Fairfax Network | Shaping the Presidency

Shaping the Presidency

October 23, 2008 from 1-2 p.m. (ET)

for Students in Grades 8-12

To order a free DVD for your school
(1 per school), please send the request on school letterhead to:
Fairfax Network

4414 Holborn Avenue

Annandale, VA 22003.

This program is produced
in partnership with
George Washington’s
Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens,
through a generous grant from the
Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

In 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected the first President of the United States by the newly formed Electoral College. He was elected for a second term in 1792.

As the 2008 Election Day approaches, our panel of guests will look back at how Washington had a profound impact on defining the office of the president. The panelists will also discuss how campaigning, the election process and the role of the media affected early presidential candidacies, and how those influences have evolved.

The panelists will include Joseph J. Ellis, the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College and award-winning author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award winner for American Sphinx. He is joined by Cokie Roberts, author of the best-selling book Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation and Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation, and John P. Riley, former historian at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens and present director of education and scholarship programs at the White House Historical Association.

The Shaping the Presidency Teaching Unit, from the Mount Vernon Education Department, is a compilation of lesson plans based on primary documents.

American Experience: The Presidents
Companion web site to the PBS series
The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
An online exhibition with an interactive timeline of presidents, hands-on activities, reference resources, teacher materials, and more
American President: An Online Reference Resource
A collection of material about the Presidents of the United States and the history of the presidency
eLections
A nonpartisan election simulation game developed by Cable in the Classroom in partnership with CNN and The History Channel
The Learning Page—Community Center— Elections
An lection thematic resource with a variety of sources focusing on the election process
The White House Historical Association Classroom
Facts and educational resources about the presidents and about the White House
Who Are Our Greatest Presidents?
A lesson plan to help students use the analytical method to compare presidents