Roles of the President: Executive Branch Gallery Walk for Civics & American History

In this Roles of the President: Executive Branch Gallery Walk, students analyze a Gallery Walk of images connected to the seven roles of the United States President. This is a great activity for your unit on Article Two of the U.S. Constitution, the Executive Branch! Students analyze images of American Presidents throughout history and connect each to one of the seven Roles of the President. Perfect for middle or high school students studying the Three Branches of Government in Civics, American Government, or American History! 

Compatible with the Florida State Standard for Middle School Civics:

• SS.7.CG.3.3 Describe the structure and function of the three branches of government established in the U.S. Constitution. 

This Roles of the President: Executive Branch Gallery Walk includes:

✯ Seven historical and contemporary images for the Gallery Walk, each representing a different role of the United States President. 

The seven roles of the President covered are:

• Commander-in-Chief
• Chief Executive
• Chief Diplomat
• Chief Legislator
• Chief Citizen
• Chief of Party
• Chief Guardian of the Economy

Example images include:

• Ronald Reagan speaks at the Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War, urging Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” (This is an example of Chief Diplomat, the President fulfilling his role as leader in United States foreign policy.)
• President Barack Obama speaks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, endorsing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. (This is an example of Chief of Party, the President’s role as head of their own political party.) 
• President Biden prepares to give remarks on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that strengthened the American economy. (This is an example of the President fulfilling their role as Chief Guardian of the Economy.)

✯ Seven historical context cards provide background information for each photograph. These context cards will assist your students in analyzing the photographs and in connecting them to the roles of the President.

• Two options are given for image 7, of Ronald Reagan giving his Challenger Disaster Speech (An example of Chief Citizen, the President comforting the country in times of tragedy!) One optional for the historical context card includes a direct quote from Reagan’s speech; the other has a QR code to a YouTube video so students can watch the speech themselves! Use whichever option you prefer for your classroom! 

✯ The two-page Roles of the President Gallery Walk worksheet.

• Students travel your room in their gallery walk, analyzing each of the seven pictures and making connections between these real-life historic events and the roles of the President as leader of the Executive Branch. 
• Students are asked to describe each picture, identify which presidential role the picture depicts, and explain the connection. This is a great application activity, and really requires them to show their understanding of the presidential roles!

✯ A Roles of the President Reflection Response is provided as well. Students reflect on their favorite image, whether an image from the Gallery Walk could apply to more than one presidential role, and what an eighth image added to the Gallery Walk might look like. This can be used as an exit ticket! 

This resource is presented as a non-editable, printable PDF. It does include Answer Keys.

The TPT Easel digital version of this assignment contains only the worksheets for the Gallery Walk. Using this digital version of the worksheet, students have the option to input their answers digitally rather than write by hand. The actual gallery walk photographs are not included in this digital version.

TPT Easel assignments can be assigned directly through Google Classroom, or you can generate a link that can be shared with your students over email or through your school’s LMS.

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