Semester II Final

Part A (1-8):

1. Before doing any research, I predict the three most highly ranked presidents in US history will be John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Abraham Lincoln, and the worst might be Richard Nixon.

2. After looking at the Presidential Historians Survey, a few names that have consistently been at the top of the list among the first four spots are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt. No two names have gone back and forth between the fourth and fifth spots because Theodore Roosevelt was ranked fourth all three times the survey was conducted (Truman was fifth in 2000 and 2009, Eisenhower was fifth in 2017).

3. Looking at the data from the survey, Dwight D. Eisenhower's ranking has increased each time the survey has been done, going from ninth in 2000 to eighth in 2009 to fifth in 2017.

The bottom three names on the list have remained constant with each survey, even as new presidents have been added to the list. From worst up the list, they are James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Franklin Pierce.

The largest jump in ranking between surveys was Ulysses S. Grant, as he went up ten spots on the list from 33rd to 23rd between 2000 and 2009.

4. The survey participants all seem to be well educated, as the page lists their respective universities (maybe where they are professors?), and many of their professions are lawyers, journalists, authors, and historians. I believe C-SPAN has included this data to show the legitimacy of their participants' education and knowledge of history, as questions about how informed and well-educated the participants were might be asked if this was not included. I think that by knowing the legitimacy of this survey's participants, it makes the results seem more accurate or at least more credible and reliable, and might even sway an average person's opinion on the presidents on the list.

5. The ten qualities used in the methodology for which the presidents were ranked are as following:

• "Public Persuasion"
• "Crisis Leadership"
• "Economic Management"
• "Moral Authority"
• "International Relations"
• "Administrative Skills"
• "Relations with Congress"
• "Vision/Setting An Agenda"
• "Pursued Equal Justice for All"
• "Performance Within the Context of His Times"

6. C-SPAN made each of the categories have an equal weighting in the survey, and they were added up to yield a total score.

7. If I was conducting the survey and wanted to weight some categories more than others, I would have "Performance Within the Context of His Times" as the most highly weighted one because I think that it shows truly how successful each president really was, taking in all factors that might have affected his presidency. The second most highly weighted category would be "Administrative Skills" because I believe that it is extremely important for a president to be in control of his administration and be able to have their respect and admiration. The third most highly weighted category would be "Public Persuasion" because earning the trust and admiration of the public is one of the most important things for every president to do, as the people are the ones who support them and truly have the power.

8. My initial predictions were not exactly right, but also were not too far away from the actual rankings by C-SPAN. I said Abraham Lincoln would be one of the three most highly ranked presidents, and he was ranked first in all three surveys. I also said John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan might be in the top three most highly ranked presidents, but they were only 8th and 9th, respectively, in 2017. I said that Richard Nixon might be the worst ranked president on the list, but he was actually 28th in 2017. I think I based my predictions off of popularity more than success initially, but my limited knowledge about the specificity of each person's presidency was also a factor.

Part B (9-10):

9. "On March 16 we celebrate the anniversary of James Madison's birthday. Madison, traditionally viewed as the Father of the United States Constitution, is also seen by many as a defender of open government. He once wrote, "[a] popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps, both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." In a similar vein, he asserted that "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge" is "the only Guardian of true liberty."
This is an excerpt from the Department of Justice's article entitled, "Celebrating James Madison and the Freedom of Information Act"

Paraphrase of James Madison Excerpt:
A well-liked government that does not have access to important, relevant information is bound to fail and/or be made into a mockery. People and governments who have access to the important knowledge and information will always be in power, never the people who have none. If people want to be self-empowered and rule over themselves, they have to gain the knowledge and information that is necessary because that knowledge yields power. Knowledge must be passed on over time and taught to people everywhere, because that will lead to liberty for those people.

10. " . . . [K]nowledge of our own history is essential in the making of Americans. The reasons for this belief may be summed up under four main heads. History makes loyal citizens because memories of common experiences and common aspirations are essential ingredients in patriotism. History makes intelligent voters because sound decisions about present problems must be based on knowledge of the past. History makes good neighbors because it teaches tolerance of individual differences and appreciation of varied abilities and interests. History makes stable, well-rounded individuals because it gives them a start toward understanding the pattern of society and toward enjoying the artistic and intellectual productions of the past. It gives long views, a perspective, a measure of what is permanent in a nation’s life. "
This is an excerpt from the American Historical Association's article entitled, "Chapter 2: Why Should Americans Know Their Own History?"

The two excerpts above are similar in the since that they are both discussing how important knowledge is to the people of a society. However, each excerpt contains different arguments for why this knowledge is so important. James Madison focuses on knowledge in general and says that knowledge and access to relevant information is important because it allows governments to come to and stay in power, people to become more self-governing, and people to create more liberty for themselves. The American Historical Association focuses more on knowledge of U.S. history and how that helps make people more loyal and patriotic, how it makes them better and more educated voters, how it makes them better and more tolerant members of their community and society, and how it makes them more well-rounded and appreciative of the past.
I think that Madison's excerpt is more relevant to knowledge in general and the pursuit of knowledge to gain power, while the American Historical Association's excerpt is more applicable to Americans who need help understanding why learning about the United States' past and history is so important and relevant in today's society. Both passages definitely underline the importance of the pursuit of knowledge and information, and how that learning can make someone a better person as well as help them become more powerful and self-reliant.

Part C (11-15):

11. I believe that I have become a much better researcher this year, as I have better learned how to use the sources that I find. Coming into this year, I really did not know what it meant to paraphrase something, which put me at a risk of accidentally plagiarizing someone's work. However, over the course of this year, I have learned how to properly use someone else's work, and have become much more skilled at effectively paraphrasing and summarizing, and can use either technique when the situation calls for it.
I have also become much better at keeping track of my research and using my log of sources and citations to my own benefit. At the beginning of the year, I would only have copied the link to the source for which I got my information, without any description or title, but throughout the year, I have learned how to title each source, how to hyperlink them to the website that I got the information from, and how to provide a detailed annotation of each source that describes how that specific source helped me in my research. This really helped me to become more organized in my research, and I was able to keep track of which sources I used, what information and notes I gathered from those sources, and why each source was important in my research.

12. Looking back on my film-history blog posts, I am most proud of the menu that I created for my event. I think that I was very detailed and creative for that part of the project, and spent a lot of time perfecting and giving reasoning for each item on the menu. I think that I was able to think outside of the box and come up with applicable but fun foods and drinks that fit the situation of my White House Lock-In event very well. This menu took me a lot of time, but it was also really fun to make connections and use symbolism with the food to represent the themes of my event and movie. It made me think deeply about the underlying tones that the Cuban Missile Crisis and the movie Thirteen Days really contained, and pour all of those ideas out into the foods that are seen on my menu.

13. I think that the work that Lily did on her film-history blog posts was extremely informative and engaging. I think that all five blog posts were well-done and creative, but her in-class write was my favorite. She elegantly discussed her topic and movie, comparing and contrasting the two very well. She explained that the movie was not truly about the details of the Watergate Scandal itself, but rather about President Nixon's role in the scandal, how the nation reacted to the situation, and how the American people saw Nixon during and after the scandal came out. In her writing, she showed both knowledge of her event, as well as the detailed manner in which she watched and critically observed the film. I also really like how Lily chose to spend the hypothetical 20 extra minutes of the film, because instead of just adding on to the themes that were already in the movie, she wanted to add the U.S. people's opinions and view of Nixon before the scandal happened to explain that he was actually pretty well-liked and why that was. She used her knowledge of the broader situation that was not included in the movie to make a great suggestion about a potential addition to the film.

14. “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” - John F. Kennedy
This quote by John F. Kennedy is inspirational to me for a few different reasons. Firstly, because I watched the film Thirteen Days and focused on the Cuban Missile Crisis for my film-history blog posts, I feel like I understand that historical event and the mindset of JFK a little bit better. I think that this quote really reflects the details of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as Kennedy and his advisors had to make bold and daring decisions in order to come up with solutions to the crisis. If they had not done this, and had simply stood by or took a "diplomatic" approach that involved doing nothing, the crisis might have ended in the disaster of nuclear war as opposed to the resolution and peace that actually occurred. I also like this quote because it speaks to the importance of taking risks and being courageous in life. I think that it talks about the importance of not letting fear and worry hold you back from being bold and taking action, because complacency will only yield more severe repercussions in the long run.

15.

This is a picture of people immigrating into the U.S. through Liberty Island. I chose this image to represent the immigration that occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries, and all the families that came to American through places like Ellis and Liberty Island. I think that immigration is an important topic for my exhibit because of all the work we did this year about how immigration has changed and evolved from its early form in the 19th century to modern immigration in today's society. 

This is a picture of President John F. Kennedy's Executive Committee (called the ExComm) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I chose this image due to my focus on this topic in my last project, and the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis that I learned so thoroughly about. This picture represents the stress and duress that the president and his advisors were under during the crisis, and how they had to rush to come up with possible solutions to the nuclear missiles in Cuba.

This is a picture of President Abraham Lincoln alongside some Union soldiers during the Civil War. I chose this image because I think it represents Lincoln's leadership and personal involvement in the Civil War, as well as his fight for the abolition of slavery. He was not just fighting against the Confederacy, but also the immoral ideas such as slavery and injustice, which he tried his best to resolve through acts such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.