American Presidency (Group 2)
This course will explore the history of the American presidency from George Washington until the present day.
Requirements
- Research Paper: 50%
- Participation: 30%
- Study Questions/Supplementary Reading: 20%
Books
- Joyce Appleby, Thomas Jefferson
- Jean Baker, James Buchanan
- H.W. Brands, Traitor to His Class
- James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn, George Washington
- John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson
- Robert Dallek, Lyndon Johnson
- John Farrell, Nixon: The Life
- David Herbert Donald, Lincoln
- Forrest McDonald, The American Presidency
- Tim Naftali, George H.W. Bush
- Brooks Simpson, The Reconstruction Presidents
- James Traub, John Quincy Adams
Contact:
email: kcjohnson9@gmail.com
cell: 207-329-8456
office hours: via Zoom
Schedule
Week 1: Introduction
- Forrest MacDonald, The American Presidency
Week 2: Washington
Burns and Dunn, George Washington
Reviews: Aleena
Week 3: Jefferson
Appleby, Jefferson
Reviews: Nicholas
Supplementary: John Ferling, John Adams (Daniel)
Week 4: J.Q. Adams
Traub, John Quincy Adams
Reviews: Dylan
Supplementary: HW Brands, Andrew Jackson, pp. 363-528 only (Jonathan)
Week 5: Buchanan
Baker, James Buchanan
Reviews: Malkah
Supplementary: Walter Bornman, Polk (Dylan)
Week 6: Lincoln
Donald, Lincoln
Reviews: Gloria
Supplementary: David Stewart, Impeached (Aleena)
Week 7: Reconstruction
Simpson, Reconstruction Presidents
Reviews: Daniel
Supplementary: Robert Merry, President McKinley (Nicholas)
Week 8: Course Paper–Proposal
Week 9: Wilson
Cooper, Woodrow Wilson
Reviews: Jonathan
Supplementary: Henry Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt (Ken)
Week 10: FDR
Brands, Traitor to His Class
Reviews: Ken
Supplementary: Martin Fausold, The Presidency of Herbert Hoover (Malkah)
Week 11: LBJ
Dallek, Lyndon Johnson
Reviews: Aleena
Supplementary: James Giglio, The Presidency of John F, Kennedy (Gloria)
Week 12: Nixon
Farrell, Nixon
Reviews: Nicholas
Week 13: Bush I
Naftali, George H.W. Bush
Reviews: Malkah
Week 14: Presidency in the Contemporary Era
KC Johnson 