At the beginning of the year I came into this class not really knowing much about the presidency. I knew that we elect a new one every 4 years and that he is head of the executive branch. I’ve never been one to follow politics, which is probably one of the reasons I am no longer a political science major. However I am really glad I took this class. I think this class, American National Politics, and International Relations are my favorite political science courses that I have taken at Whitworth.
I never really understood the complexities of the presidency, and I loved learning how the presidency developed from the time of the founding fathers to today. Each president has definitely changed the role of the presidency some how during his time as president.
I think one of the greatest themes that I have learned that follow from George Washington to Barack Obama is interpretation. It seems that every president interpreted his role in a different way.
No doubt there were trends, but no president was able to pursue the exact same agenda as his predecessor. Some believed in complete transparency, or others like Nixon in amassing a huge executive bureaucracy. Some believed in a laid back hands off approach, and others were very involved and wanted to promote change. I think the most interesting aspect of this class that I will take away from this class is just how varied each and every one of our presidents is.
