Working with 5th grade students, the topic of Presidents has been a hot topic with the class due to the recent election of Barack Obama. They've learned about all the Revolutionary War era presidents (especially Adams, very underrated) as well as the next couple, and are closing in on the Civil War era.
In addition, a few random figures throughout time have received a lot of attention. One of which is Teddy, whom I champion as the greatest President ever (in my opinion) as well as Bush and clinton, being the two most recent.
But the last one is Richard Nixon. A couple students in the class argue "You know, he wasn't all that bad of a president, he did some good things" which is entirely correct. In fact, he did a lot of extremely positive things that would of held him in higher approval today than Reagan had it not been for Watergate imo. Watergate, as it was...was it even THAT bad? I was not alive back then, so perhaps I do not fully grasp the significance of the issue, or have missed something. I understand that Nixon oversaw a breakin and spying covert on the democrats. But was this actually worse than say, Andrew Jackson, a president whom people like, sending tens of thousands of Indians packing west to Oklahoma, many of which died on route? Or his massive slavery ring/pro slavery mindset? Really?
Either history has Nixon completely mislabeled and Watergate is blown way out of proportion, or I am missing something. Help me out here
In addition, a few random figures throughout time have received a lot of attention. One of which is Teddy, whom I champion as the greatest President ever (in my opinion) as well as Bush and clinton, being the two most recent.
But the last one is Richard Nixon. A couple students in the class argue "You know, he wasn't all that bad of a president, he did some good things" which is entirely correct. In fact, he did a lot of extremely positive things that would of held him in higher approval today than Reagan had it not been for Watergate imo. Watergate, as it was...was it even THAT bad? I was not alive back then, so perhaps I do not fully grasp the significance of the issue, or have missed something. I understand that Nixon oversaw a breakin and spying covert on the democrats. But was this actually worse than say, Andrew Jackson, a president whom people like, sending tens of thousands of Indians packing west to Oklahoma, many of which died on route? Or his massive slavery ring/pro slavery mindset? Really?
Either history has Nixon completely mislabeled and Watergate is blown way out of proportion, or I am missing something. Help me out here
Comment