Deck 3: The Public Presidency

Question 1

Jefferson believed that the "Revolution of 1800"" produced a new party-centered, democratized political system.

Answer 1

False
Explanation:Jefferson actually believed that the results of this election would lead to the restoration of traditional politics, where presidential choice would be based on individual character and merit rather than political principles.

Question 2

Andrew Johnson adhered to the nineteenth-century norms of presidential speechmaking.

Answer 2

False
Explanation:According to Jeffrey Tulis, Johnson was ""the great exception"" whose speechmaking violated all norms of the day.

Question 3

Warren Harding, the first president to use radio to communicate with the nation, was also the first president to hire a person whose primary responsibility was to write speeches.

Answer 3

True
Explanation:Despite his profession as a journalist, Harding had very limited literary skills and decided to hire Judson Welliver to write his speeches for him, the first person in American history to be employed primarily to write presidential speeches.

Question 4

Presidential speeches typically have a significant impact on public opinion.

Question 5

Washington's Farewell Address:

A) Warned against negative effects of political parties.
B) Warned against the opposition party's treacherous ways.
C) Was an undeniably partisan speech.
D) A and C

Question 6

How were the newspapers of the early American republic different from most newspapers today?

A) They weren't all that different; reporters were expected to report the news in an unbiased nonpartisan fashion.
B) Unlike today, most newspapers were nonpartisan.
C) While newspapers today are expected to report the the news in an unbiased, nonpartisan fashion, the newspapers of the early American republic were partisan organs inseparable from partisan politics.
D) A and B

Question 7

How did Jackson transform the relationship between the presidency and the public?

A) Jackson was the first president to tour the country giving highly partisan speeches to public audiences.
B) A and C
C) Jackson claimed to speak for the people, arguing that his reelection was a mandate from the people to destroy the Bank of the United States.
D) Jackson did not transform the relationship between the presidency and the public; Jefferson had also claimed a partisan mandate before.

Question 8

Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson:

A) Ran against each other in the first race in which both major party candidates went on national campaign speaking tours.
B) Both held press briefings open to all reporters.
C) Agreed that the rhetorical presidency was the greatest source of presidential power.
D) Were both Republicans.

Question 9

When was the separation of substance from style and the president from his wordsmiths the norm?

A) From FDR to LBJ.
B) Beginning under Nixon and Carter through to the present day.
C) From Harding and Hoover.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

What impact did the invention of radio have on the American presidency?

A) It exponentially increased the president's audience, increasing the importance of presidential speechmaking.
B) It led to the rise of the presidential speechwriter.
C) It made the rhetorical presidency possible by ushering the president into people's homes without requiring the president to leave his.
D) All of the above