Module 3 - So You Want to be President

Summary

What to get to know the Presidents better?  Read So You Want to be President. Facts include age, personality, and siblings.  There is also information about the vice-presidents that served with them.  The illustrations add to the story in a cute and interesting way.  This is a good book to show that presidents are people to.  It is not your typical presidential facts.

Impressions

I learned that John Q. Adams was a skinny dipper. The book turned out to be more interesting than originally anticipated.  The pictures were entertaining.  Often they tied presidents together, such as Lincoln looking down on Clinton for lying.
Reviews

Just in time for the presidential election, St. George (In the Line of Fire: Presidents Lives at Stake, 1999, etc.) uses the experiences of our 42 presidents to counsel youngsters harboring that uniquely American desire—to be president. Reflecting on the “good things about being President and . . . bad things about being President . . .” she offers a pleasingly diverse slate of facts and figures for her readers’ consideration: age (the oldest—Reagan; the youngest—Teddy Roosevelt), size (the smallest—Madison—at 100 lbs., contrasting with Taft, at over 300), career choices (generals, lawyers, haberdashers, farmers), first names (six Jameses, four Johns, four Williams, two Georges, two Franklins), education (nine presidents never went to college, while one—Andrew Johnson—“didn’t learn to write until after he was married”). At the close of this sometimes wry, sometimes sober survey (including impeachments, wars, and assassinations), St. George encourages: “If you want to be president—a good president—pattern yourself after the best . . . [those who] have asked more of themselves than they thought they could give . . . They [who] have had the courage, spirit, and will to do . . . [what’s] right.” Small’s (The Huckabuck Family, 1999, etc.) pitch-perfect caricatures, rendered in a mix of watercolor, ink, and pastel, expand on the personalities and support the narrative’s shifting moods. There’s a helpful key to every illustration and a presidential chronology from Washington to Clinton. Even a few “non-presidents” are featured: Pat Nixon and Henry Kissinger watch (with future President Ford) President Nixon bowl in the White House lanes, and there’s a wonderfully wry glimpse of two “also-ran’s”—Jesse Jackson and Geraldine Ferraro—excluded from an across-the-centuries presidential reception by a velvet rope. A superb, kid-centered survey and a perfect way to enliven the perennial class unit on the presidents. (Nonfiction. 7-12)

 So you want to be President.  (August1, 2000).  Kirkus Reviews.  Retrieved from: 

     http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judith-st-george/so-you-want-to-b president/#review

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover--and this is one of those times. David Small has cleverly depicted the presidential faces on Mount Rushmore in a jovial cartoon style that makes them friendly and not formidable, an encouraging invitation to the witty observations within a narrative that felicitously begins, "There are good things about being President and there are bad things about being President." Arranging historical tidbits in an attractive buffet, this well-timed book offers anecdotes both cautionary and guaranteed to attract attention and arouse interest. Would-be presidents are apprised of the advantages of the position, which include having a swimming pool, bowling alley, and movie theater as well as never eating "yucky" vegetables--like broccoli. As a counterpoint to the advantages, a few negatives are also presented: presidents have to dress up, be polite, and never "go anywhere alone," and they have quantities of homework. Having examined both sides of the question, succeeding spreads offer tips for achieving the desired goal: having the right first name (six presidents were named James, four John, four William, two George, two Andrew, and two Franklin); having siblings; being born in a log cabin; joining the army; becoming a hero; being a vice-president. The question of appearance is treated as a quasi-beauty contest featuring Warren Harding, who was handsome--but not a good president, as even he admitted. The overall tone is upbeat, and the need for honesty in office is stressed by contrasting Truman and Cleveland with Nixon and Clinton, the latter two depicted descending, as in banishment, the steps of the Lincoln Memorial--a sad visual commentary. The conclusion, with its reiteration of the oath of office, is positively inspiring. Appended are a list of personages featured in the illustrations, brief biographical sketches of the presidents in chronological order, and a short bibliography.

Burns, M. M. (2000). So You Want to Be President?. Horn Book Magazine, 76(4), 476.

Suggestions

For teaching history with a new spin, So You Want to be President is a good book.  For each president there are more than the basic facts. This book could be use to talk about what students have in common with a President.  You could also create a “did you know” scavenger hunt with the information. 

References

George, J. S. (2005). So you want to be president?. New York: Putnam Juvenile.

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