Presidents and Campaigns

Presidential Campaigns and Candidates
This site provides information on presidential campaigns dating back to 1960, campaign websites, and television ads from the present and the past.

American President
This website is geared toward teaching the history of the American presidency, primarily to high school students. The Presidency in History contains detailed biographies of each of the 43 past and present Presidents and First Ladies. The site also contains biographies of Cabinet members, staff, and advisers; timelines detailing significant events during each administration; and multimedia galleries to explore. The Presidency in Action delves into the function and responsibilities of the modern presidency. Here you will find detailed descriptions of the areas of presidential responsibility, updated organization charts, staff listings, and biographies of past and present staff and advisers.

Letters to the Next President 2.0
Letters to the Next President 2.0 (L2P 2.0) is a national project hosted by the National Writing Project and KQED that helps give young people a voice on issues that matter to them.  Middle and high school students are invited to choose an issue and write a letter about it to the next president.  The letter can be created in any format : text, video, audio, multimedia etc. Students post their letter to the L2P 2.0 platform where it is available for all students to explore.

The L2P 2.0 platform also hosts ideas for teachers as well as election-related curriculum resources.

American Experience – The Presidents
American presidents hold the most powerful office on earth and are found at the center of national and world events. In this award-winning collection from PBS, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE offers streaming documentaries on 10 American presidents. Also, biographies of every U.S. President, plus interviews, articles, photo galleries, timelines and teacher guides.

The US Presidency
PBS Learning Media provides a rich resource of the U.S. Presidency.  Students can learn about the duties and powers of the President and First Lady, read Presidential biographies, and access videos and primary sources.

 


Curriculum: Create a Candidate:

Students will research the stances on major policy issues held by both political parties, debate the issues from the point of view of one party, and create a hypothetical political candidate by developing a campaign strategy.

Download the Lesson Plan Here

 


Curriculum: Election 1912:

Students will research the candidates in the 1912 Presidential election and their stances on major policy issues and compare them to issues that are important to voters today. Students will also choose a nominee and develop a campaign button that will best represent the candidate and his ideas.

Download the Lesson Plan Here
Download the Worksheet Here