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Use the following links, or others, to access webpages discussing presidential rankings. The first link shows an aggregate of presidential rankings. You will use these to compare/contrast the 3 best and 3 worst presidents. Your goal is to find out what similarities they have that may lead to more or less successful presidencies.
Things to consider:
- Do they share certain characteristics? These would include: excellent decision-making skills, family connections, education, selection of a good/bad group of advisors, the ability/inability to keep the public calm, etc.
- Was their legacy shaped by circumstances around them? For example: Were they president during a major conflict? Did they cause a major conflict or inherit it? What was the economy like during their presidency? Do we tend to rate presidents higher because they helped steer our country through major crises and rate lower those who did not have any major incidents during their presidency? Are they rated high or low because of who they preceded or followed? For example, does Lincoln receive a bump because he followed Buchanan?
You must explain how their presidency was successful/unsuccessful based on international events, economy, inspirational ability, adaptability to new situations, and morality/ethics. -- Suggestion: Put a finishing paragraph/section where you list good/bad character examples.
If you want to narrow it down and have a little fun with it, you can focus on certain types of presidents. For example: left-handers, former generals, Democrats, Republicans, Pre-1900, Under 60, presidents with facial hair, presidents who were shot or shot at, presidents who were exactly 6' tall, presidents named "James", repeat names (Bush, Harrison, Adams, Roosevelt, Johnson), etc.
If you choose to do so, there is a list further down on the page that ranks presidents based on categories such as "Luck", "Leadership Ability", "Intelligence", "Domestic Accomplishments", etc. You may focus on one of these to rank your presidents, as well.
Finally, which POTUS would you say is the most underrated? This must be a president that you did not include on either list. For this president, you must create some sort of presentation (2 minutes or so) that explains why we should remember them more. Additional information about this is at the bottom of the page.
I would strongly encourage you to not rank your list based on the aggregate and simply state that your top three are FDR, Lincoln, and Washington. You may include one or two of these on your list, but I will take into account creativity on your final grade. Those that venture further from the norm may see it reflected in their grade.
Presidential Historians Survey 2017
Miller Center of Public Affairs
https://bleedingh3art.wordpress.com/2007/02/09/five-traits-of-a-good-president/
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/28/opinion/opinion-presidential-greatness/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice2004/leadership/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29216774/#.VQBmo2R4rCt
http://legacy.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/Overall-Ranking.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=007xg-e59DM
You may choose to do this on thinglink.com, and it will make it much more interesting.
Here's my example from '80s superstar DEBBIE GIBSON!!!!!
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