For those of you looking for an extra credit opportunity, please read on...
With Barack Obama ready to take office on January 20, 2009 and much at stake, he is studying up on American History (just like you guys) to find a creative approach to the enormous challenges he will inherit quite soon. He is looking to one of his political role models another tall, skinny guy from Illinois - - Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Presidential Cabinet included many of his political rivals, whom Lincoln purposely chose to help balance his viewpoints.
Your task is to read through each of these articles and answer the following questions:
1. Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
2. Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
3. How do you think this strategy will fare?
The articles: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/21/will_lincolns_team_of_rivals_play_today/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97327744&ft=1&f=1001
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-team-of-rivalsnov15,0,5009913.story
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1815849,00.html
Make sure to cite specific examples from: the articles, what we have covered in class, and the news.
Worthy postings (that thoroughly answer the questions, cite specific information, and present critical thought) can earn up to 15 points toward their total points earned (the numerator) of their second quarter grade!
Posting must be completed by Tuesday December 2nd, 2008 and no later.
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17 comments:
Is this approach what the country needs right now to get back on track? How do you think this strategy will fare?
Having a “team of rivals” in the presidential cabinet has been said to be both a good thing and a bad thing. I believe that this approach is overall a good thing, but also has some flaws. The main thing that it will do for the cabinet is provide Obama with differing opinions and views. Having every member of the cabinet agree with and blindly follow Obama’s decisions will only make improvements go so far. The biggest disagreeing member that Obama elected is Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Through the democratic nomination process Obama and Clinton were at odds and had very differing opinions. However, electing Sen. Clinton as Secretary of State will provide Obama with the foreign policy experience that he was criticized as lacking during the nominations. The downside to this strategy is that having previous enemies working for the same cause could become frustrating and even make it more hinder than help. The Boston Globe article pointed out that "The Cabinet dynamics were kind of poisonous," under the Lincoln administration and Obama choosing to mimic those actions could be disastrous. I think that overall that Obama’s choice could be very beneficial for the country and could help in many ways. I also think however that there will be a lot of disagreements and negative press about the decision.
Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
I would say that the challenges we are currently facing are just about equal to the ones Lincoln had to face. The reason I believe that the challenges are equal is because they were different. President Lincoln had to face the major challenge of the entire nation being divided and at war with itself. The country was very close to collapsing in on itself due to completely differing views on how it should be run. Obama has to deal with the issues of foreign war, a broken economy, and trying to get the nation back on track after two less favored presidential terms.
Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
This approach is what we need right now because it is creative and it will help Obama make the best choices regarding the country because he has to consider all of the options. By choosing members of different parties and members of different political beliefs, it will force him to look at all of the aspects and all the ideas concerning Americans when making a critical decision with what to do with our country. This will help get us back on the right track and stay on the right track for a better future for the American people. What I don’t agree with on this approach is Obama has not chosen enough of his political allies to help him. If he had some of his political allies as well as some political rivals, he will be sure to maintain control over his political rivals if they should go astray in any goals they are trying to accomplish for the country.
Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
The challenges that we are facing are about equal with the challenges Lincoln had to face. Lincoln had a civil war and he had to put the union back together. Obama has to deal with two foreign wars, a collapsing economy and a country that has just come out of a not-so-good two term president, and is looking for improvement, not just change, because change can be good or bad, but only improvement can bring about a desired result that America needs. The improvement that America needs is in the economy, in the two wars we are fighting and we need to blur the line between the two major political parties we have. What President Bush did with his cabinet was, he surround himself with “yes people”, meaning, he made sure everyone in his cabinet would say yes to every action he did. This created a huge political rift in the two parties and divided America in half. One of Obama’s greatest challenges is blurring this divide enough so that we still have a two party system and we are staying unified as a country.
How do you think this strategy will fare?
I think this strategy will be very good for America and the American people. Lincoln is remembered as the greatest president we have ever had because he was a brilliant man in being able to lecture and knowing when to attack his enemies when it would hurt them most. That is how he won the Civil War and glued the country back together. If president elect Barack Obama can follow in Lincolns footsteps, and bring our country out of two foreign wars, rebuild our economy in a safe way that wont cripple us in the future, and bring back the morale of the American people to where it was when we founded this country, I think he may become an even better president than Abraham Lincoln was and he may even be re-elected. I think Obama’s strategy is very good and with it he has a very good chance of succeeding.
Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on track?
I think is what the country needs right now. From the times article Obama says that americans are pragmatic. He is looking for a practical approach to put the best people in the white house whether they are republican or democratic. Having people in the white house who have different outlooks and views than Obama will give him a wide range of opinions on different topics. Its said to help balance the white house by having different people in it. If the white house was full of people with the same outlook it might has well only be run by one person. With a variety of people it helps to get different views and hopefully help turn the country around.
Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
Even though the problems Lincoln had to face are different than the ones Obama will face I think they are quite close in difficulty. Lincoln had to deal with a country at war with itself because of different views . He also had reconstruction to deal with after the devastation of the Civil War. The challenges Obama has to face are no only reconstructing our own countrys economy but he has a lot of foreign affairs to deal with. With all the other country's Obama has to deal with I think his challenges are larger because he does not only have to rebuild his own country, but also other and make them happy again.
How do you think this strategy will fare?
Every American hopes this strategy will work out and our country will be back on its feet in no time. In all seriousness I think this plan has a pretty decent chance of working. With all the varieties of opinions from both democrats and republicans in office I think everything will balance out and most decisions made in office will be good ones.
Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?___________________________________
I think that Barack's approach to fixing things is a great idea. Taking the idea that one of America's greatest presidents chose that worked seems like it would be a viable choice. With all of his former opponents keeping him on his toes with their decisions there are going to be a lot of great ideas. That and the fact that it would be very interesting to see what decisions they make together.
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Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
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I think that the challenges we are facing are a little less than what Lincoln had to deal with. I mean sure, we have a lot of problems now, but Lincoln kind of had to deal with keeping an entire country together. Obama has to fix the financial problems which is in fact a big feat to accomplish, but he doesn't have to save the entire country from splitting apart and causing wars.
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How do you think this strategy will fare?
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I think that this plan won't work very well in the beginning but after everybody warms up to it I think that the strategy will work wonders on the country. It's basically a huge system of great checks and balances that will make sure that every plan is completely thought out before anything is put into play.
The approach that Obama is taking to choose his cabinet is showing how impartial he is to history and how Lincoln solved the slavery problem. This approach could be what the country needs to get it on track. If Obama does this, there will be many different ideas for debate on these subjects. However, this idea could also make it so that the cabinet and the president can’t agree on how they react to certain situations.
I think that the challenges that Obama is facing are much harder than the problems that Lincoln had to face because if he decides to pull the troops from the Middle East then their countries could collapse and then we would have to deal with that as well. Even though the idea of slavery is difficult for the president to make, the war right now seems to be more important to our survival than slavery and secession was.
I think that if Obama does less than half of his cabinet in the way that Lincoln did then it will work out for the better. But if he does more than that, he will be pushing the separation of ideas in that branch of government.
1) Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
I think that having an approach such as the “team of rivals” one is what the country needs to get back on the right track. It will most likely be very difficult having different opinions working together with President Elect Barack Obama, but in the long run I think it will work out in the country’s favor. Having opposing people in the Cabinet will force Barack Obama to look at all of the options. By having people from different parties he will be able to look at everyone’s ideas and where they are coming from. If Obama chose people that had the same views as him, it would be difficult for the country to move forward, because there would only be one way of doing things. The President would only see one idea or view on the event taking place. In the Times article, Obama mentions how he is interested in how Lincoln hired all of the Republicans that ran against him for President in his war Cabinet. He also states how he thinks he should “not let [his] ego or grudges get in the way of hiring absolutely the best people.” This is good for a President to realize, because having a more variety of people would result in more opinions that could make a huge impact on the country.
2) Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
In my opinion the challenges we are currently facing today are somewhat the same to the ones Lincoln had to fix. They are a little different, but are still close in difficulty. President Lincoln had to deal with the Civil War and the reconstruction of the union after it had ended. President Elect Barack Obama is going to have to deal with foreign wars, a collapsing economy, and the effects of two-terms of a not so favored president.
3) How do you think this strategy will fare?
This strategy will hopefully work for the better of the country. It definitely has potential and I think with all of the different views on the problems that the country is facing, it has an even better chance of working.
The approach of Obama gaining a political adversary as an approach towards what is best for the country right now-well, I really don't think it's what we need right now-not now; and not ever. They call it having a "team of rivals" but really it's just a cover for the truth-a disaster. Some people say that the movement would "alienate Obama's allies." They are probably right, but I guess we will never know unless we try it right? How about... not. Inviting Hilary back into the picture is just asking fro trouble. There's a reason that she wasn't elected for president. Besides, allowing Hilary into the cabinet would also be open doors for Bill Clinton and his... well, you know-his ways. This is not what our country needs, especially not right now.
The challenges that we are facing are mountainous, but probably not as large as the ones that Lincoln was faced with in his time. Yeah sure we have problems with gas, war, and the economy. Lincoln was faced with the destruction of the entire civil war, and the reconstruction of the country. Imagine putting all of that on Obama's shoulders-he would get squashed. We might be dealing with the war and the issues on the other side of the globe, but it's not our country that is absolutely dismantled. We might have problems, but Lincoln's were worse.
As for how the strategy will fare... I'm not really sure. I guess it all really depends on what happens. It depends on whether or not this "team of rivals" approach falls through. As far as I see it the damage probably won't be permanent and four years is not a lot of time in the long run. in the long run, I guess it really doesn't matter anyways, but for now... this approach could mean big trouble.
1. Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
I think the country needs the “team of rivals” right now. We need a leader that will look at both sides of the spectrum. We also need strong and fully thought out plans to get the United States back on track. Knowing that it will be difficult at times with the different opinions, Barack Obama still decided to go through with the idea. With the variety of opinions offered to him, it forces him to look at every option. In the TIME article Obama said, "I want people who are continually pushing me out of my comfort zone." He knows a good leader needs strong and influential people under him to help make decisions instead of having one outlook on a problem. Many leaders or people in power don’t realize this, they want people to agree and accept their ideas as true no matter what.
2. Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
I believe the challenges are very similar. Lincoln had to deal with the Civil War and Reconstruction and Obama has to deal with our decreasing economy, foreign affairs. They both deal with a weakening America and the possibility of defeat in our society. Let alone these problems Obama also has to convince the American people that he will be a stronger leader then a previous unpopular presidency.
3. How do you think this strategy will fare?
I believe this strategy will work for the country. It has worked for similar past situations so we just need to believe it will. We also need to support Obama and his eagerness to better the country.
1. Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
I think that this approach of a “Team of Rivals” will help get the country back on track because it will give the government more then just a few different ideas on certain subjects. Back when Lincoln was president he had a “team of rivals” in congress and look what he did, he ended slavery, saved the union, and won the war. Now obviously the country isn’t in the same predicaments that it was back when Lincoln was president, but we still have a lot of problems in the country right now that need to be resolved. Also even if it worked for Lincoln, it might not necessarily work for Obama because they are different people with different ideas and have different people working for them, but still I think that Obama is making a good decision with what he’s doing in getting “rivals” into congress together.
2. Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
The current challenges that the United States is facing right now are pretty bad because of the two foreign wars going on and the economy going downhill, so I feel as though the problems now are equal to what Lincoln had to deal with when he was president. When Lincoln was president he had to deal with a civil war in his own country and then after the war was over he had to rebuild the Union. On top of all of the reconstruction, he had to deal with slaves whom he ended up freeing, but then he had to figure out what to do with all of the slaves that were now free. I feel that the biggest issue that Lincoln had to deal with was the fact that the Union was fighting each other and the fact that they were so divided, and he had to try and fix all of it. Something that Obama doesn’t have to necessarily deal with is changing the country because I think that our country doesn’t need to be changed, it just needs to fixed, but Lincoln had to totally change what was going on and fix everything that had happened to it.
3. How do you think this strategy will fare?
I think that this strategy is a good one to start off with, especially looking at what President Lincoln did because he was such an awesome president, so he’s a good person to take ideas from. Also I feel that things work out better if you have more then one opinion because if you only have one then you’re not going to get anywhere, but if you have a bunch of ideas you can combine all of them in some way, or just chose one idea and it could work. I really think that this plan has potential and will end up helping the country.
1.) Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
This approach could possibly be what we need to get back on the right track. It seems like a very productive idea because Obama gets all different points of view and has he's able to have peope around him with different opinions. Obama will then be able to make decisions according to a wide variety of opinions and parties. His decisions will then not only be based off of very few different opinions, but a lot of varying views about certain subjects.
2.) Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
The challenges that we are facing are about equal in difficulty, but different in content. Lincoln had to deal with the Civil War, and the reconstruction that followed it. He also had to deal with the very hard issue of slavery. Obama is dealing with the foreign wars that are currently going on. He also has to deal with trying to restore the economy's downfall and convince America that he is willing and able to be a helpful president.
3.) How do you think this strategy will fare?
This strategy will hopefully work for Obama and America. I think that this plan has a good chance of working, considering all of the different thoughts and opinions going into each decision.
President elect Obama seems to be taking the right approach in his campaign. If he has multiple viewpoints he will be able to see through all these issues and choose the right thing to do in hard times. His strategy of studying up and knowing things on Lincoln shows that he has an understanding of history and better yet is following one of the said to be greatest presidents of all time. This approach of using history to solve today’s problems is great for our country right now. To say that we are facing worse hardships now than when Lincoln was president is crazy. He had to deal with ending slavery and fixing the union. For Obama to choose Clinton for secretary of state is astounding and shows that instead of battling with his issues he will take them one on one. Even though it may seem like a bad idea because Obama has been battling with Clinton I think that he is a man who is able to get over things and move on to the issues at hand. As said in the last article from time, Obama is studying up on Lincoln by reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals. He is doing good by pushing away from the same old Bush administration ideas that have been around for 8 years. He is showing his individualism through all of this.
1. Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track?
I think having a "team of rivals" is a great approach to get the country back on track. It can give the government different ideas and approaches on different things. With many different ideas presented to Barack Obama he can look at every opinion. As Obama states, "I don't want to have people who just agree with me." He wants different opinions which would lead to different and hopefully better results with the American government. I think the government is so stuck on one idea and one way of doing things, it would be nice to just do something different. It seemed to work for President Lincoln because he freed the slaves. With a "team of rivals" I believe he can get a lot more out of the way and get things with the government moving.
2. Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix?
I believe the challenges that we are currently facing are just as similar to the challenges Lincoln had to fix. As president, Lincoln had to deal with the Civil War and the Reconstruction of his country. Obama has to deal with foreign affairs. Each of them had or has to be fixed and deal with America going down hill.
3. How do you think this strategy will fare?
I believe this strategy will work. Obama has picked a great role model to follow. If you combine everyone’s ideas you could make an even bigger and better idea out of all of them. We need to follow and believe in Obama’s idea of change and support his upcoming role as president.
Is this approach what we need rite now to get back on track? This approach couldn't hurt. It would be something new since Lincoln. Its been said that this is a good idea but also a bad idea. It will provide different veiws for Obama and can help his decision. Are the challenges for Obama bigger then the ones that Lincoln had to face? I think that Obama has bigger issues. He has to deal with rase of him being black. He also is coming into office in the middle of a war. Lincoln was in office when the war started, so he new what was going on the whole time. Obama has to come in in the middle. I think that this is what the country could use. It hasn't been done in a while. This way you can get a combination of both partys. Not just of one side.
1) I think this could possibly be the approach we need to get back on track. There is really no specific known way to fix all our problems so we kinda just have to trial and error.
2) I think these problems are probabyl equal to the ones Lincoln faced. There is really no way to compare these to eras in time because what was hard for them back then could be easy for us right now, and both time periods have many problems that needed to be dealt with.
3) I think this strategy will fare pretty well, sometimes picking people you like isnt always the best answer. It can limit your view point because generally the people you are friends with share your views and this is why your friends with them because you two agree. Although he may not like these people picking people he may not like or be friends with will certainly give him a wide perspective. Like in the NPR article i think that it was very interesting and surprising that he picked Clinton for that position. Not that she would be a bad choice but considering that they were "rival" for the democratic vote it is interesting and good to see that there isnt any "bad blood" between the two and they can try to set their differences apart for the better of the country.
Is this approach what the country needs right now to get us back on the right track? If you don’t learn from the past it’s bound to repeat itself. That’s what Barack Obama is trying to do with our country, prevent our past mistakes. By raising our taxes our country will get more money but it’s not a high enough tax raise to break people.
Are the challenges that we are currently facing larger than the ones Lincoln had to fix? The problems Lincoln had to fix were a lot worse than the ones we face today. Lincoln over came slavery, that’s a much larger issue than having money problems. Our country has over come a depression but we almost didn’t abolish slavery.
How do you think this strategy will fare? Obama is trying to get us out of recession, and if all goes as planned it will be a great help to our country. Right now we need help and his ideas of how to get us out of debt might just be what we need. Some don’t agree with his strategies but I think change can be good and if he brings what he promises then our country will end up in better shape.
Is this approach what the country needs to get back on track? i think that having a people in the presidential cabinet is a good idea. i believe this because if everyone thats the same thing as obama then he will have to much power but if people dont agree then a single problem will be looked at by many different points of view
Are the challenges now larger than the ones lincon had to fix? i thnk that the problems lincon faced and the problems obama are equal in difficulty. lincon and to deal with war because of peoples different views and reconstruction. obama has to deal with reconstructing our economy and forgien affars
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