A collection of extraordinary essays written by Advanced Placement (AP) US Government students at West Potomac High School in Fairfax, County, Virginia, "White House Under Fire" delves into the political consequences facing the President of the United States as he makes fateful decisions affecting, at least, the map of the US and, in some cases, the future of the world. The students explore such challenging topics as Jefferson's controversial purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Woodrow Wilson's reluctance to embrace the Women's Suffrage movement, the reactions of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the Great Depression, Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, Nixon's opening to China and his downfall from the Watergate scandal, sand George W. Bush's response to the attack on New York and Washington, September 11, 2001. This work highlights some of the most dangerous and controversial periods in American history, from the confrontation with the Soviet Union over access to Berlin and missiles in Cuba to war with Spain. On the domestic front, the students tackle Andrew Jackson's "Bank War," Lincoln's response to the South's secession and Ronald Reagan's decision to fire the Air Traffic Controllers. Harry Truman, who served as president before these students' parents were born, turns out to be their favorite - with seven essays devoted to his presidency, including the creation of the nation of Israel, his authorization of the Berlin Airlift, the Communist invasion of South Korea, his firing of the popular General Douglas Mac Arthur and his desegregation order to the US military. These students take a fresh, young approach to the American presidency and how it has evolved over the life of the Republic, providing the reader with not only an insight into American history from the perspective of today's youth, but also a sense that today's young people are keenly aware of our nation's history and will soon be ready to accept the mantel of leadership in a world at least as dangerous to them as it has been to every earlier generation since its inception.

When the Founding Fathers, in their collective genius, crafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787, little did they know that their cherished document would become a twenty-first century battleground over such issues as "Fanfiction," vulgar and distasteful language, same-sex marriages, and abortion or student demands for equal rights. Nor did they anticipate that their failure to act on the divisive issue of slavery would lead inexorably to America's Civil War. Now, in an extraordinary series of essays, twenty-six unusually perceptive and talented Advanced Placement U.S. Government students at West Potomac High School, Alexandria, Virginia, explore today's constitutional issues in a way the Founders may never have anticipated. This collection of essays traces the original arguments between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists up to the federal government's recent successful intrusion into such traditional state realms as the drinking age and speed limit on state roads. The students explore the Constitution's relevance to the Internet and what some devotees call "Fanfiction" and detractors identify as plagiarism. In one essay, the author claims that the American tradition of "freedom.of the press," as articulated in the First Amendment, is being eroded daily - not by the government, as originally suspected by the Founding Fathers but by the press themselves. Two essays address the questionable value of the U.S. Constitution in protecting the freedoms of young Americans, especially those in public schools. A third, dealing with a relevant subject, questions whether young Americans, who complain about the electoral system but rarely use the right to vote themselves, even deserve theTwenty-sixth Amendment. When the Founders had completed their work in Philadelphia, they faced a major political challenge: how to convince the American people that the document and the government they had created should be ratified and approved by the people themselves. The political genius they demonstrated by accepting the Bill of Rights four years later is reflected in these essays, each of which looks at the Constitution, complete with its amendments, in light of today's political realities.

When the Founding Fathers, in their collective genius, crafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787, little did they know that their cherished document would become a twenty-first century battleground over such issues as "Fanfiction," vulgar and distasteful language, same-sex marriages, and abortion or student demands for equal rights. Nor did they anticipate that their failure to act on the divisive issue of slavery would lead inexorably to America's Civil War. Now, in an extraordinary series of essays, twenty-six unusually perceptive and talented Advanced Placement U.S. Government students at West Potomac High School, Alexandria, Virginia, explore today's constitutional issues in a way the Founders may never have anticipated. This collection of essays traces the original arguments between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists up to the federal government's recent successful intrusion into such traditional state realms as the drinking age and speed limit on state roads. The students explore the Constitution's relevance to the Internet and what some devotees call "Fanfiction" and detractors identify as plagiarism. In one essay, the author claims that the American tradition of "freedom.of the press," as articulated in the First Amendment, is being eroded daily - not by the government, as originally suspected by the Founding Fathers but by the press themselves. Two essays address the questionable value of the U.S. Constitution in protecting the freedoms of young Americans, especially those in public schools. A third, dealing with a relevant subject, questions whether young Americans, who complain about the electoral system but rarely use the right to vote themselves, even deserve the Twenty-sixth Amendment. When the Founders had completed their work in Philadelphia, they faced a major political challenge: how to convince the American people that the document and the government they had created should be ratified and approved by the people themselves. The political genius they demonstrated by accepting the Bill of Rights four years later is reflected in these essays, each of which looks at the Constitution, complete with its amendments, in light of today's political realities.

A collection of extraordinary essays written by Advanced Placement (AP) US Government students at West Potomac High School in Fairfax, County, Virginia, "White House Under Fire" delves into the political consequences facing the President of the United States as he makes fateful decisions affecting, at least, the map of the US and, in some cases, the future of the world. The students explore such challenging topics as Jefferson's controversial purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Woodrow Wilson's reluctance to embrace the Women's Suffrage movement, the reactions of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the Great Depression, Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, Nixon's opening to China and his downfall from the Watergate scandal, sand George W. Bush's response to the attack on New York and Washington, September 11, 2001. This work highlights some of the most dangerous and controversial periods in American history, from the confrontation with the Soviet Union over access to Berlin and missiles in Cuba to war with Spain. On the domestic front, the students tackle Andrew Jackson's "Bank War," Lincoln's response to the South's secession and Ronald Reagan's decision to fire the Air Traffic Controllers. Harry Truman, who served as president before these students' parents were born, turns out to be their favorite - with seven essays devoted to his presidency, including the creation of the nation of Israel, his authorization of the Berlin Airlift, the Communist invasion of South Korea, his firing of the popular General Douglas Mac Arthur and his desegregation order to the US military. These students take a fresh, young approach to the American presidency and how it has evolved over the life of the Republic, providing the reader with not only an insight into American history from the perspective of today's youth, but also a sense that today's young people are keenly aware of our nation's history and will soon be ready to accept the mantel of leadership in a world at least as dangerous to them as it has been to every earlier generation since its inception.

High school seniors take a look at what immigration is doing to their country... they chronicle earlier arrivals, including some of their ancestors, and over some fresh insight into how the next generation of American leaders will address this growing problem for America.