As an entry ticket, have students quickly write about a significant decision they have made recently. Invite volunteers to share their responses with the class, and discuss. Guide the conversation by asking: How did you make the decision? What things did you consider? Who did your decision affect? Who did you ask for help in making the decision? Discuss the different ways students made their decisions and what factors were most important to them.

2. Introduce the topic of President Gerald R. Ford and the Helsinki Accords.

Ask students to quickly brainstorm, on paper, what they know about presidential decisions. Collect students’ papers to review as a formative assessment. Then discuss presidential decision-making as a class. Ask: In what ways do you think presidential decisions are similar to the decisions you make? In what ways are they different? Explain that presidential decisions can have an impact on people around the world and for years to come. Tell students that, throughout this lesson, they will focus on an important decision that President Gerald Ford made in 1975. Play the provided video clip from the documentary Gerald Ford: A Test of Character. Discuss the clip as a whole class. Ask: What were the Helsinki Accords? Why were they important?

3. Have students read and discuss the case study.

Distribute a copy of the handout Case Study: The Helsinki Accords to each student and have students read the Introduction, Geography, Assessment, and Conflict sections independently. Have students annotate the case study by highlighting key points, marking any unfamiliar vocabulary, asking any questions of the material, and briefly summarizing each section. When students have finished reading, discuss the reading using the following prompts:

• What was going on in the world politically at the time the Helsinki Accords were signed?
• What were some of the key ideas covered by the accords?
• How did the Soviet Union’s goals in signing the accords differ from those of the U.S. and its allies?

4. Have students write a decision statement from the perspective of one of the stakeholders in the decision.

Ask students to work in their small groups to brainstorm all of the people involved in President Ford’s decision to sign the Helsinki Accords. Explain that these people are considered stakeholders in the decision. Ask groups to share their ideas with the class and write these ideas on the board. Assign a stakeholder from the case study to each group and ask them to read the section of the case study pertaining to their assigned stakeholder. Then, have each group draft a decision statement from the perspective of their assigned stakeholder. Groups’ decision statements should include whether or not the stakeholder would want President Ford to sign the accords, why they feel this way, and how President Ford’s signing the accords would affect them.

5. Invite groups to share their decision statements with the class.

Write “For signing the accords” and “Against signing the accords” on the board. Have each group read aloud their decision statement to the class. As they read, write their stakeholder under the appropriate heading. Discuss the similarities and differences in the stakeholders’ opinions. Ask: What were some of the most commons concerns about the accords? What were some of the most common reasons in favor of signing the accords? Collect students’ annotated copies of the case study and their decision statements and keep them for use in Activities 3 and 4 of this lesson.

6. Have students reflect on the process they used to make their decisions.

In their small groups, ask students to discuss the process they used in making their decision. Then have each student write their thoughts about the decision-making process on a separate sheet of paper. Have them consider these questions: What factors were most important to you in making your decision? What was difficult about making the decision? What were some factors that you considered but ultimately decided were not important to your decision? Explain. When students have finished their reflections, preview the type of thinking they will do in Activity 2 by discussing what it might be like to have to consider all the various stakeholders’ points of view when making the decision. Ask: Do you feel that you could come to a decision that would satisfy all stakeholders? Why or why not?

Have students form new groups that include at least one student from each of the groups in Activity 1. Use the following prompts to facilitate discussion within these new groups:

• What factors influenced your stakeholder to make the decision?
• Did you feel that your stakeholder’s decision was balanced? Why or why not?
• Did you learn anything from another stakeholder that you didn’t know or hadn’t considered when making your decision?
• Do you think that new information may have persuaded your stakeholder to make a different decision? Why or why not?

Have each small group write a brief summary of their discussion and share it with the whole class. Briefly discuss the summaries. Ask students to describe how a presidential decision would be different from the ones that they made as stakeholders. Elicit from students that presidents must consider the opinions of all stakeholders when making a decision.

2. Have students investigate the geographic context of President Ford’s decision to sign the Helsinki Accords by examining maps of Europe before and after World War II.

Have students work in their original small groups from Activity 1 to compare the 1939 map of Europe prior to the beginning of WWII with the 1977 one of Europe during the Cold War after WWII. Have groups open the maps in two separate windows on their computers to make comparison easier. Project the maps as well, and demonstrate how to zoom in and make the maps full screen. As groups compare the maps, ask them to create a list of the major differences they see. Then have them each write a summary of how the geography of Europe changed after WWII. Discuss the differences students noted between the two maps, referencing the projected map. Ask students to identify NATO and Warsaw Pact countries on the 1977 map. Point out where the “line” was that divided NATO countries and Warsaw Pact countries. Ask: Which NATO countries border Warsaw Pact countries? Which Warsaw Pact countries and territories border NATO countries? Why would these places be strategically important?

 3. Model how to analyze a president’s speech to gain additional understanding of the presidential decision-making process.

Explain to students that they can gain perspective on all the opinions and concerns Ford had to consider in his decision to sign the Helsinki Accords by analyzing speeches he gave on the subject to different audiences. Distribute to each student a copy of the press release version of President Gerald R. Ford’s Address in Helsinki Before the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. Ask them to follow along as they listen to an audio recording of Ford’s speech and to pay particular attention to the reasons Ford gives for supporting the accords. Play the audio of the speech and have students highlight the written version as they listen. Distribute the Analyzing a Political Speech worksheet. Model how to analyze the speech by having students answer the questions posed on the worksheet as a class. Ask: When did Ford give this speech? What was the context in which Ford gave this speech? What was the purpose of his speech? Who was his primary audience? Who was his secondary audience (if applicable)? What were some ideas, concerns, or declarations Ford made in this speech? How did the points Ford made in his speech address his audience and their concerns?

 4. Have groups analyze two additional speeches Ford gave related to the Helsinki Accords.

Distribute the text of President’s Departure Statement, given on July 26, 1975, to half of the small groups and Presidential Remarks, Meeting With Americans of Eastern European Background, given on July 25, 1975, to the other half. Have each group read and analyze the speeches as they did in Step 3, using the Analyzing a Political Speech worksheet. When groups have completed their analysis, invite them to share their thoughts with the class. Discuss the similarities and differences among the three speeches. Ask: Were there any points Ford made in one speech that he did not make in the others? Did any of the speeches push some themes more strongly than others? Why would that be the case? How did he change his speeches for different audiences? Note students’ responses on the board.

 5. Have students explore stakeholders’ influences on the president’s decision-making process.

Ask students to think about the speeches they analyzed. Ask: Looking at the speeches together as a whole, which stakeholders’ concerns does Ford seem to be addressing in these speeches? What does this tell you about which stakeholders’ opinions Ford was most concerned with? Distribute the Stakeholder Table to each group. Model how to use the table by filling in the first row with the class. Then have groups complete the rest of the table. Return students’ annotated copies of the case study from Activity 1. They can refer to the case study, maps, and speeches as they work.

 6. Discuss which stakeholders have the most influence on the president’s decision to sign the accords.

Ask groups to share which stakeholders had the most influence on the president’s decision and which had the least. Have them offer evidence to support their ideas. This should provide the starting point for a discussion about stakeholder influence and presidential decision-making. Ask students to take notes throughout the discussion. Collect students’ map notes, speech analyses, annotated case studies, and Stakeholder Tables for use in the final activity of this lesson.

Introduce students to the web-based interactive You Decide: Presidential Decisions. Divide them into small groups and have groups select and play through the Helsinki Accords scenario to review what they learned in previous activities. Ask students to recall which stakeholders they felt had the most influence and the least influence on Ford’s decision to sign the accords. Ask how the maps and speeches they examined helped them reach their decisions. Explain that in addition to stakeholders’ opinions, presidents also need to consider the consequences their decisions might have on those stakeholders.

2. Have students create a consequences web to show the consequences of President Ford’s decision on various stakeholders.

Divide students into the same small groups they formed in Activity 1 and distribute each group’s copy of the case study they annotated in Activity 1. Have them re-read the case study in its entirety and highlight any consequences to stakeholders that they note. Next, model how to make a consequences web by drawing a square in the middle of the board and writing “Ford signs the Helsinki Accords” in the square. Then draw a circle and connect it to the square with a line. In the circle write “consequence 1.” Explain that students should draw as many circles as they need to list the consequences of Ford’s decision that were described in the case study. Then model how to illustrate additional effects of the decision. Draw a line from one of the circles to a new circle. In the new circle write “additional effect.” Have students work with their groups to draw a consequences web based on what they read in the case study and in the interactive and the cascading consequences they think the decision will create.

3. Use a historical perspective to add to the consequences web.

Explain that since Ford’s decision happened over forty years ago, we can look at it with a historical perspective, which makes it easier to track the cascading effects of his decision. Have students read some of the provided secondary resources with a historical perspective on Ford’s decision and use the resources to refine their consequences web, adding new effects or removing or revising ones they predicted.

4. Have students reflect on the consequences of Ford’s decision.

Have each group place their consequences web on their table or desk. Have students walk around the room and view other groups’ webs. Discuss with the class how the webs are similar and different. Ask:

• Do you think groups captured all the intended and unintended consequences of Ford’s decision? Why or why not?
• What effects might have been left out of the case study and/or the secondary sources you read online?
• Were consequences to all stakeholders represented in those resources? If not, which stakeholders are left out of these accounts? Why do you think this is true?

Ask students to take notes on the discussion and collect their notes and consequences webs to use in the next and final activity in this lesson.

Briefly review what students learned in Activities 1-3, using the provided President Ford and the Helsinki Accords photo gallery. For each photo in the gallery, review what students learned about the related content in the caption. Explain that in this activity, students will put together everything they learned in the previous activities to write a new decision statement. Place students in the same small groups they worked with in Activity 1, and return students’ annotated case studies, Stakeholder Tables, consequences webs, and notes from the previous activities. Explain that they will use their work in previous activities as evidence in their final decision.

2. Have students review the information they gathered on stakeholders in President Ford’s decision to sign the Helsinki Accords.

Distribute a copy of the Your Decision Statement worksheet to each group. Have them use the information they gathered in Activities 1-2 to complete Part 1 of the worksheet. They should refer to the case study, as needed, and to their Stakeholder Table as a reminder of what they learned.

3. Have students analyze the effects President Ford’s decision had on various stakeholders.

Have students review the consequences webs they created in Activity 3. Then have them complete Part 2 of the Your Decision Statement worksheet to identify the main consequences for each stakeholder.

4. Have students write a decision statement.

Have students use the information they have gathered and summarized in Parts 1 and 2 of the Your Decision Statement worksheet to write a final decision statement. Explain that students can use the decision President Ford made for their decision statement or make their own decision based on what they have learned. Explain that students’ decision statements must include their decision, a rationale for their decision with evidence to support it, and identification of which stakeholders will be negatively impacted and which will be positively impacted by their decision. When students have completed their decision statements, collect them for formal assessment of the full lesson.

5. Have students reflect on the decision-making process.

Ask students to compare their final decision statement with the one they wrote in Activity 1 from the perspective of a single stakeholder. Ask:

• Did your decision change? If your decision did not change, why?
• What information did you learn throughout the activities that influenced your final decision?
• How is a president’s decision-making process different from the decision-making process of one stakeholder? Explain.

Have each student respond in writing to the following prompt: How did analyzing the presidential decision-making process help or hinder you in making your final decision?