Student Resources

• Primary Source Analysis
• Dwight Eisenhower and Responsibility Narrative
• Virtue in Action handout

Teacher Resources

• Analysis Questions 
• Virtue in Action  
• Journal Activity
• Sources for Further Reading  
• Virtue Across the Curriculum 

• Responsibility: Acting on good judgment about what is right or wrong, even when it is not popular. Individuals must take care of themselves, their families, and their fellow citizens/others in civil society and a republic and be vigilant to preserve their own liberty and the liberty of others.
• Amphibious: A military operation involving forces landed from the sea.
• Reverie: A state of being lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream.
• Bolstered: To support or strengthen; prop up

Procedures 

• The following lesson asks students to consider the importance of responsible leadership. The main activity in this lesson requires students to read and analyze a narrative that explores how Dwight Eisenhower continually chose to be a responsible leader.  
• Students will also conduct a primary source analysis of two statements written by Eisenhower regarding the success or failure of the D-Day invasion in World War II.  
• The lesson ends with reflection exercises to connect the historical example of Eisenhower with your students’ daily lives. You may choose to use either or both activities.  
• Lastly, the lesson includes sources used in this lesson for further reading and suggestions for cross-curricular connections.

Engage

• Scaffolding Note: You may use this activity to engage and introduce your students to this lesson. 
• Distribute the text of the Primary Source Analysis handout and read the building context section as a class.  
• Play the following recording of Eisenhower giving his speech before the D-Day invasion and have students follow along. Here is the link: bit.ly/3N78zrN    
• Scaffolding note: Play the speech a second time to have students look only at the images in the video and ask: 
  • What do you think is going on in these photos?  
  • Are these images of victory or defeat? How do you know?  
  • What questions do these images bring up for you?

Explore

• Transition: Ask students, can the content of a primary source be affected by whether it is intended for a private or public audience?  
• Explain that what one writes for private use only, such as a diary, might be more honest and open. How one acts or what one writes in private might reveal a great deal about character. On the other hand, one might still advance an agenda if the person thinks that those actions or words will be seen by the larger public.  
• Read the second primary source “In Case of Failure Letter” as a class. Answer the analysis questions with particular emphasis on the public and private audience of the two documents and what they reveal about Eisenhower’s character.  
• Transition to the narrative. Read the Dwight Eisenhower and Responsibility Narrative. 
• Scaffolding Note: It may be helpful to instruct students to do a close reading of the text. Close reading asks students to read and reread a text purposefully to ensure students understand and make connections. For more detailed instructions on how to use close reading in your classroom, use these directions. Additional reading strategies are provided for other options that may meet your students’ needs. 
• Essential Vocabulary: 
  • Responsibility: Acting on good judgment about what is right or wrong, even when it is not popular. Individuals must take care of themselves, their families, and their fellow citizens/others in civil society and a republic and be vigilant to preserve their own liberty and the liberty of others.
  • Amphibious: A military operation involving forces landed from the sea.
  • Reverie: A state of being lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream.
  • Bolstered: To support or strengthen; prop up.
• Transition to the analysis questions. Have students work individually, with partners, or as a whole class to answer the questions. 
• Scaffolding Note: If there are questions that are not necessary to your students’ learning or time restraints, then you can remove those questions. 
• Analysis Questions 
  • What important qualities of leadership characterized Dwight Eisenhower?  
  • What were some of the risks associated with the D-Day invasion?  
  • Why did Eisenhower feel a sense of urgency about the early June target date for the invasion?  
  • Based on the information in the narrative, how do we know that Eisenhower took his responsibilities as Supreme Commander seriously? 
  • Explain Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith’s statement: “I never realized before the loneliness and isolation of a commander at a time when such a momentous decision has to be taken, with the full knowledge that failure or success rests on his judgment alone.”  

Assess & Reflect

Virtue in Action  

• Transition: Virtuous leadership requires that a leader take responsibility when things go wrong and share credit when things go well. However, it is not only leaders that must act responsibly.  
• Distribute the Virtue in Action handout. 
• Have students complete the scenarios in groups or with a partner. 
• Scaffolding Note: For the student-created example, you may: 
  • Have groups share out examples and discuss as a class how best to act responsibly. 
  • Have groups trade papers, so they consider another group’s scenario. 
  • Collect all papers, fold over names and distribute randomly to have groups compare and respond to other reactions.   

AND/OR

Responsibility Journal Activity  

• Have students self-reflect and answer the following questions in their journal: 
  • Why is it important for a leader to govern according to a moral vision of liberty and self-government and to take responsibility for decisions in a republic of self-governing citizens? What could happen in a self-governing society if leaders rule for their own benefit and refuse to accept responsibility for poor decisions? 

Extend

Sources & Further Reading  

• Explore the following list for additional sources and further reading on Dwight Eisenhower.  
  • Ambrose, Stephen. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890- 1952. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.  
  • D’Este, Carlo. Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life. New York: Henry Holt, 2002.  
  • Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War, 1943-1945. New York: Random House, 1986.  
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D., Crusade in Europe. Doubleday: 1948.  
  • Johnson, Paul. Eisenhower: A Life. New York: Viking, 2014.   
  • Korda, Michael. Ike: An American Hero. New York: Harper, 2007.   
  • Perret, Geoffrey. Eisenhower. New York: Random House, 1999.  
  • Smith, Jean Edward. Eisenhower in War and Peace. New York: Random House, 2012. 

Virtue Across the Curriculum  

• Below are corresponding literature suggestions to help you teach about responsibility across the curriculum. Sample prompts are provided for the key corresponding works. For the other suggested works, or others that are already part of your curriculum, create your own similar prompts.    
  • Twelve Angry Men (1959), directed by Sidney Lamet  
    • Twelve jurors debate whether a young man is guilty of killing his father. Describe how this film is a commentary on the civic responsibility of serving on a jury. What challenges come with this responsibility? Note: This film is not rated.  
  • Thor (2011), directed by Kenneth Branagh  
    • Thor, the god of thunder, begins the film as the arrogant and disobedient son of King Odin, the most powerful of the gods. After a dispute, Odin takes Thor’s powers and weapons, and exiles him to Earth. Over the course of the film, why does Thor decide to take responsibility for the actions and what effects does that have? Note: This film is rated PG-13. 
  • Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose 
    • This nonfiction book tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army during World War II. How does the war challenge these men to act with responsibility for themselves and their fellow soldiers? What challenges do they face?