~ The Presidency ~

1.) What makes a great President (not which presidents have been great)... what qualities are essential to greatness? Why?

I think it takes a number of things to make a great president. In addition to the overall obvious qualities of being honest, trustworthy, caring, and having good basic moral qualities, I think the top reason a president would be great is his ideas and vision on policy, especially domestic policy. He needs to be open to what the people need and willing to be flexible in making policy decisions that affect the lives of the common people majority. I also think he needs to be smart when making use of his executive powers and making decisions about new and additional laws. He needs to be aware of the Constitutional rights that citizens are granted and form and develop laws around them so that the rights and liberties given to the people in the Constitution are not taken away. I think another thing that determines a president's greatness is his ability to communicate. Without good communication skills, he will not be able to convey a good message to the American people about his policy ideas. He must be a good communicator, either tot the citizens of the United States or in chambers at Congress. He must also be a good negotiator. Without negotiation skills, a president would not be able to convey his message or point to anyone, and would not be able to gain the public support he needs to win a a seat in the Oval Office. He also needs to be a good listener. He needs to listen to what the people think is important, so that he can figure out a way to help the American people when issues arise that need a response of some sort. These are just a few of the things I think make a president great. There are many others I could list.

2.) Other than Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, which two presidents have been the greatest and why?

For the first, I choose Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was a liberal Republican President, but he did so much when he entered office and served his terms, from 1953 until 1961, foreign and domestically.
On the domestic front Eisenhower expanded the Social Security program and he continued New Deal agencies in an effort to get the American economy back on track. He was effective in showing strong economic growth in this country throughout most of his presidency, except in 1958-59, when a small recession hit. He launched the Interstate Highway system. He also created DARPA , Defense Advancement Research Project Agency, which lead to the creation of the internet. He was successful with social issues. He signed civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 to protect the right to vote. He sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce federal court orders to desegregate public schools. He implemented desegregation of the armed forces in two years time and he made five appointments to the Supreme Court throughout his terms as President.
In foreign policy efforts, Eisenhower waged a war against Communism, Korea and corruption. In his first year as president he disposed of the Iranian coup and used nuclear threats against Korea in order to end the war with China. He implemented a New Look policy which gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons and brought about a huge reduction in funding to the military. Congress also passed his Formosa Resolution which enabled him to prevent Chinese Communist aggression against Chinese nationalist's and established a policy that the U/S would help defend Taiwan. Eisenhower also forced Israel, the UK, and France to end their invasion of Egypt during the Suez crisis of 1956. For the most part, the world saw peace during his years in office. Being an experienced five-start general in the Army during World War II and also being the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe gave him the edge of experience he needed in order to handle foreign issues and bring about more peaceful times.

Ulysses S Grant was my second choice as a great president. He was referred to as a Radical Republican. Grant was a war general at the end of the second half of the Civil War. he led the Union Army to defeat the Confederate Army in order to help put an end to slavery and Confederate nationalism. As president he led his party in eliminating slavery and Confederate nationalism. President Grant worked effectively to put an end to the Ku Klux Klan and protecting African-American citizenship. Grant was the first president to establish civil service reform and created a two-year federally funded Civil Service Commission in 1871. Grant's two consecutive terms as President stabilized the nation after the American Civil War and during the turbulent Reconstruction period that followed. He enforced Reconstruction by enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Klan violence. Grant won passage of the Fifteenth Amendment; giving constitutional protection for African American voting rights. He used the army to build the Republican Party in the South, based on black voters, Northern newcomers and native white supporters. As a result,  African Americans were represented in the U.S. Congress for the first time in American history in 1870.  Grant's Indian peace policy broke deadlock on Indian appropriations in Congress, with the creation of the Board of Indian Commissioners to make reform recommendations, that effectively curbed Congressional backing. Grant remained determined in keeping Indians from being exterminated from white settler encroachment or by the U.S. military. Grant's reputation as president by 1875 was at an all-time high for his previous veto of the Inflation Bill, the passage of the Resumption of Specie Act, and Secretary Bristow's successful raids that shut down the Whiskey Ring.

3.) Research a president that you're not previously familiar with-- List at least three things you learned. Was this President effective? Why or why not?

My president of choice to research was Harry S. Truman.


As a boy, Truman was interested in music, reading, and history, all encouraged by his mother, with whom he was very close—as president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her. He got up at five every morning to practice the piano, which he studied twice a week until he was fifteen. Truman was a page at the 1900 Democratic National Convention at Convention Hall in Kansas City. His father had many friends who were active in the Democratic Party and helped young Harry to gain his first political position.
After graduating from Independence High School in 1901, Truman worked as a timekeeper on the Santa Fe Railroad, sleeping in hobo camps near the rail lines. He then worked at a series of clerical jobs, and was employed briefly in the mail-room of the Kansas City Star. He returned to the Grand-view farm in 1906, where he remained until entering the army in 1917.
Truman is the most recent U.S. president to not have earned a college degree. When his high school friends went off to the state university in 1901, Truman enrolled in Spalding's Commercial College, a Kansas City business school, but only remained a semester. In 1923–25 he took night courses towards a law degree at the Kansas City Law School (now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law), but dropped out after losing his government job.


Upon assuming the presidency, Truman asked all the members of FDR's cabinet to remain in place, and told them that he was open to their advice, but laid down a central principle of his administration: he would be the one making decisions, and they were to support him.
In order to end the World War II, Truman authorized the atomic bombing of Japan. Although it was not known how devastating the explosions and the aftermath would be, Truman always stated that his decision to bomb Japan saved life on both sides; military estimates for an invasion of the Japanese home islands were that it could take a year and result in 250,000 to 500,000 American casualties. He also knew that the program could cost $2 billion, and so he was not inclined to forgo an alternative that might quickly end the war. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6 and Nagasaki on the 9th. When the Japanese were still slow to surrender, Truman ordered a massive conventional air raid on Tokyo for August 13; Japan agreed to surrender the following day.
I think for the most part that the Truman Presidency was a successful presidency because what the American people really wanted at that time was for the War to be over. Truman was successful in being able to do this.

**On a side note... In reading about Mr. Truman, there was so much information available and I only included a highlight about the main issue. I learned much more about this president. Very interesting assignment.

** Blog Comments**
Brandi Lively
William Richardson
Albert Munoz