Learning Activity: Evaluate the role of the U.S. secretary of defense

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(CNN Student News) -- Challenge students to research the role of the U.S. secretary of defense and to propose criteria for selecting candidates for that job.

Procedure

In an interview with CNN's Frank Sesno, Professor of International Relations and History Andrew Bacevich described the three main roles of the U.S. secretary of defense:

"to envision what the military forces of the United States need to be able to do five or ten years into the future and then to begin the process of moving the military to that point;

"to serve as the link between the president and the senior military leaders...to translate the purposes of the president into language that the military then can implement;

"to act as the connecting link between the Department of Defense and the Congress and the American people."

Ask students: Based on Bacevich's job description of the defense secretary, what information would you need about Robert Gates to evaluate him for the position?

Note to teacher: For the video of the Bacevich interview, go to http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/presents/index.rumsfeld.html, click on "Web Extras" and then "Historian Interviews"

Refer students to related Web and print resources to gather more information about the job of the defense secretary and the people who have held the job. Organize students into groups, and ask each group to research one previous defense secretary. Have students gather evidence that sheds light on their assigned person's job as defense secretary. Students should note the military challenges faced by their assigned historical figures and what policies or actions, if any, were taken to address those challenges.

After the students have presented their findings, ask: What challenges does the U.S. Department of Defense currently face?

Next, in light of those challenges, encourage students to generate a list of questions that they would want to ask a defense secretary nominee. Then, have students imagine that they are on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Referring to their research and their proposed interview questions, simulate a committee meeting in which students debate the confirmation of Robert Gates for U.S. secretary of defense.

Correlated Standards

Civics

Standard III. How does the government established by the constitution embody the purposes, values, and principles of American democracy?

B. How is the national government organized and what does it do?

The institutions of the national government. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues regarding the purposes, organization, and functions of the institutions of the national government.

To achieve this standard, students should be able to explain why certain provisions of the Constitution result in tensions among the three branches of government, e.g., the power of the purse, the power of impeachment, advice and consent, veto power, judicial review

The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/912erica.htm) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/index.html)

U.S. History

Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

Standard 1: Recent developments in foreign policy and domestic politics

9-12 Evaluate the reformulation of foreign policy in the post-Cold War era.

The National Standards for History (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/) are published by the National Center for History in the Schools (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/).

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