[...] See Mr. Upton’s site (click here), Mr. Dykeman’s (click here), Dr. Murnane’s (click here). For last year’s results in Dr. Murnane’s class, click [...]
[...] November 13, 2009 by John Murnane Visit the site, leave a comment explaining the ups and downs on our graph. Explain at least three “ups” and three “downs” in your paragraph. Why did presidents make more references to City Upon a Hill than others at various times during the 20th century? (Click here for blog.) [...]
Throughout the “city upon a hill project” we were able to calculate and uncover the reasoning behind the enforcement of this term, or its lack of. The three presidents who used the term “city upon a hill” the most were: FDR, Truman and LBJ. All three of these president’s were in power during the time of major struggles in the United States. For example, FDR was president during one the Americas most challenging times of all: the largest drop in the stock market in world history. The time is also known as the great depression. World war two was also occurring in this time period, which is yet another reason as to why FDR had to use this “city upon a hill” reference. He had to ensure the American people that despite all that was happening America was still a world leader, and they still had much to gain. Much like FDR, Harry Truman was also in office during the time of world war two. He was also the first president to ever address America on national television. This resource allowed him to speak to the American people and reassure them that the war would soon be coming to an end and that all was going to be okay. Lastly, LBJ was president during a major age of women’s rights as well as civil rights. The growth of the nation called for much use of the term “city upon a hill” for America had now come together more then they ever had, and they believed themselves to be a role model for other countries. All three of these presidents used the “city upon a hill” reference, in order to reassure the American people during times of hardship and national growth. Therefore, the reason why these three presidents used this term the most was because they rained in the times in which the United States was at its lowest and struggling and also when it was on the rise again after these darker periods.
The three presidents with the least amount of references to “city upon a hill” were T.R., Bush and Hoover. Roosevelt was president at a time in which little was happening with the United States. Although many events did occur during the time of his presidency none of them were large enough to hinder the development of the country or hurt its future in anyway. There the use of this term was not much needed during the time of his presidency. Bush was president during the attack on 9:11 as well as the war in Iraq. These were two especially hard times in American history that caused great trauma to America. However, despite these national crisis’ Bush did not elaborate on the term “city upon a hill”. Other presidents before, in similar situations to him such as FDR used it multiple times to ensure the public. However, for some unknown reason Bush did not follow the example of leaders in front of him. Much like Bush, Hoover too was in office at a difficult time. Hoover was president at the beginning of the great depression, which affected the nation in a very negative way. The economy was down; people were out of jobs and sitting in debt. The reference to “city upon a hill” would have been great motivation to the American people to keep working and ensure them that things would get better. However, this term was used very little. These three presidents although some had great struggles while others did not, did not feel the need to use the reference of “city upon a hill” maybe in fear that they were in too much of a struggle that implying such a term would be a patronizing attack to the American people.
The initial pattern that jumps out at me after my first glace at this graph is the Downtrend from FDR all the way to GW Bush. The trend is most noticeable among the high points, but looking carefully, the low points wedge downwards as well. The whole trend seems to point to the fact that for some reason or other presidents of America want to emphasize less and less the idea of America as a role-model for the rest of the world.
For the highs, both FDR, LBJ, and Jimmy Carter were all presidents during wartime. FDR served the length of WWII, Johnson during the Vietnam war, and Carter during the Cold war. It’s good to make your country look good to its citizens during wartime: it builds morale and gives an idea of what you are fighting for. In addition, FDR served 4 terms, LBJ 2, and Carter only one, and since the data was taken in number of references and not references per year, this explains the downtrend.
The lowest of all the presidents, Hoover was right at the beginning of the great depression, which began 8 months after he took office. Eisenhower was president at a time where there was a lot of internal growth happening, and people didn’t need to be convinced that their country is the greatest: they weren’t being directly compared to anyone in battle. Nixon had the Vietnam war during his time serving, but it was towards the end and citizens were beginning to become unruly. It would have been unwise to push the idea of the citty on a hill. Aside from Vietnam, his term was fairly quiet and it makes sense that he didn’t have many COH references.
In summary, the chart shows the quotes up in major wars after the great depression, but with a steady downward pattern. Unpopular wars, such as the latter half of Vietnam and Iraq have led to downward spikes as well.
[...] See Mr. Upton’s site (click here), Mr. Dykeman’s (click here), Dr. Murnane’s (click here). For last year’s results in Dr. Murnane’s class, click [...]
[...] November 13, 2009 by John Murnane Visit the site, leave a comment explaining the ups and downs on our graph. Explain at least three “ups” and three “downs” in your paragraph. Why did presidents make more references to City Upon a Hill than others at various times during the 20th century? (Click here for blog.) [...]
Throughout the “city upon a hill project” we were able to calculate and uncover the reasoning behind the enforcement of this term, or its lack of. The three presidents who used the term “city upon a hill” the most were: FDR, Truman and LBJ. All three of these president’s were in power during the time of major struggles in the United States. For example, FDR was president during one the Americas most challenging times of all: the largest drop in the stock market in world history. The time is also known as the great depression. World war two was also occurring in this time period, which is yet another reason as to why FDR had to use this “city upon a hill” reference. He had to ensure the American people that despite all that was happening America was still a world leader, and they still had much to gain. Much like FDR, Harry Truman was also in office during the time of world war two. He was also the first president to ever address America on national television. This resource allowed him to speak to the American people and reassure them that the war would soon be coming to an end and that all was going to be okay. Lastly, LBJ was president during a major age of women’s rights as well as civil rights. The growth of the nation called for much use of the term “city upon a hill” for America had now come together more then they ever had, and they believed themselves to be a role model for other countries. All three of these presidents used the “city upon a hill” reference, in order to reassure the American people during times of hardship and national growth. Therefore, the reason why these three presidents used this term the most was because they rained in the times in which the United States was at its lowest and struggling and also when it was on the rise again after these darker periods.
The three presidents with the least amount of references to “city upon a hill” were T.R., Bush and Hoover. Roosevelt was president at a time in which little was happening with the United States. Although many events did occur during the time of his presidency none of them were large enough to hinder the development of the country or hurt its future in anyway. There the use of this term was not much needed during the time of his presidency. Bush was president during the attack on 9:11 as well as the war in Iraq. These were two especially hard times in American history that caused great trauma to America. However, despite these national crisis’ Bush did not elaborate on the term “city upon a hill”. Other presidents before, in similar situations to him such as FDR used it multiple times to ensure the public. However, for some unknown reason Bush did not follow the example of leaders in front of him. Much like Bush, Hoover too was in office at a difficult time. Hoover was president at the beginning of the great depression, which affected the nation in a very negative way. The economy was down; people were out of jobs and sitting in debt. The reference to “city upon a hill” would have been great motivation to the American people to keep working and ensure them that things would get better. However, this term was used very little. These three presidents although some had great struggles while others did not, did not feel the need to use the reference of “city upon a hill” maybe in fear that they were in too much of a struggle that implying such a term would be a patronizing attack to the American people.
The initial pattern that jumps out at me after my first glace at this graph is the Downtrend from FDR all the way to GW Bush. The trend is most noticeable among the high points, but looking carefully, the low points wedge downwards as well. The whole trend seems to point to the fact that for some reason or other presidents of America want to emphasize less and less the idea of America as a role-model for the rest of the world.
For the highs, both FDR, LBJ, and Jimmy Carter were all presidents during wartime. FDR served the length of WWII, Johnson during the Vietnam war, and Carter during the Cold war. It’s good to make your country look good to its citizens during wartime: it builds morale and gives an idea of what you are fighting for. In addition, FDR served 4 terms, LBJ 2, and Carter only one, and since the data was taken in number of references and not references per year, this explains the downtrend.
The lowest of all the presidents, Hoover was right at the beginning of the great depression, which began 8 months after he took office. Eisenhower was president at a time where there was a lot of internal growth happening, and people didn’t need to be convinced that their country is the greatest: they weren’t being directly compared to anyone in battle. Nixon had the Vietnam war during his time serving, but it was towards the end and citizens were beginning to become unruly. It would have been unwise to push the idea of the citty on a hill. Aside from Vietnam, his term was fairly quiet and it makes sense that he didn’t have many COH references.
In summary, the chart shows the quotes up in major wars after the great depression, but with a steady downward pattern. Unpopular wars, such as the latter half of Vietnam and Iraq have led to downward spikes as well.