UPDATES TO ON-LINE CLASS NOTES

For those who miss any of the in-class lecture experience:

Remember, all of the class lectures from which the essay exams are drawn from are on my website on the world wide web on the following links:

• Week 1, Actual Lectures, Week 1, Leadership, Definition and Nature.
• Week 2, Actual Lectures, Week 2, World Leadership
• Weeks 3-4, Historic American Presidents
• Weeks 5-6, Modern American Presidents
• Week 8, The Federal Bureaucracy
• Weeks 9-10, Congressional Leadership
• Week 11, Supreme Court Leadership
• Week 12, Governors of U.S. States
• Week 13, Mayors of U.S. Cities
• Week 14, Non-Governmental Actors

January 18, 2023. We just talked about the subject of the course and the course requirements, plus some current events. Those who missed this class should review the syllabus for the course. Remember, all of the course information is on my website.

January 20, 2023. We covered half of the first week of the notes. We discussed the various definitions of "leadership," and then talked about the various "traits" exhibited by leaders. Important material will be covered Monday.

January 23, 2023. We covered the lecture material on Sources of Leadership from Stacey Abrams' life. There are 13 important points related to her that are good leadership pointers. We talked about the examples from her life, and I added some examples from my own life.

January 25, 2023. We covered the first six observations on leadership of Winston Churchill, which are in Week 2 of the on-line notes. They are: his core values on democracy versus Hitler's evil; his blunt speaking honesty; his self-confidence; determination; his inspirational speech; his commitment to democratic principles. Some students chose books to report on instead of the class textbook.

January 27, 2023. In addition to the 6 leadership traits of Church cited in the previous class, we added the following: 7) His ability to put himself in the place of other national leaders, to understand their perspective. 8) He learned from his mistakes, such as the need to be Defense Secretary as well as Prime Minister during the world war, so he could have authority to direct the war effort. 9) One on one interviews are important in assessing good hires. 10) Find the central point, the most important factor, in a given situation; thus, the war would be a Steel War, and factories were critical. 11) Make priorities for your daily work. 12) Think before you speak and write, and spend time composing your message. 13) Rest and relaxation is important, as a break in endless stressful work. 14) Visit the front lines and factories, as you get firsthand information and improve their morale. 15) Give bad news openly; he went to Moscow to tell the Soviet Union that the U.S. and Britain could not open up a western front by landing in France in 1942 or 1943, as over twenty million Soviets died in the war effort.

January 30, 2023. We covered 6 key leadership lessons of Nelson Mandela. They are: 1) Exercise is important, see notes for specifics on each. 2) Listen to and respect all different opinions. 3) Compromise is important. 4) Self-sacrifice, see notes for specifics on him. 5) Influence officials privately, as public criticism can embarrass them. 6) Don't make excuses for your problems or those of your ethnic group; but he also had ethnic pride. We'll cover the remaining 6 on Wednesday.

February 1, 2023. We covered the remaining key leadership lessons of Nelson Mandela. 7) Mediation role, see my notes. 8) His willingness to move ahead of the flock, meet with white leaders alone; don't just follow the polls. 9) Find common ground, pursue unity. Examples of working with de Klerk white leader. 10) Humility show. 11) Talks themselves are good; I gave Trump example of meeting with North Korean leader. 12) Graciousness, see notes for examples.

February 3, 2023. The only real new material is that we covered the class notes on Ghandi of India. We reviewed some important points made previously in this course.

February 6, 2023. We talked about George Washington today. There are 10 important points to remember, and they are in bold print in Weeks3-4 of the on-line class notes. Note the explanatory material for each. Only additions I made: under delegated authority, I noted that Jefferson had lived in France, and he negotiated the first treaty ratified by the Senate (opening our consulate in France). Under the pardon power, I added that two of the rebels were found guilty of treason, were sentenced to death, but received a presidential pardon after they showed contrition.

February 8, 2023. We talked about Lincoln's leadership traits. The 12 key traits were: empathy; great storyteller, and plain speaking; passion; overcoming challenges; hard working and preparation; gracious and magnanimous; control your anger; protect your subordinates; firsthand information; consider all points of view; accessible; provide perks. See the notes for examples.

February 10, 2023. We talked about material that won't be on the test, specifically the on-line class notes on Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Students also gave examples of their own leadership experiences, such as being a Pastor for a sorority helping students with their personal challenges, and related what they knew from other classes about these two Presidents.

February 13, 2023. We covered the last subject of Week 4, which was Franklin D. Roosevelt. I classified his leadership traits into 14 traits: inspirational speaker; persuasion ability; projected confidence; he made the news; he got voters to talk about their work and families; optimistic; never give up attitude, had polio; he used stories that enlived his statistics, such as the forgotten man; he assessed job hires in a short conversation; he had bipartisan appointments, see notes for specifics; he built consensus among stakeholders, bank holiday example; he wouldn't accept excuses for failure of his subordinates; he liked competition between his subordinates; his spouse, Eleanor, was a social worker who would report on real problems facing Americans.

February 15, 2023. We covered President Eisenhower today, and I combined all of the on-line notes into12 major groupings of his traits: anger drawer; dutifully taking on every task; took responsibility; office should seek the man; be gracious to those you defeat; serve everyone, so partisanship is not a consideration; is it good for America; put yourself in the other person's shoes, so congressmen of both parties were public servants, dedicated to America; hold bipartisan meetings, weekly breakfasts, luncheons with both parties' members, plus he had a monthly meeting with Democratic Speaker Sam Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Democrat Lyndon Johnson; let others take the credit; moral clarity; self-confidence (added to the notes), as he had a quick mind, weighed all of the factors, and he felt he was the best man to make the right decision.

February 17, 2023. We talked about Truman and Kennedy, neither of whom will be on the test.

February 20, 2023. We covered the Presidencies of Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. The midterm test next week Wednesday will probably have four questions, answer any two of them. 1) Stacey Abrams; 2) Choose one: Churchill; Mandela; 3) Choose one: Washington or Lincoln; 4) Choose one: FDR, Franklin Roosevelt, or Eisenhower.

February 22, 2023. We covered Presidents Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, and Clinton. I mentioned the test next Wednesday.

February 24, 2023. We covered Presidents George Walker Bush, Obama, and Trump, which won't be on the test.

February 27, 2023. Review for the test on Wednesday.

March 1, 2023. Midterm Test, In-Class. Everyone was present.

March 3, 2023. We started the federal bureaucracy section by talking about James Comey. We also talked a little about the closing days of the Obama presidency and the start of the Trump presidency, and how it related to FBI Director Comey. Next week Monday and Wednesday will be important material that will be on the final.

March 6, 2023. We covered the on-line notes about Colin Powell, which is an important topic. He is the first of two people who we will talk about this week, who became Secretary of State.

March 8, 2023. We covered the on-line notes for the important topic of Condi Rice, another Secretary of State under Bush 2.

March 10, 2023. We talked about issues affecting Starkville and the MSU campus, which was a good class discussion. I also talked about former Secretary of State under Trump, Mike Pompeo's book. This won't be on the test.

March 20, 2023. We are spending more time on the federal bureaucracy, and talked about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. We also talked about the possible Trump indictment.

March 22, 2023. We talked about Michelle Obama, and listed the relevant leadership traits that her life and role as First Lady demonstrated. See the notes.

March 24, 2023. I added material not in the notes by concluding the federal bureaucracy section by reviewing Trump Secretary of Defense, Marine General Jim Mattis (and Bing West) book Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. This material won't be on the test.

March 27, 2023. Remember that your written book reports are due on April 21, so you only have a few weeks remaining. I also talked about some of our successful students and alumni, who are mentioned in the most recent Alumnus magazine. I mentioned that the Final will be like the midterm, with the first two questions likely to be: a choice between Colin Powell or Condi Rice; a choice between Michelle Obama or Lyndon Johnson; one or two other questions, write essays on only two of the questions. I then briefly mentioned the importance of the House Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader, as institutional leaders of Congress. I then talked about the key Norms of Congress, listed in the notes. I then talked about an important topic that we will finish on Wednesday- Senate Democratic Leader Lyndon Johnson, who was the Senate leader in the 1950s during the Eisenhower Administration. We covered 3 of his 14 key leadership attributes: passion, believing in what he was selling; hard working; having a mentor, who was the leader of the South, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia (Johnson showed him courtesy and was a good listener to his advice).

March 29, 2023. We covered the next 9 of Johnson's leadership traits: getting publicity with catchy terms; taking the initiative in seeking the Whip and Democratic Leadership positions; doing favors for colleagues; winning the trust of political opponents, such as Humphrey; pursuing bipartisanship which put the needs of the entire country before narrow partisanship; loyalty to him stressed; congratulating colleagues on important events; proper timing for pursuing the 1957 Civil Rights Act; have experience with the issue and problem. See the notes for specific examples of each of these.

March 31, 2023. We reviewed the timing and experience with the issue/problem aspects of Lyndon's Johnson leadership on the 1957 Civil Rights Act. We also covered the last 2 aspects of his leadership on this issue, which were the complex ways in which he used "persuasion" and "compromise" in order to prevent a Southern filibuster of the bill, and got the bill amended the passed. Review the on-line notes about this complex subject carefully.

April 3, 2023. We covered the Crisis Point book on the Congress, specifically we talked about Congressional Leaders Mike Mansfield, Howard Baker, Tip O'Neill, Lott and Daschle, Robert Byrd, and John McCain.

April 5, 2023. We talked about how to reform Congress, drawn from the Crisis Point book and the lecture notes.

April 12, 2023. I noted that the book reports are due a week from Friday. I noted that it must be in your own words, and it is helpful to have some personal reaction to the book, drawn from your own life experiences. Two students already turned in their reports, so I mentioned important leadership lessons drawn from their papers. We talked about civil rights leader from Georgia, former Congressman John Lewis, and former President Obama, and the numerous leadership lessons that can be drawn from them, which illustrate leadership points associated with other political leaders we have talked about. We then talked about the U.S. Supreme Court, and landmark court cases of the Earl Warren Court. I then covered the first four of his leadership characteristics. Warren is an important topic.

April 14, 2023. We covered the next five of Earl Warren's' leadership characteristics. Make sure that you know all 9 of his leadership traits, from both his pre-court political life and his leadership as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. We also briefly covered federal district judge William Alsup's leadership insights from his book, Won Over. He was a Mississippian and MSU grad.

April 17, 2023. Remember that the Written Book Reports are due this Friday! From the syllabus, here are some pointers: "It should be no less than 5 but no more than 10 pages in length, typed double spaced. It should contain not just a discussion of the major findings and arguments of the book that are relevant to the subject of political leadership, but also an analysis and critique of the quality of the book, the validity of its arguments, and its value to a reader who is interested in learning about political leadership. The book report should be written in your own words, rather than copying directly from the book or any other source. Direct quotes should be few, and must include in parentheses after the closing quote the author's last name, year, and page number of the quote. You should also have an introductory paragraph, and a closing paragraph, which deal with the book as a whole. As such, the body of the report will deal with the specific chapters of the book (make sure you mention each chapter with specifics). Feel free to review the chapters out of order, such as by talking about each President all at the same time." For today's lecture, we covered the lecture notes on about half of the sources of gubernatorial success, from Self-Confidence thru Giving legislators some leeway to work out the details.

April 19, 2023. We covered the lecture notes for the other half of the sources of gubernatorial success, from Wooing Legislators to Improving the Governor' s Job Approval Rating and his/her party's margin in the legislature. Remember that the book reports are due Friday.

April 21, 2023. Book reports were turned in today. Anyone still working on them can e-mail them to me as a Word attachment by midnight. We talked about Governor Haley Barbour's leadership during hurricane Katrina. I then talked about the leadership philosophy of a noted civil rights leader, Congressman John Lewis. Finally, I gave a first mention of the take home final, which will be posted on my website next week.

April 24, 2023. We discussed mayors of major American cities, and detailed the careers and leadership traits of New York mayors LaGuardia and Rudy Giuliani, Chicago mayor Richard Daley, and Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley. I gave the graded book reviews back to students.

April 26, 2023. We finished up talking about the mayors cited above. We then covered the three important commonalities among civil rights workers, and then talked about non-profits and universities. We talked about MSU President Mark Keenum and his successful attributes and career.

April 28, 2023. We had a review session of two of the questions on the final exam.

May 1, 2023. We had a review session of the other two questions on the final exam. The Final Exam is a take home exam, and it follows: