No, I think the primary obligation of the president is to lead the
country. He is the executive of the executives. He holds power in balance
with the Congress and the Judiciary. His jobs are many: Chief Legislator,
Chief Diplomat, Chief executive, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces,
and so forth. I think my student's government book lists about 8 broad
responsibilities of the President. Of course, the textbook is about the
constitution and government now, not 1860-65. I have a downloaded copy of
the constitution on my hard drive for quick reference.
As for Virginia SOLs on history and social sciences, the
constitution is taught in 8th and 12th grades. Harriet Tubman is taught in
2nd grade, Sojourner Truth is in one of the elementary lists, and Marion
Barry is not in the Virginia SOLs. And, yes, children do remember
interesting stories better than government documents.
Is this discussion going anywhere or is it just a bunch of
personal viewpoints being aired and challenged?
Anne
At 02:44 PM 2/26/03 -0500, you wrote:
> Lincoln's primary obligation was to defend and protect the
>Constitution, not to use the military power of his office to push the
>political agenda of his cabinet. I assume that as a public school teacher
>you are at least somewhat familiar with the Constitution? It's an old
>document with a bunch of amendments housed down at the National Archives a
>couple blocks from here.
>
> I would respectfully suggest that you go over it with your classes
>sometime. I am surprised it is not an absolute requirement of the
>educational system that students are at least as familiar with it as the
>lives of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Marion Barry.
>
>JDS
>
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Anne Pemberton
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