Diplomacy at Gettysburg

Grade Level:
High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Subject:
Social Studies
Common Core Standards:
6-8.WHST.1, 6-8.WHST.1.a, 6-8.WHST.1.b, 6-8.WHST.1.c

Program Overview

This program allows students to learn about diplomacy through the life and actions of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Students will visit the Eisenhower National Historic Site to see where President Eisenhower hosted world leaders at his tranquil 189 acre Pennsylvania farm. Eisenhower spent over 365 days at his farm while president and used the peaceful setting as a place to conduct diplomacy with foreign heads of state. Pre and post-program activities will reinforce the lessons and will give students the opportunity to explore the roles of the president and reflect on how we can all be diplomats in our own lives today.

Theme

Conducting diplomacy is one of the president’s most important jobs. President Eisenhower exemplified good leadership by using his own personal farm to get to know world leaders, improving the diplomatic relationships of the United States and lowering tensions during the Cold War.
 

Essential Questions

  • What is diplomacy?

  • How are diplomacy and leadership important in our communities?

  • General Eisenhower believed Americans should be “main street diplomats.” What does that mean?

  • How can we be welcoming to others, even when we have differences and disagreements?

  • What qualities are essential to being a good leader, and in what ways can we be leaders today?

Learning Objectives

  • Define at least three of Eisenhower’s leadership qualities.

  • Define the seven roles of the President of the United States.

  • Use primary sources to piece together a story from multiple perspectives.

  • Analyze the ways Eisenhower conducted diplomacy at his Gettysburg farm.

  • Contextualize and explain the importance of Eisenhower’s Cold War Diplomacy for 20th Century American history and World history.

GRADES:

6 to 12

 

CLASS SIZE:

10-50

LENGTH:

Virtual Program—30 to 60 minutes
Site-Visit Program—90-120 minutes (Program length is dependent on the size of the group, timely arrival on-site, and staffing).

This program consists of a visit to the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA, but can also be done virtually via Zoom, Google Hangouts, or other video conferencing technology.

Pre-Visit Activities

Eisenhower and his Gettysburg Farm

President Eisenhower and the world leaders he welcomed to his Gettysburg farm. Students should be familiar with President Eisenhower and his Gettysburg farm prior to the program. These online articles can provide background information on how Eisenhower used his farm, as well as important information on the visit of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

In The Footsteps of World Leaders Web Article: https://www.nps.gov/eise/learn/historyculture/in-the-footsteps-of-leaders-famous-visitors-to-the-eisenhowers-gettysburg-farm.htm

Biography of Nikita Khrushchev: https://www.nps.gov/people/nikita-khrushchev.htm

Khrushchev's Visit to Gettysburg

Of all the world leaders who visited President Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm, the most impactful was Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who came to Pennsylvania in September 1959. The downloadable document below provides primary source accounts of Khrushchev’s visit to Gettysburg.  

Have the students break into groups and assign each group one of these readings. They will guide the students through the details of Khrushchev’s visit to Gettysburg from the invitation and planning stages to how the visit was recalled by Khrushchev and other firsthand witnesses. Each reading has accompanying discussion questions as well.

Site Visit

General and Mrs. Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm is the only home they ever owned, and it uniquely reflects their personalities, as well as General Eisenhower’s leadership style. When he was president, Eisenhower used his Gettysburg farm to host numerous world leaders, conducting diplomacy, one of the main jobs of the president.

During their site visit, students will have the opportunity to explore and tour President Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm and home. This includes a tour of the Eisenhower home, a visit to the Eisenhower Show Barn, as well as a chance to reflect and discuss their pre-visit activities and readings. The site tour will discuss the stories of several world leaders who visited Gettysburg, including Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Post-Program Activities

These post-program activities provide options for teachers to reinforce the lessons their students learned during the pre-visit and site-visit parts of the program.

  • In 1965, then former president Dwight Eisenhower wrote an article for Reader's Digest on the subject, "What is Leadership?" Attached to this lesson plan is a pdf document with quotes and highlights from this article, listing six key traits of leadership outlined by Dwight Eisenhower. Have your students review this attachment and the key leadership traits included, as well as the accompanying discussion and reflection questions. As a class, discuss what leadership traits you saw in Eisenhower's Cold War Diplomacy, as well as what traits are most important in our world today.

Materials

These four primary sources provide background information and reflection questions on Nikita Khrushchev's visit to Gettysburg in September 1959. Have students split into four groups, review the primary sources, and answer the discussion questions prior to their visit to the site.

Download Diplomacy at Gettysburg Student Readings

Have your students review these six characteristics of leadership identified by Dwight Eisenhower and the accompanying discussion questions.

Download Wrap Up Activity: What is Leadership?

Tags: primary sources diplomacy cold war presidential farm presidential history dwight d. eisenhower eisenhower field trip virtual program distance learning education program parks as classrooms common core

Last updated: April 23, 2024