Chapter 26: Peaceseekers and Warmakers: Americans in the World, 1920-1941





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Presidential Deception of the Public" in Chapter 26. Refer to page 755 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. How important is a free and aggressive press to the success of a democracy?

2. Is it the responsibility of the president to shape public opinion? To follow public opinion?

3. In a democracy, do we ever have situations where our elected officials can legitimately argue that the end justifies the means? Have we delegated to our politicians the right to determine appropriate "ends"?


Investigation
We have several examples of presidential deception in foreign affairs. Read a critical account in Naval History Magazine of governmental action with respect to the Tonkin Gulf incident. Compare this account to the official U.S. record as recorded by the Department of State and made available to us in Foreign Relations of the United States. Debate with your classmates whether or not, or to what extent, our government misled the public.




Further Exploration
1. Read excerpts from Machiavelli's The Prince. Does Machiavelli make a distinction between foreign and domestic policies?

2. Read what the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations writes about the USS Greer. You can then follow the broader context of these actions and Roosevelt's charges in a German government reply to Roosevelt in November 1941.

3. The PBS American Presidents series allows additional insights into Roosevelt on the Greer incident and commentary on the actions of other presidents.