In this lesson, students examine the qualities of a politician to determine which characteristics the most effective political leaders possess.

The video clips provided with this lesson are from Koch, a film about Ed Koch, who served three terms as New York City mayor from 1978 to 1989. New York City mayors have a world stage on which to strut, and they have made legendary use of it. Yet few have matched the bravado, combativeness and egocentricity that Ed Koch brought to the office. As Neil Barsky's Koch recounts, Koch was more than the blunt, funny man New Yorkers either loved or hated. Elected in the 1970s during the city's fiscal crisis, he was a new Democrat for the dawning Reagan era--fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Koch finds the former mayor politically active to the end (he died in 2013)--still winning the affection of many New Yorkers while driving others to distraction.

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