American Presidents and Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This book seeks to analyze the involvement of U.S. presidents in education and to correlate this analysis with an assessment of national educational outcomes. In the early republic, the founding fathers stressed education mainly as a tool for citizenship. Having successfully gained independence through a revolution, they perceived education as the best means to insure that democracy would prevail at home. In the 19th century, only during the Civil War was there a presidential recognition that education could be advanced for economic reasons. Presidential interest in education was periodic until World War II. With the rise of an economy increasingly dependent on new technology, U.S. presidents were confronted with the need to develop a more educated workforce. The book devotes separate chapters to the involvement of three presidential administrations to education: Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush. A bibliography of more than 180 items is included. (DB)