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Presidential History Research Project

Preparing a research project on an American president is a good way to get to know more about American political history, but you can also find out lots of interesting facts about our country's leaders. The websites below will help you find reliable and useful information so that you can build a project that will be fun to share with your friends and family. By the time you finish your research, you will become an expert on a chapter in American history.

Step One: Getting the Big Picture

The United States White House holds biographies on each American president that describe their personal backgrounds, their rise to the Presidency, and their contributions to American policy. Visit the website below and find your President's biography. Then answer the following questions:

1. In what period did he serve as president?
2. Where did he come from?
3. What was his educational background?
4. What kind of jobs did he have that helped him prepare to be President?

Official White House Presidential History

http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/presidents/

Step Two: Digging Deeper

Having a strong sense of your President's basic biography will help you prepare to learn more about the significance of their term in the oval office. These two sites include in-depth information on the big events and policy decisions that involved your President. It is important to include this information in your report because it will help to complete the story of your President's role in American History. Search the sites below and read more about your President. Information on these websites will help you answer these questions:

1. Name two big events during your Presidents' term in office.
2. How did the President participate in these events?
3. Was he popular or unpopular because of his Presidential decisions?
4. What is the most important thing your President did in office?

C-Span portraits, trivia, and articles about Presidential History

http://www.americanpresidents.org/

PBS website with summaries of Presidential foreign policy, domestic policy, and presidential popularity

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/index.html

Step Three: Adding Color to your Presidential History

Now that you've got the big stuff out of the way and have found all you need to know about your President's background, family life, professional career, political policies, it's time to add some interesting details that most other people would not know about your President. These details will make your project more exciting and add some fun to the serious business of Presidential history. The sites below will help you find this type of information so that you can answer the following questions:

1. Describe something about your President that very few people know.
2. Did your President have any pets or hobbies?
3. What political party did your President belong to?
4. List one famous quote from your President.

Presidential trivia and fun facts for kids

http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/index.html

Extensive list and explanation of presidential campaign slogans http://www.presidentsusa.net/campaignslogans.html

Step Four: Picturing Your Presidential History

Because your project should include photographs or drawings of your President and important events in his history, the sites below are included to help you find images useful for your Presidential research project. Some of these sites include typical Presidential portraits, but some also include more bizarre images. Visit the sites below and choose two images that will help you tell the story of your President's term in office.

This collection from the Library of Congress is best searched by clicking the link below, then selecting the "Search by Keyword" tab. Type your President's last name in the Search box and click "Search". You will find a wide variety of images for nineteenth and twentieth century Presidents.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/odmdhtml/preshome.html

If you have a President who served after 1910, you may find a photo of him on this website enjoying a baseball game or throwing the ceremonial first pitch for his favorite team.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/baseball/photoessay/01.html

Step Five: Putting It All Together

Now that you have all your biographical information, political information, trivia information, and visual information, it's time to put it all together in a format that's easy to understand. Use ideas from past projects to decide what the best format is for you and have fun building your project. You are now an expert on your President and will be able to share random facts about your President's life and his significant contributions to American History. Congratulations!

Email questions or comments to: Katherine Morrissey