

histori al perspective. Two examples are: "Today there is still t lk of the real Killer. Some people say the only thing g eat ab#ut Kennedy ishis trip to Dallas"; and

"Lyndon Johnsonwas blamed and hated by the American people because of Kennedy's foolish notions . . . . Kennedy started the Vie nam Mar By thinkingit was Communists against

Christianity. It wasn't, it wasn't America'sbusiness to

butt in.' No one Knows that Kennedy,started they alwaysseem to frown on Johnsen."

Ten,students commented withsome degree of

sophistication. Two quoted from his InauguralAddress, "Ask not what your country can do foryou, but what you can do

for your country." Others stated that, "Kennedy didmore for the American people in 3years than President Nixon did in 8:years"; "It is true that he didnot get much legislation passed, but with LyndonJohnson to help him with

Congress . . ."; "The economic repercuseionsof this social generosity is just starting to be felt in the 80's. The

34 governments attitude of helping allthose in need was

ideally sound but sociallyand economically damaging";and

. . . he Knew where hewas going, and what he wantedto do

with the country. He wanted the countryto reunite and make

the country strong again. Before he became presidentthere was always a fear of a. nuclearwar with russia, but he gave -the countrysecurity. -"----

3~ Jimmy Carter

Fifty students chose JimmyCarter.

Eleven ,students knew thefollowing biographical details

concerning Jimmy Carter: he is from Plains, Georgia;he was

raised (or ownedor lived) on a peanut farm; heis a democrat; he was in the armedforces; he was elected in

1976; he ran for re-electionbut was defeated; his mother's

name is Lillian; his brother'sname is Billy; and he hasa strong belief in God.

Fifteen students statedthe following concerningMr.

Carter's integrity: "President Jimmy Carteris offering

stability, truth,'honesty, and integrityto our nation as

well as abroad"; "Carter,I feel, is basicallya good man, but possibly bite offa little more than he could chew"; "sincere"; "humble"; "aman with good intentions"; and

"simplicity." One person, however,wrote: "He told the

people of America hewas a true blue boyscout. He wasn't.

He was a lying fake littleboy that didn't know whathe was doing."

Forty-one students commentedconcerning Carter's leadership ability. Sixteen comments *werepositive or neutral (for whichwe have no category) while twenty-five were negative. In the spring of 1980 allstudents mentioning leadership made positivestatements such as: "In my opinion Jimmy Carter had donean excellent job as President of the

34 f

UniteA States. He has good leadership qualitys andhas

proven to be a good man to have at the hem intimes of crisis"; "President JimmyCarter is an outstanding

President"; "I believe thatPresident Carter tries to do his

best. He believes in the decisions he makes";and "President Jimmy Carterat the moment is going through the

most demanding test of leadership almostanyone cout be

presented . . . and if the need arises Iam sure he will be a leader respected enough to lead the country."

Students' negative statementswere: "overall the things I dislikedabout him was his. weak reputation of the

U.S."; "but felt thepressures and lost control of hispower especially with Congress"; "Alla man can do is try is best

but in my opinion Jimmy Carter wasn'tthe man for the job at

the time"; "Jimmy Carter, I believethat the man was very

incompetent and should never have been electedpresident ";' "Jimmy Carter has gotto be one of the worst presidents

since the Civil War"; "During Jimmy Carter'sterm things got worse "; and "His leadership qualitieswere definitely

lacking." In the fall of 1980, five out of sixleadership statements were negative; four of five saidthat Carter was one of the "worst" presidents in recent history.

Four students wrote concerning Carter'sintelligence.

Two students stated that he: "is one of themost

35 L°

intelligent presidentswe have have had"; the othertwo stated that his knowledgeof governmentwas "limited."

Twenty-four studentsmade statementsconcerning

Carter's domesticaccomplishments. Seven statementswere

positive; seventeenwere negative. The positivestatements were almost neutral; forexample, "Jimmy Carterwith many

problems, economy, labor,Iran crises and otherworld

problems peopleare very quick to point out allthe bad

points surrounding theseareas"; and "I feelthat he handled

domestic affairs fairlywell even though hefailed to keep some of his campaignpromises."

Examples of thenegative statementsare the following:

"I cannot honestlythink of one positivething he has done for our country or people. Taxes are higher,inflation is

higher"; "He raisedthe gas price and messedaround with the grain emergo"; "Interestrates are very high"; and (he)

"did not.wantto keep up with the U.S.S.R.in the arms race he dropped us years behind them and also hishuman rights

policy got the UnitedStates many more problems. Ex CUBA REFUGEES and also IRAN."

Thirty students writingof Carter's foreign policy accomplishments focusedon four events: the Iranian hostage situation, the Camp David talks,the return of the Panama Canal, and the Russianinvasion of Afghanistan.

38 In the spring of 1980,three students madestatements about Carter's handlingof the Iranian crisis;the three

statements were either positiveor neutral. For example:

"I feel PresidentCarter's national standon Iran is sound and unifying forour country." By the fall of 1980,

virtually all of thestatements students made about Carter's

handling of the Iraniancrisis were negative. Sixteen of

the nineteen statementswere similar to the following: "I

also feel this 'softness'of President Carter'sdecision

making contributedgreatly to the situation inIran. Under

a different leader I don'tbelieve the 'crisis' wouldhave

occued"; "With foreignaffairs he talked soft and tooka

slow pace that inhibitedthe early release of theprisoners

iA Iran"; "The IranianCrisis was probably hisgreat task

and that didn't get solveduntil an hour after hewas out of

office"; and "He shouldof been more careful whenhe tried

the helicopter rescue." Students who wrote in positiveor

neutral terms regardingthe Iranian crisis stated: "When

Iran took Americanhostages in the American Embassyin

Tehran; therewas really nothing Jimmy Carter coulddo"; and

"Also Iran hashostages of U S Embassy personaland their safety is utmost in Carter'smind."

Five studentswrote concerning Carter's participation in the Camp David talks; theyfelt that thiswas a positive accomplishment although theyspeculated how long the

39 agreement would last. Two exampleswere: "The talks he had

with Begin and Sadat didmuch to improve the relationshipof

the two countries butit didn't seem, to last. The mid-east

is once again full of prOblems";and (he) "brought the Camp David agreement, but thisis about all he did."

Only one of the fourstudents commentingon Carter's return of the Panama Canalto Panama agreed with the

president's action: "I feel he dida fair job in foreign matters, especially in handlingsuch things as the Panama

Canal." Three of the fourstudents made negative statements: "Jerry Fordmay have started the plan toturn

over the Panama Canal, butCarter is the one who willgo

down in history for thetreaty"; and "Duringthe last three

years he has repeatedlygone against public opinion bydoing such as returning thePanama Canal."

Only one student agreedwith President Carter'spolicy

regarding the Russianinvasion of Afghanistan: "and I also

agree with the way he dealt with theIranian hostage crisis and Afanistan." Four of the fivestatements were negative:

"I fell hewas weak in his dealing with russiaand thier evasion of Afganastin"; and "Alsowhen he put a grain embargo on Russia. It didn't make them withdrawtheir troops from Afghanistan."

40 Two students commentedregarding Carter'scourage: "he

was also spineless"; and "He couldhave been a bit bolderin his role, but notas bold to get us in a war."

Thirty-four'studentsmade statements relatingto

President Carter's publicimage, eleven were positiveand twenty-three werenegative. Positive statements concerning

Carter were: "He seems to beanemotional man who truly

values the welfare of allhuman beings. Carter has worked

very hard in office, and hasgone4through somevery rough

times and situations alongthe way. His smile always makes

me feel better when watchinghim on television"; "Howhe struggled - and because of the tangled web ofbureaucracy he

could not complete infour years what. he sincerelyyearned

to do"; "Like all otherPresidents he tried to keepin touch with his public andto let them know what issueswould be coming up with the Senateand Congress "; and "Butwhat personally endearsme to him is his simple, down'homestyle. This new flamboyancein the White House repelsme, and I like the way the Carterstried to saveour money while staying in the White House." Of the twenty-three negative statements, allcomments in fall 1980 relativeto Carter's public imagewere negative. The followingstatements summarize this viewpoint: "Until now PresidentCarter has beenseen by many Americans as a man lackingthe ability to bea strong

41 leader. Having vacillatedon several.stands during his

campaign, he has sometimesproved to be undecidedon his

opinion on state and worldaffairs"; "Unfortunately.for the

U.S. he is alsoone of the most wishy-washypoliticians

around"; "He mademany campaign promises whichwere never

kept"; and "TheAmerican people lost allconfidence in him." Regarding Carter's valueto the country, two students

wrote the following: "In this nuclearage the big stick is

no longer efficient. the ultimateweapon has been made and

dipolimoce is theweapon to use to fight it. With had in

mind Jimmy Carter, inmy opino, is a good president";and "He was successful, though, in his bringing backof trust in the presidency. He seemed toovercome the suspicion of the Nixon-Ford era."

Students made three factualerrors concerning Carter:

"Because he lackedmilitary experience"; "JimmyCarter was

sworn in the year 1976 in November";and "he threwus into great inflation."

Eight students, howver,did make sophisticated and/or value-judgement statementsconcerning the Carter presidency.

The followingare examples: "He was elected fouryears ago during a time when thiscountry was very unsure aboutthe integrity of the U.S. politicalsystem ";. "President Carter has been a diplomat all thetime and showedpower and restraint when needed"; "He hada number of problems the

+0 three biggestwere insufficient knowledge ofadministrative process in the capital city,a congress unwilling to

compromise or help and stubbor.nessof. other.world-leaderef and "His defense budgetcutting has caused serious shortages in both equipment and manning in all branches ofservice. I

think he's trying tomake himself look goodnow that election time is rollingaround with showing his newly developed technologyto aid the services, but it'stoo late in the game for him."

4I 1

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thirty-nine studentschose Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Twenty -two discussedhis biography; spacifically,

tenure of office, handicap,depression, death, predecessor,

successor, wife, mistress, familyand date of election.

Two students wroteconcerning his integrity. The first that, "he seemed to havea love & compassion & fait) in

Americans that was unmatched";and the second, "he alsowas trusted by the peopleor he would not have been re-elected so many times."

Twenty-nine students commentedconcerning Roosevelt's

leadership and used thirty-twodescriptive adjectives. The

descriptive adjectives andtheir frequencyare as follows:..

"best" (7); "strong" (4); "good"(3); "most productive"(2); "strongest" (2)"; "fantastic"(2); and one eack for'"very

good," "influence,""greatest," "liked the most,"

"outstanding," "most radical& powerful," "extremely impressive," "excellent," "oneof the better," "stand out," "hardest jobas president," and "very great."

A selection of studentcomments is listed: "someone to lead the people willinglyup the path to recovery";

"Franklin Delano Rooseveltis one of the best presidents since the Civil War buta bit over praised by many who do not now much about the behind-the-scenesevents during the

Roosevelt White House years"; "Hewas chosen one of the

44 better presidentsbecause he united the wholecountry during

the terribleyears of the depression & WWII"; "Somefeel Roosevelt had too muchpower but at the time a strong

president is whatwas needed to enable the U.S.to get back into shape"; and "Manypersons believe that Franklin D

Roosevelt wasa fantastic president due mainlyto the United States 'glorious Victories' in WWII . . . . fail to realize that Roosevelt startedus on the way to economic problems that we suffer today."

Two studentswrote about the president's wisdom'Orgood judgment. The first wrote,"Closingthe banks soon after the panic was perhaps,one of the wisest things he did," the second: "He hada good knowledge of both foreign and domestic affairs."

Thirty-four students commentedabout Roosevelt's

domestic accomplishments andpolicies. Twenty students associated him with thedepression or "Great Depression";

six students mentioned the NewDeal; four, social security;

two, "bank closing"; two, each the WPAand CCC; three, jobs;

one each NRA, TVA and "relief."Two students wrote thathis policies were "socialistic." Other phrases usedonce were:

"governmental activity"; "eliminatedspeculation"; "services for the people"; "workprograms for the unemployed"; "new social programs"; "organizedall the differentprograms to help the people"; "put thecountry back on its feet";

45 MR "strong supporter ofconservation & ecology"; "payedfarmers not to grow their crops";and "the programs instituted during his presidencywere a much needed change."

-----7-the-followingis a selection of studentcomments: "He passed more bills throughCongress than any other president

except Johnson. He was known for the NewDeal program which was accually a series ofprograms. Many of his programs

were successful but onlyto a certain extent"; "Hewas

president during thedeppression and his New Dealpolicies to help bring the country out of the deppression thoughwere later judged as socialistic";"Roosevelt put into effect

programs like the WPA and CCC. These programs, not only

provided much neededservices, but also kept people'spride intact by paying them forworking instead of sitting

around"; and "he ledthe U.S. through the firstMAJOR

economic disaster that hitthis country. He tried to

relieve the problems byinstigating suchprograms as the

CCC, TVA and others. 'Eventhough he did not actuallybring the country out of the GreatDepression, he kept this

country unified until Japan attackedPearl Harbor, whichwas one of the mainreasons the economy began booming."

Seventeen students commentedabout FDR's foreign

policies and accomplishments. Sixteen mentioned World War

II; one mentioned thelend-lease program;one, "talks with

Russia"; andone, his "post war efforts." Students wrote

46 the following: "He was excellentthrough the second world war, traveled overseas to where the fightingactually was and gave tremendous moral support to hisgenerals. The only thing thatwas bad in my opinionwas the talks with Russia

after thewar was over"; and "In WorldWar II he helped

other countries bygiving them military aid,he helped keep

the allies together,and he madesure that nobody would push us around."

Five studentswrote concerning Roosevelt'scourage. Two commentsare the following: "He had a fighting

spirit . . and-1%e displayedgreat amounts of stamina, courage and desire."

. Eighteen studentscommented regarding FDR'spublic image. In their discdssionsthey mentioned thathe,was; "an energetic inspiring person"; "he hadcharisma" (2); "helped keep everyone optomistic"; "hated,disliked, loved, adored or revered" (4);"calm and controlled";"warm, fun loving caring"; "ray of sunshine";"socialistic";"concerned about poor and middle class people";"too powerful"; and

"the one responsiblefor getting the UnitedStates into WWII." A sample indicating theambivalence and the diversity of theresponses included: "Many hated him passionately while othersloved him dearly"; "FranklinD. Roosevelt was probablyone of the most socialistic presidents we ever had. He took away theprivate running of

4 many freedois that we had andlet the government takeover. I'm notsure yet if this is goodor bad but I do beilieve

that it was the US beginningtowards socialism"; "Maybe he wasn't the best . but until JFKcame alonlg he was about

the only leader not onlyloved but revered"; and "Mostpeole felt if a president serves over two terms, he willbecome a dictator, but I feelit may be good, becauseit will unite the country."

Five studentswrote concerning Roosevelt'svalue to the country; two commentswere: "I thinkwe need more

presidents today that willdo something for thegood of the

country"; and "Iwish 'he was here todayto give us a hand!!! We need itnow more than ever!!"

Twenty-three students madefactual errors in their

evaluations. Many made multipleerrors. There were

seventeen errors of fact, fiveerrors in chronology and five

errors in interpretation. Asampleof the aboveerrors were: "When he wasyoung he was a very sick child &was

told he wouldnever walk"; "As a result of hisefforts the

League of Nationswas established which was followedby the

United Nation"; "He didnot want to serve a secondterm in

office, but was convincedby his aides that Americaneeded him and we did"; "He startedall the nationalprojects like the WCP, the youthcamps and the state medical aid programs"; "He alsoset up a system whereby thestock market 46

48 would never crash again"; and "Asa result to his death while in office a law was passed sayingno president could hold office for more than three terms."

Two students commented withan historical perspective.

One wrote: "We workedas one nation, a unit. Times were bad yet it's not particularlyknown or remembered as bad. Often people still reflecton that time for insight and

answers."The other: "I look back at himnow because we

now are reliving the past. We, some people sayare experiencing a Depression somewhat..."

Four students wrote witha degree of sophistication.

Their responses included: "Besides his spirit, his wifewas

a great First Lady. Eleanor was on thego fighting for

women's rights. During the war, she aidedwomen with the

jobs they were to performin the men's absences. Truly Franklin and Eleanorwere spirited and courageous people in

our America history"; "He was a very sickman and they

(Russians) worked allover him. They should never have

gotten as many spoils as they received"; "WhatFDR did to stabilize the country did not alwaysjibe with the

democratic system, but it worked";and "Roosevelt served

four terms, died in office in the fourthterm and after he

`died, they madea law that said ,no president canserve more than two terms for fear he becometoo powerful."

47 Gerald Ford

Thirty students chose Gerald Ford.

Twenty-three students madestatements about President

Ford's background. One student wrote: "the biggest

complaint about Ford was that hewas not a§tually elected to

the presidency; he cae in through theback door after being appointed V.P. by Nixon after Agnew'sresignation. He then assumed the presidency 4hen Nixonresigned. It was bad enough not being electedas V.P." Time.and again students (17 students wrote about theway Ford came to office) mentioned the unusual method of selection, byappointment, and the difficulty of replacinga president in mid-term. Other phrases frequently usedwere "unique" and the "burden placed upon Ford in becoming president in a non-elective manner."

Other comments were:'''one of the most underrated presidents"; "hewas in a hard situation when hecame into office, but made the best of the situation";"neither liberal nor conservative"; and "hedid a good job of replacing Richard Nixon after the Watergatescandal."

Generally, the students recognized thatFord had become president during a period of instabilityand "some political turmoil," "national mistrust"and that "the people were ready for a change andanyone having to do with the Nixon Administration were looked down upon."

48 Students knew specific detailsconcerning his personal and political career beforehe becma_gLesidezt_;_perhaps

because he i a "native son" of Nebraska,and Omaha is his

birthplace. Students associated Ford withfootball and knew that he had graduated fromthe University of Michigan and served as a member of Congress.

In addition, students mentionedthe specific month and

year, August 1974, when Ford became president,that he ran

successfully for election in 1976,was defeated by Jimmy Carter (one said, "it'sa damn shame Jimmy Carter took over

after Ford") and that "heencountered a lot of criticism for the pardon he gave Mr. Nixon."

Seven students mentioned specificcharacteristics

associated with integrity. Words such as "honest," "fair,".

and'conscientious"appear in the comments, i.e. "may have

been he most open, honest and certainlythe most likable

preside"; and "even thoughseveral situations looked suspiciou'e.\he did whatwas right and proper."

Twenty\ students mentionedcharacteristics associated

with leadership. Sixteen students mentionedpositive

characteristics of leadership and fourmentioned negative to ambivalent statements concerning his leadership. Probably the most accuriltesummary was that "Gerald Ford wasa very controversial president." The 'positive comments included the adjectives "high praise," "excellent,""good leader,"

49 "good President butnot a great one," "one of the finest

President." "most unique,""very-capable leader," "worthyof a lot of respect," "did well consideringthe situation," "one of the all time great,""levelheaded," "highly

underrated pres,"'and, "deservesa special place in history

for his accomplishments." Students usuallygave him the

benefit of the doubtconcerning his leadership witha qualifying phrase, i.e. "hemay not have done everything

perfect, but hesure helped us all out, at leasta little." The four students whowrote negativeto ambivalent

statements mentioned that: "he did not have thedynamic personality that makesa great leader"; "did a very adequate'

job"; "did nothingspectacular in the White House,kept things in America pretty muchstable"; and "an adequate

President butno real super star."Another suimary was: "I believe Gerald Ford was a very over publicizedpresident .

he did an'adequate job ofmanaging the country, but only adequate."

Three students mentioned Ford'sintelligence. A

typical statement was that: "Hewas an intelligent man who steadied a shaken nation."

Seventeen students mentioned Ford'sdomestic policies.

There were four commentsconcerning Eord's pardon of Nixon, seven each relating to Ford's restorationof the presidency and economic matters.

52 Regarding the pardon,one student summarized it

succinctly: "In his first day'sin office he absolvedany

charges or wrongdoings of Mr.Nixon; in doingso he saved

the U.S. from havingto go through the disagrace oftrying an ex- president."

Concerning Ford's restorationof the presidency,a

student commented that, "GeraldFord did not haveas much

time for the peopleto see him in true form becausehe was

busy washing away themess left by Nixon."' Anotherwrote that, "lie tried torestore faith in government after

Watergate scandle."- Oneconcluded that, "he didn'tmake a lot of changes."

Students believe that Fordwas "good economist"; "he

had many Key policies such asWIN (Whip Inflation, Now) and

vetoed many spending billspassed by Congress"; and "the

economic situation althoughnot improved did notworsen during his term."

Students made these additionalcomments: "did a lot of traveling around"; "hesoon brought the troops home from

Viet- .Yam "; "he let the military slide"; "ourcountry had just went througha severe oil cris and he did his best";

and brought. "executivepower back under control after Watergate."

Five students mentioned Ford'sforeign policies. The examples were: "the U.S. along with therest of the world

51 was generlly at peace"; "he seemedto keep in good standing

with the.foraign countries";"helped keep.Americaout of wars that continue to plague theMiddle & Far Eastern

countries"; and "Hisforeign policywas probably based on

Nixon's whichwas good, as.Nixon hadan excellent foreign policy."

In terms ofcourage only one student commented that, "I

don't believe hehad enough guts but afterRichard Nixon their might of bena slight mood or faking in the air."

Eight students mentionedpublic image. One wrote that,

"After Fordwas in office he chose to pardonNixon fully,.

which was avery unpopular decision with theAmerican public." Others commented that, "Ithink Ford would have

been more popularif he had beenmore aggressive, dyanmic

speaker," and "Thiswas a case of untimeliness. I believe

that if Gerald Fordwere president during a differenttime period, he would have madea better impression on the

American people." Three students commentedupon his

physical bearing: "He was often notedby the press for his

clum_yness in politicalcartoons and editorials"; "Bland is

a word that could describe him. His clumsiness is knownto all because of thepress and T.V."; and "Thepress took great joy in making an issue of hisKlutziness."

Two students commentedon Ford's value to the country.

One that, "Even though he Knewthat he could notreap the

5 benefits personally forhis policy on China, he didit for the future." The other wrote, "He didnothing great for

America but he did nothingto harm it. He came into office

during a period ofgreat political turmoil and hehelped to keep the countryas stable as possible, Keeping it from going downhill further."

Five students made factualerrors in describing Ford's presidency; The errors were in thefollowing categories:

Ford was a senator fromMichigan; Nixon pickedhim as his assistant; and, "when hewas vice preident and Nixonwas going out of office Fordwas elected for a 2 year term."

53 Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan"was not inaugurated uni..4 January 3, 1981

and therefore the onlygroup of students who:were able to select him were students from Fall 1981. Twenty-two students choseto write about Ronald Reagan.

Eight atudents madestatements about President Reagan's

background. They noted: he was 70 years old whenhe ran

for the presidency; thathe was a former Hollywoodactor; he

was a former state governor; he defeatedJimmy Carter to become president; and thathe is a capitalist.

Two students madestatements concerning Reagan's

integrity. Both students indicatedthat Reagan knows "what

he believes and is willingto fight for, his belief." One

student usedas an example Reagan's handling of theair traffic controllers' strike.

Twenty-one of the twenty-twostudents who chose Reagan

made a statement about hisleadership skills. Nineteen of the twenty-onestatements were positive. Students used such words as: "strong leader"; "hasimpressed me the most"; "a good president"; "aman that stands out"; "doinga good job"; "he is changingsome things in government all for the best"; "a powerfulperson and a good ruler"; "he is goingto be tough"; and "Reagangets a first quarter exam of A+."

Only three students madenegative leadership statements about Reagan. These students stated that "heis .unable to

34 cope with situations that confront him";that "he is apoor president"; and "whatgood is he doing for us?"

Fourteen students madestatements about Reagan's

domestic accomplishments. Students made statements about

three areas of domesticconcern: the economy, the military

and the air traffic controllers'strike.

Students made, six positiveand three negative

statements about Reagan'seconomic policies. Positive

statements included: " Reagan's budgetcutting will makeus all a little ahead in the future";"Reagan hasa very good economic program or at thevery least a new approach toa very old problem"; "he is cutting budgetsto keep people from spendingmoney that is doing nothing and usingit for purposes useful to this country"; "hegot on television and explained his tax-cut proposalso everybody would understand it." Negative statements about Reagan'seconomic policies included: "but most of the peopleare against his economic policies"; "First of all,the budget cut istoo extensive"; and "His policies benefitthe rich but hurt the poor."

Three positive andone negative statements were made about Reagan's military/defensepolicies. Students stated: "He is going to buildup the Defense system to keep countries from ever thinking abouttaking what the U.S. has"; and "what reallysticks out the most andimpresses me though is his military policieswhich call fora strong

O 55

57 united America,one which will soon be the leading

superpower of the world/forever."The one negative

statement about Reagan's militaryplan is "he is pushingfor WW III."

Five students commentedabout Reagan's handling ofthe air traffic controllers'strike. Four students felt that he

handled the strike wellby "not backing downon his

decision." One student felt he shouldnot have fired them. Three students commentedabout Reagan's foreign

accomplishments. All three made statementsreferring to his

build up of the U.S.military and two mentionedhis firm .stand against the "Lybians"or "libyans."

Two students commentedabout his courage; both

referring to his strengthof conviction.

Eleven students referredto Reagan's public image:

"not wishy-washy like Carter";"firm and predictable"; "The

people like him and his methodof ruling"; "gives strength and confidence to the Americanpeople."

One student madean error in stating that "with the

budget cuts he has eliminatedBLOCK funds."

One student madea fairly sophisticated observation:

"He should not have triedto cut back on so much allat once. It took our peoplea while to get used to living like we are and its going to take awhilefor us to get usedto

58 cutting back on the benefitsfrom the government andwe all benefit from governmentfunds."

Two paragraphsmay be of interest in their entirety:

Ronald 'Reagon Pres. Reagon isa strong leader, seems to come across asmr. hardass, but yet caring and gentle with Americans. I Think Reagon withnot completely redue the,government & society but with help improve. Our pride & glorygot shot after losing Vietnam and CIA I agree withyou has to much say so inour affairs and making national decisions. I have Throughan interesting teacher in High School not 'tellus want the CIA has done but showed us, in away of letting us make ourown conclusions. I hope & Think That byputting Reason in he will moldour society into a stronger pride & degnaty. Also another comment thathurt the USA was exPres Carter, Reagan hasa lot of work to do. Ronald Regan,:

It amazes me that ina time many considered to be close to the point ofno return for this country, a man like Regan would appearon the scene.

For so longnow I have felt the country would fail economically as wellas in its use of foreign policy. Deficit spending and raisingtaxes' excessive government controlls,excessive subsidy and welfare spending allcoupled to create something other than a free nation. Our foreign policywas so unpredictable and unknownto me that I was afraid to go to VietNam. What were the goals of thecountry? I didn't know. I knew what minewere, to be free to get on with life, unhindered.

Reagan came alongone day as if out of the blue and has started to reverse thecountrys direction. The first "Capitalist" President I'veever known about. He is firm and predictableon his programs and goals to reverse the country to whatit was meant to be. Regan gets a first Quarterexam A+ from me.

59 Harry S. Truman

Twenty students choseHarry S. Truman, Nine made biographical statements indicating that he: was a Missouri politician;became president when Franklin.

Roosevelt died;was a high school graduate; droppedthe

atomic bomb on Japan;was elected in the 1948 landslideover Dewey; used "vulgar"language; was marriedto Bess; was

known for his"toughness" and "brassness";and was associated with the phrase "Give'em hell, Harry."

Twelve students commentedthat Truman wasan honest man

and president by 'indicatingthat "he preserved thequality

and respect of the officeof the president," andthat

"people alwaysknew where he stoodon issues." An

additional ambivalentcomment considered as negativewas the

descriptive phrasewas that he was "a manmany people hated while in office."

Fifteen of theseventeen students commentedfavorably

about his leadership indicatingPlat he was a strongLeader capable of making decisionsat critical times.

Only two students remarkedspecifically regarding Tru-

man's intelligencestating that "he knew whatthis weapon

(atomic bomb) could do,and he knew the alternative";and

"he handled all ofhis responsibilitiesvery well."

60 /

Few students, three only, mentionedany facts re-

lating to Truman's domesticaccomplishments. The most significant was his immigrationpolicy.

Twelve students wroteconcerning the decision to drop

the atomic bombson the Japanese viewing the dedisionas the "most important" and"hardest" decision ofany modern day president: Three of the studentsevaluated the Truman

.decision thusly: "He demanded surrenderfrom Japan. The Japanese did not respond,so that left him with no choice

but to end thewar quickly and without debate"; "I likedhis

tough guy foreign policyand the fact that he had theguts to drop the bomb on Japan proves to me that he believedin this country and wouldgo to any extend to protect it"; and

"The first thing Ithink of is he okayed theatomic massacre

of Japanize citizens. ;hen I. try and justify thisto myself. On one hand he had a means to end the war by .

accepting the Japanize Surrender. Yet he chose to; bring

them to their knees to looseface. A fate as bad as death a to the Japanize.".

Other foreign policystatements related to "increased

U.S. involvement in Korea";"helped in thepeace treaty and

starting a world wide Council of allies";and that he was

involved in the change from "awar time economy to a peace time one."

59 o

Eleven students mentionedthe president'scourage usually relating thisto his positive leadership and

decision-making ability. Two students specificallyremarked on his "courageous" behavior in the dismissalof General McArthur.

Eight students again relatedTruman's decision-making

ability in anotheraspect of the modernpresidency, public

image, by writing that:: "Hewasn't afraid of whatpeople'

would think ofcettain decisions he made"; "heseemed like any other American, not flashy,more like 'the man who lives next door"; and "he seemedto be a part of, and related best to thecommon working man."

Typical of the sixstudents who commentedconcerning

the president's valueto the country are thesestatements:

"After he left officepeople all startedto look back and

were pretty impressed with the backbone";"Truman had'all

the making ofa president and we needsomeone like him

today"; and "Although Trumanstarted the support of the

Southeast Asia countries,which would increase withthe next

Four presidents, i believehistory wLll & does show thathe made the correct deceisionat that time."

Five students made factualerors. One apparently believed that Trumanwas a "Habidasher" immediately before he served his presidentialterm. Another believed that Truman "put Americaon a sound economic base after the

60 depression" while stillanother stated that "he hadno choice on entering the U.S.into WWII."

Fdur students wrotemore sophisticated statements

regarding Truman's presidentialtenure. The two categories

are statements concerning Trumanpersonally and about the decision to drop the bomb. An example of each respective

category includes the following: "While he 'didn't always agree with .Roosevelt's 'new deal'--hisadministration was responsible for carryingout some of those policies"; and relative to theuse of the atomic bomb, "This event changed the lives ofeveryone in the world. Up to this time warfare had not been so allencompassing--now a nation had the potential of killing offentire cities, Small countries,etc with one bomb." Abraham Lincoln

Nineteen students choseAbraham Lincoln and knewa

great deal of biographicaldetail about him. They knew that he was: the sixteenth presidentof the United States;

responsible for helpingblacks secure their freedom;led the nation during the Civil War;born of very poor rural

Midwestern parents; relativelyinexperienced politically;a

"simpleman, kind and intelligent"; lost.one of his sons in his youth; was electedto two terms; assassinated while

viewing a play in the FordTheatre by John Wilkes Booth.

Although only two studentsspecifically mentioned

Lincoln's integrity,what they describedwas that Lincoln was elected president because ofhis "calmness and understanding," and hisposition on "human rights."

Thirteen of the nineteenrespondents made positivestatements concerning his leadership. One stated, "I would have

to consider this manas being one of the greatest, ifnot

the greatest presidentin our history." Others believed

that. Lincoln was the."bestpresident this nation hasever had." Synonyms used to replace "best"were: .."outstanding" and "excellent." One student mentioned butdid not explain the statement that "AbeLincoln was probably themost hated President during this time period."

Students were somewhatmore ambivalent concerning

Lincoln's intelligence. One student wrote that "heliked to

62 read alot"; another that "helearned to read and writeat an early age so frointhenon taught himself through books

gathered from others"; andthat the ability to deal with

problems stemmed from his "totalcontrol rand understanding."

The best evaluationstated that "the greatestcrime of all

the Civil warwas the killing of Lincoln, which didn'tallow the world to see the wisdomthis man would have used in

reconstructing our United States ofAmerica."

When students discussedhis accomplishments, they concentrated exclusivelyupon his domestic policy; no

student mentioned anythingrelative to his foreign policy.

To them his most "important"accomplishments were: freeing the slaves; the EmancipationProclamation; preserving the

Union; fightinga "war'between the states"; and desiringto reconstruct the Union without beingtoo harsh towards the

South. Reuniting the countrywas an important aspect of

Lincoln's domesticprogram: "and he didso with a firm hand and a clear concept in mindwhat had to be done to reunite this country."

Four students described Lincoln'scourage without

explaining what the termmeant. One said, "hewas faced with many problems thatno other president had ever facedor would ever have to face againup to now." Another that, "he dared to change policy and usedhis position to enforce it" and "he did what he had to inspite of pressures to the

65 contrary." Two other studentswrote that: "he wouldn't

back down to anything, heknew how to defend..andconquer

with self-respect," andthat "his valor and respectfor the

rights of all men,not just a chosen few, but allmen is most admural."

Six students commentedregarding Lincoln's public image. One stated, "hewas a man for all pople; he.worked

for the people and alwaystried to please them; he usually

did." Another remarked that Lincolnwas "one of the most

inspiring persons . . . to aver to have held the officeof president."'According to another "he had a keenway of. 4-

talking with theaverage people" and "people of thattime

were looking for a leader who wouldchange the course ofour land; Lincoln was sucha man." The most interesting comment' was that, "President Linconwas controversial."

Though nebulous, ten studentsfelt that Lincolnwas

valuable to the country in thefollowing ways: he made the

United Statesa free placein which to live; hewas "vital"

to subsequent history; had he "finishedhis ._term the Civil rights momiment would not havebeen needed" and.he "changed tne way of America and ourway of Life . . helped to shapa what America is all about, Freedom."One student also recognized that Lincoln led thenation "through probably the most turbulent time inour history," and another that his planning helped the North win theCivil War.

66 Errors of interpretation and factwere diverse: "Abraham Lincolnwas the sole binding force that preserved

the Union throughout andafter the Civil War; his mild

mannered sense of responsibilityfor unity bonded this

country in a solid moldnever to be cracked again." One student believed that he hadbeen elected unanimously;

another that he "led the Eastto a victory in the Civil

War." Still another believed thatLincoln "United South

& North America." The usual errors occurredregarding the

beginning of his administration,1863, and that hewas somehow involved in reconstruction.

Under the categoiy "sophistication"students wrote the

following comments: "Most of the Presidentswere from the

Atlantic Coastal States oi fromthe Southern states"; "I

learned that he wasn't exactly what'historymade him up to be"; "With women's rights,blacks rights, air controllers

rights, it seems we should lookupon the past for a target

or gdal to shoot for; a united America"; "Ilearned in a Black Studiescourse that it was not in his heart to free the slaves but formore of a personal and strategical bene

fit to himself and his presidentialposition"; and "I don't think anyone has the rightto own a human being, just because they are black."

65 Theodore Roosevelt

Sixteen students chose TheodoreRoosevelt.

Five students made thefollowing statements about

Theodore Roosevelt's background: he became presidentas a result of the.assassinationof McKinley at the turn of the

century; he was born in New York City;he was sickly. as a child and as a result becamevery athletic as an adult to

overcome this; his family was wealthy; hestarted his own party when the Republican Partydid not nominate him; and

the teddy bear is named afterhim.

Five of the six students whowrote about Roosevelt's leadership believed that hewas a strong and forceful

president. They wrote statements suchas: "Teddy Roosevelt

was probably the backbone president of theUnited States.

He was ever president shouldbe like. He knew how to handle

world problems. Roosevelt showed the world thatthe United States was strong and powerful in its actions . . . "; and "I feel Theodore Rooseveltwas the best president since

1865." One student indicated dissentwithout explanation: "Roosevelt is considered bymany to be one of America's

greatest presidents. I however do notagree entirely with this statement."

Only one student wrote about.Roosevelt's intelligence.

He stated: "Also f-om a miliLarystandpoint he was nobody's fool."

68 4

Nine students mentioned Roosevelt'sdomestic accomplishments including: labor and business reforms;

labor laws shortening thework day and week; lawsimproving safety and working conditions;efforts in controlling

monopolies; beginning the NationalPark system; and beinga conservationist..

Six students mentioned Roosevelt'sforeign

accomplishments including: fighting the Spanish American

War; building andfunding the Panama Canal; andhis "Speak softly and carrya big stick" policy.

Four students made thefollowing statements concerning Roosevelt's public image: "His image an 'American hero'

becomes more evident eachtime his presidency is studied ";

"President Rooseveltwas a rugged individual hoivever heran

the nation in the.samerugged manner"; and "Hewas one of the most outspoken presidents up to that time . . . Teddy

Roosevelt was a 'work-a-holic.' He was outgoing,as well as outspoken."

Three students madestatements concerning Roosevelt's value to the country. One student stated that, "he

waswa very productive president." The secold studentwrote: "Many times Roosevelt actedin an imperialistic and

militaristic manner. This has over theyears caused much tension between the United Statesand Latii American

relations. In this sense I donot consider Rooseveltone of

67 the greatest presidents." The third student felt.that

Roosevelt's long lastingcontribution was in thearea of "Recreation and PhysicalEducation."

There were seven factualerrors such as: "Theodore

Roo'seveltwas born in N. Y. sometime in the early1800"s"; "Some social reformswere old-age pensions, educa-

tion"; "Among hisactivities were beinga one time

'Texas Ringer"; "YellowstoneNational Park being the first

natio.nal park in the UnitedStates"; and "Roosevelt didnot want Cuba to_go communist." Two students wrote that oTheodore:Rooseveltstarted the New Deal andgot the U.S. out of the depression.

11,

68 Lyndon B. Johnson

Eight students choseto write about Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Three of the four studentscommenting about his

background, indicated thathe became presidentas a result of

John Kennedy's assassination.Two students referredto his

being a wealthy Texan andowning a ranchnear Austin. 'One

student indicated thatthere is a large libraryat the University of Texascampus in his honor and another mentioned that hewas a Democrat.

Students were split intheir evaluation of President

Johnson as a leader. Two students consideredhim "one of

the best Presidents"while two other studentsconsidered him among the worst presidents.

In terms of domesticaccomplishments students focused

.- on Johnson's"war -against poverty"and his Civil Rights

legislation. One student mentionedthe student rebellions of the times.

All five students whomade statements concerninghis

foreign accomplishmentsreferred to his escalation ofthe Vietnam War. No other statementswere made about foreign relations.

Only two students referredto President Johnson's public image. One student said "Iewas a very power hungry type of person." Another student stated that "Johnsondid 69 not appear frequentlyon television nor give frequentpress interviews."

Students made onlytwo factual errors about Mr.

Johnson: "Lynden Johnsonwas president from 1963 to 1968," and "he did cause the VietnamWar to get so out of handlike it did."

Students made some sophisticatedstatements about

Johnson. One wrote: "He decided not-torun for another term becaUse of the split &damage his Vietnam policy caused." Another student stated "Althoughthere still are great many racial problems inthe U.S. he wasone of the first Presidents toattempt to make any great strides."

One paragraph is repeatedin its entirety:

L. B. Johnson: He inherited the presidencywhen Kennedy was assassinated. He was faced withmany problems among them the VietnamWar, inflation, and student rebellions. He is not thought ofas a great president, but considering theinsurmountable problems he faced, he could havebeen a much worse one. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Six students chose,DwightDavid Eisenhower and all

commented on his backgroundand *biography. Four. associated

Eisenhower with the secondWorld War and his militaryrank as a general. The commentswere: "I am also fascinated

that an army generalmade it to the seat ofthe supreme

commander"; and anotherwrote, "Dwight D eisenhowerwas a 3

star general in the UnitedStates Army previousto his

presidential term. During his timeas general he led the United States to victoryin WWII. Somehow he collected the ,

nickname Ike, during-hiscampaign he was widely knownby this nickname." One student stated, "Peopleremember himon our coinage and also stamps, I'mnot sure that's true of every president."

One student commentedregarding President Eisenhower's

integrity: "I feel'that hewas an upstanding individual; he

loved his country, foughtfor it and believedin it."

Four students madestatements regarding his leadership: "I believe Dwight D..Eisenhower to be the best presidentor best leader for any country"; "I feel that Eisenhowerwas a. good president"; and "Hehad the leadership thatthis country needed . . I think he wasgreat and gave the needed compassion to mankind."

One student was ambivalentin the evaluation: "This man was in no way an outstandingpresident, but during his

71 term he did more for thepeople (He kept them happy)than he did aga t them."

The student commentingregarding the president's

courage stated, "He seemed thathe had backboneor believes in his views."

Three students wroteregarding Eisenhower's public image: "Ike or presidentEisenhower sticks outin mind the most probably.. because of themovies I've watched concerning

his era and thesecond W.W."; "Havingbeen a general, people

looked up to himand listened to what hehad to say"; and "I also state this . . . because of hearing olderpeople, who were alive during his presidency,talk about him and his policies."

Two students wroteconcerning President Eisenhower's

value to thecountry: "I believe thathe was honestly

concerned about theAmerican people and wantedto work for the people to give them a better country"q and "Hisattitude

towards people and aboveall, life, are attitudesI, someday may see in a future president ofthe U.S.A."

74 Ulysses S. Grant

Four students chose UlyssesS. Grant.

They made the followingstatements about his biography

and background: he was elected because hewas a hero of the

Civil War; he likedto drink and smoke; and hewas a general.

One student felt thatMr.'Grant was a "pretty tough

president" but the othersfelt "he was politically naive"

specifically, that "while Grantwas quite obviously a leader of men he was not thetype of leader that worked comfortably

under the pressures--graringof White House bearcsay"and

that he "appointed friendshe had known from thewar and

before in reward for what hedid for, diem."

One student wrote of Grant'sdomestic accomplishments:

"The fouryears. he served was a time of markedcorruption like never before in history. Although not directly

involved, members of his cabinet& friends took advantage of

him--using him to excaperiargecorporate taxes and other

such forms of corruption, dealingwith governm,ent money."

Three of the four discussed Grant'spuillicimage. Two of them dealt with hisimage as a drinker and smoker. One student commented that hewas elected because of his popularity as a war hero andthat "he was largly critizedas a schemer and one.out to makea. buck at the peoples expense."

75 The paragraphs dealing withGrant were actually quite sophisticated, particularlyin comparing Grant to other

modern day presidents. For example: "For years to follow, I think the public becamemore aware of the qualities,

skills and abilities ittakes to be president. However, after World War II, theydid the same thing by voting

Eisenhower into office becauseof his military excellence."

ti Woodrow Wilson

Three students selected WoodrowWilson.

They chose him because theyfound him:either the "best

. president"or "very admirable." One student wrote that Wilson was adaptableto the nation's,contemporary

,industrialization. Two made statementsconcerning Wilson's participation. in World War I andcommented on his

willingness andeagerness to achieve a lastingpeace without

vindictiveness. Another felt that Wilson's valueto the

country was in his attempt to establishan "organization of the world countries."',Another,however, erred in attributing to him the purchase of:Alaska..

The following paragraphis an example of a well written

and sophisticatedcommentary relative to the Wilson presidency:.

I think Woodrow Wilsonwas the best president since 1865. I say this because hewas the only world leader in a world gone mad withwar fever who fought to keep his'cOuntry out of thatwar. When he could no longer keep the United States 'free ofthe conflict he sought to wina lasting peace, free of the vindictiveness ofour European allies. He saw far ahead of others the needfor an organization of the world countris and foughtto make this a- reality, despite his failing health. His work was impeded and finally destroyed bythe short-sighted men who oppossed him. It took another,more horrible war to prove the rightnessof his positions.

77 Andrew Johnson

Two students wroteon Andrew Johnson and their entire paragraphs are included:.

Andrew 'Johnson- I felt sorry for Andy. He may not have kept his campaignpromises and he may have made a few mistakes; but, I believe hesincerely tried to turn around the tide he hadstarted. The impeachment trials must havebeen a great humiliation, and hemust have went througha great period of helplessness. He went from beingan honored and powerfulman to a scared and helpless one. For. these reason PresidentAndrew Johnson was my favorite.

President Johnson becamepresident after Abe Lincoln was assignated in 1865. He carried onmany of Lincoln's plans althoughduring his reign therewere many conflicts concerning the rightof Blacks. He wanted (I think) to have equalrights for the blacks and that includes votingrights. During this time many many people disagreed, especiallythe Southerners and Republicanparty. Johnson was thee to witness the 14th and 15thAmendment which did give special rightsto Blacks. I think he hada lot to do with the ReconstructionPeriod and mainly with equal rights to the blacks. I feel he dida good job, and he tried hard. He was thougha very rude man to important people, he thoughta lot of himself.

78 Warren G. Harding

Two students wroteon Warren G. Harding; both paragraphs are interesting andare included in toto:

Warren Harding--Thisman has always interested meas a man who should not have been *president. Although he was presumably intelligentenough, He had apoor choise of friends that ledto his downfall. His administration wasas corrupt as any since Grant. Although Nixon certainlyout did most presidents it was not directly Hardings faultas it was Nixon's. He ran a front porchcampaign because of lack of campaign funds somore or less his fine appearance and lack of seriousopossition got him in. He was poorly advised by friends,taking adyantage of him. If I remember right heeven rejected honest help from people trying to advisehim because of his lack of good faith. Fortunately he governed ina time of prosperity with no major crises,domestic or abroad. Possibly with his lack ofleadership he could have truly brought thiscountry down had a major crises arose. I believe witha better cabinet and more common sense he could have at leastbeen a passable president. He rose to the top thanksto friends and ultimately they were his downfall. I believe the pressure that goes with the presidencycaused his death while in office. The scandals got the best of him.

I think the most uniquepresident the U.S. hasever had.is President Harding. On a scale of one to ten, with one being theworst & ten being best, I would say he rated about a -50 at least. The only reason Harding was ever put into officeis because he was so easily manipulated. He was quite the playboy although he was married. I don't believe hewas very bright - in fact, when askedto accept the candidacy for president, tiewas also asked if there was anything detramental in his backgroundthat might be bad for him. He said no . . . 5 minutes later he called his presentmistress and asked her if she thought they'd been discreetenough. Harding death is a rather big puzzle- no one knows for sure how he died. They said it was food poisoningbut it could have been deliberate.

79 Rutherford B. Hayes and CalvinCoolidge

Students were not impressedwith either Rutherford B.

Hayes or.Calvin Coolidge. One student each wroteon these presidents. Their rspective views ofPresidents Hayes and Calvin Coolidgeare listed below in their entirety:

I'm selecting thisPresident for thepurpose of showing people today thattodays Presidentsare not the only ones whowere manipulated by big business. This occurred during President'sGiant and Hayes terms more commonly knOwnas the "Spoils System" which was a phrasegiven to these men'sterms of how they were used by bigbusiness.

Of all the president's I'vestudied, Calvin Coolidge is by far the mostinsignificant. To my knowledge he never did anythingsignificant or anything of much importance. The only information Iknow about him comes from a researchpaper I-did on the twenties. As far as I know his nicknamewas appropriate--Silent Cal.

80 Students Who Did Not Followthe Directions

Seven studeats\ didnot follow the directions andwrote

either on a president whowas in office before 1865or wrote

on more more than one president. Two students wroteon Thomas Jefferion;one, student selected George Washington;

another wrote one paragraphon Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Kennedy; another wrotea paragraph on Franklin Roosevelt and

one,on John Kennedy; and,one student wrote a paragraphon no president.

81 Conclusion

An often reiterated cliché isthat America's future

depends upon its youth. For a societyas youth-oriented as

the United States, itis ironic that we havenot been as concerned about our children's educationas we might be. As a nation, we should be proud ofour historic traditions in providing a public,tax-supported education through high

school for every childregardless ofrace, sex* ethnic,

religious or socioeconomicbackground. Have we, however, in our pragmatic quest to "Americanize"and acculturate

millions of childrenemphasized quantity ratherthan quality?

Quantity rather than qualityis not the sole problem.

Diversification of curriculais another problem. In addition to /attemptingto educate every child in America,we have also imposedon the schools the respOnsibilityto teach, in additionto the three R's, such diversesubjects as drivers' education,marriage and the family,and health /exerdise classes.

As stated in "A Nationat Risk: The Imperative of

Educational Reform" the "secondaryschool curricula have been homogenized, diluted anddiffused to the point that they no longer havea central purpose. We have a cafeteria- \

style curricula in which theappetizers Rnd dessertscan

easily be mistaken for themain course.911. Should we be surprised or zllarmed, therefore, when ,

-graduates of our secondaryschools have little understanding

or appreciation of our history? Specifically, a critic states:

In 1969, about 88percent of graduating highschool seniors had taken history for credit;the current figure is running at40percent and emphatically is not hording at even that dismalfigure. Most of those who do take historytake American history, adjuring the study of WesternCivilization the

primary source ofour culture and morality . . . Implicitly concedingwe are raising up a nation of historical illiterates, thewonder folks at the New York State Education Departmenthave announced their intention to drophistory fromthe high school curriculum. ,; They want to replace it with courses that9fit the 'glove of specializationmore O snugly . .-."

With specialization studentsrarely understand the

broader or universal ramificationsof decisions. -Without

some understanding 0-f our history, it isimpossible to comprehend the problems of today,let alone the impact of current decisions on the future.

John D. Majuire, president of Claremont(California) University Center and GraduateSchool, and chair of the .

'U.S.Department of Education, NationalCommission on Excellence in Education, A Nationat Risk: The Imjerative for Educational Reform, ED 1.2;N2I, 1983. 2 Ross MacKenzie, "Schools Turn OutHistorical Illiterates," (Tribune CompanySyndicate), Omaha World Herald, June 10, 1983,p. 19.

81 Council for the IL,)vement of Liberal Education,a recently 'established organization ofthe Association of American

Colleges, states: "Virtuallyevery discipline has become

overspecialized. We have lost light ofthe broader moral,

ethical and culturaldimensions that help peopleto become flexible thinkers andgood citizens."3

Citizenship was atone time one of the mainpurposes of public education. How can theyoung men and women of the

1980'slearn to makeresponsible decisions at theballot box

if they have littleor no exposure to significanthistorical

markers such as the suffrageof women, the votingrights act, or the amendments to theConstitution?

Unfortunately, the term socialstudies is much likea

generic label, onenever knows what the curriculainvolves. Therefore, nationalintellectualization of educational reforms might. not insureincreased knowledgeabilityof American History and WorldHistory or guarantee increased

proficiency in critical thinkingand essay-writing.

History, critical t1.nking andessay-writing are

difficult to teach and difficultfor students to master.

For that reason, it is fareasier for teachers and students to include and too often emphasizethe "social" aspects of the "studies", i.e.,sociology, psychology, life

3"Educators: Liberal Arts Is a Disaster Area,"(The Los Angeles Times), SundayWorld-Herald., January 22, 1984, p. 23

84 experiences, and currentevents. -The educators who compiled

"A Nationat Risk" should perhaps haveadvocated the more

thorough-going reform ofmodifying social studiesincluding

more of history, rather thanemphasizing quantity- three

years of Social Studies. The "Five Basics" shouldbe:

English, History,Mathematics, Science andForeign

Languages; the emphasisfor all would becompetent r4 instruction by teachers and disciplinedstudy by students.

This article entitled,"Student Perceptions ofPost Civil War Presidents: A Survey Conductedat the University

of Nebraska at Omaha,1979-1981" demonstratesin

a specific manner students'factual knowledge of the

presidents,'- interpretiveanalysis of the presidencyand

essay-writing ability. Said study of thesuccess and

failure of freshman levelstudents at a large,midwestern,

urban, public universityin the above areas ofcompetency is an attempt to confirm or refute contemporary public,private

and media discussionsrelative to high schooleducational standards. To that extent, thisreport should be viewedas

only one aspect of thenational study of excellencein education.

The students whoseresponses comprise the body of this paper demonstrated a substantial bodyof knowledge concerning the post Civil Warpresidents. This is not to aay that individual paperswere not depressing to read- as 83 Iv

one student wrote, "I don't know anythingabout any

president- that's why I am taking this class." It is hard to believe that a student couldgain college entry with:so little knowledge ofour,presidents (the authors recognize

that it is possible thatthe person simply didnot wish to

write the paragraph). In some papers, students madeserious efforts to judge the worthor contributions of their chosen

president. What generally underminestheir attempt to

communicate about values istheir inability to writea

cohesive; grammaticallycorrect paragraph. It appears to the authors that the students'ideasare like chicks

breaking out of theegg - strugglingvery hard against a

difficult environmental impediment-the written English language.

What can be done to remedythissituation? First,

students desireto communicate theirideas, knowledge and

values but theycannot. Second, students obviously needa great deal moreexperience in writing.

The authors, however, donot believe that English

teachers should bear the soleresponsibility for improving

writing skills. Individuals learn to write bywriting not

just in English or history class,.butin every class.

Surprisingly there issome evidence that computersmay actually encourage and aid in the studyof writing.

Cotputers apparently communicatebetter in written English

84 than in spoken English. Word processorprograms are among

the most popular softwarepackages being sold today andmay

be one tool that willassist students in learningto write more effectively.

Since this inability ofstudents to communicate in

written English isa major problem of American society,the

solution should bemany faceted and creative. Thus, ifwe desire the "informed electorate"Jefferson recommendedas vitally necessaryto the republic,we must as individuals and as a society,come to terms with the problem. Let us begin now.