Air Midterm

Relax. This “air midterm” does not count toward your grade; do not even turn it in. Instead, use it to appraise your own progress in the course. Try out this test, either in your head or on paper. If you flounder, then you should take more care with class sessions and assigned readings.

I. Identifications: Identify the meaning and significance of the following items. On the real final exam, I shall ask you to write a short paragraph on each item that you choose. What is fair game for an identification?

1. Items that we have discussed in class or on the blog;
2. Items that appear in bold or italics in the readings;
3. Items that cover several pages in the readings.

• Hayes-Tilden race (1876)
• Faithless electors
• Martin Van Buren
• Front-loading
• The nuclear freeze
• The Hepburn Act
• Helvidius
• Line Item Veto
• The Roosevelt Corollary
• The Fair Deal
• Benghazi
• Youngstown v. Sawyer
• The “Revolution” of 1800
• The Palmer Raids

II. Short essays:   In a couple of paragraphs each, answer the following.

• Who made the following statement and why? "The bank is professedly established as an agent of the executive branch of the Government, andits constitutionality is maintained on that ground. Neither upon the propriety of present action nor upon the provisions of this act was the Executive consulted. It has had no opportunity to say that it neither needs nor wants an agent clothed with such powers and favored by such exemptions. There is nothing in its legitimate functions which makes it necessary or proper."
• Who made the following statement and why? "I did understand however, that my oath to preserve the constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government -- that nation -- of which that constitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the constitution? By general law life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb."
• What was the pattern of "discovery, scrutiny, and decline" in the 2012 GOP primaries?

III. General essays (2-3 bluebooks pages each)

• Resolved: President Obama won the 2012 election primarily because of underlying features of American electoral politics, and his campaign made relatively little difference.Do you agree or disagree? Explain, with reference to the Side-Vavreck book, along with other class material.
• Is it possible to devise an objective measure of presidential greatness? Explain.

Bonus Questions

• Estes Kefauver
• Herb Klein
• Alan Keyes
• Nicholas Katzenbach
• Michelle Kahn