New HW Assignment due February 19, 2016

Hey Gang!  When I was your age, I honestly did not know anything about politics.  I could not tell you the differences between the political parties, who ran for president in 1996 against Bill Clinton, etc...I knew my parents cared, but I did not know why.  

Iowa and New Hampshire are in the books...The candidates are spending MILLIONS of dollars trying to win the votes to earn their places on the Republican and Democratic tickets for the 2016 Presidential Election.

We had a great Civics Unit earlier this year, and now you are witnessing a historic election.  The first African-American president's time is nearly over, and President Obama will hand the torch of leadership over to a new president.  The stakes are high.  Instead of a rich, white, Protestant presidential candidate who grew up in a political family and occupied the Senate or served as a Governor, we could something new...

There have been some historic moments in "Election History" since the first election in 1789...

-Washington was our first unanimously elected president in 1789...
-James Monroe ran unopposed in 1820...
-John Quincy Adams became the first president to be the son of a former president
-John Tyler became the first vice president turned president...
-James K. Polk's inaugural address was telegraphed to the outposts of California in 1845!
-Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with only 39.8% of the vote!
-Rutherford B. Hayes was the nation's first Civil War veteran president in 1877
-Woodrow Wilson delivered the first State of the Union Address as a public speech since Thomas Jefferson in 1800!
-FDR was the first, and only president to be elected to a third term in 1940!
-John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president elected in 1960
-Gerald Ford became the first non-elected president in 1974
-George W. Bush became the second president to ever win the Electoral College but not win the majority vote in 2000 (Hayes was the first in 1877)
-Barack Obama was the first African-American president elected in 2008
-Now in 2016...What will we see?

Those who vote in elections do vote for "people", but what drives us voters are the candidate's stances on the issues...

-Gun Regulation    -Immigration     -Abortion     -Same-Sex Marriage    -Climate Change

-The Economy      -Middle Eastern Policies    -Taxes    -Healthcare    -Death Penalty

-Role of Government       -Equal-Rights/Civil Rights        and much more!

Optional Article on Issues:  The Issues of 2016 Election 

For HOMEWORK due Friday, February 19, I want you to type up a one page summary on what you think are the three most important issues in the election.  You may have an issue that is dear to you that is not listed above, and that is fine!!! You might even wish to include an issue that you think the candidates should not even talk about or discuss.  Even I plan on doing this assignment and will post my summary on the board for you to read... Consider this an easy HW grade where you voice YOUR opinion on what issues YOU think are the most important and what the candidates SHOULD focus on in this year's 2016 Election...

Here is MY summary:  MY Three Important Issues