How to Write an If I Were President Essay

Pretending you are the president is a satisfying imaginative exercise. Thinking of all the rights you would wrong, justices you would bring and people you would save is exciting. While a president does have a lot of business-like work to take care of, like taking required trips and holding meetings and press conferences, she does have time to concentrate on fixing some of her nation's - and the world's - biggest problems. Studying the U.S. presidents in 4th or 5th grade, you may compose an "If I Were President" essay to share how you would run the country if you were elected.

List a few problems or concerns you have about your country or state. For example, if you are experiencing flood damage in your home state, come up with a few ways that you would handle the struggle if you were president.

Outline your essay with a graphic organizer. Draw a large rectangle at the top of a piece of paper and label it "Introduction." Underneath the rectangle, draw three boxes. Connect the boxes with lines to the top rectangle. Label these boxes "Main Idea 1," "Main Idea 2" and "Main Idea 3." Draw three bigger boxes below those and attach them with short lines. Title these boxes "Supporting Details 1, 2 and 3." Underneath the detail boxes, draw another rectangle, like the one at the top and label this one "Conclusion."

Fill in the graphic organizer Introduction box. Start your introductory paragraph with a “grabber” sentence that will get your reader's attention. For instance, write "It's hard enough in 4th grade to get people to like and respect me - imagine if I were president!" Include in the introduction the areas you will cover in your essay, such as how you would stop wars in other countries, help save animals on the endangered species list and improve schools for students like yourself.

Fill the body paragraphs with problems and ideas for solutions. Choose specific, original goals and problem-solving methods. For example, achieving world peace is a traditional presidential goal, but not specific enough. Write more specific problems and exact solutions. For instance, write “If I were president, I would make every Thursday ‘help your neighbor’ day. Everyone would do at least one good duty on that day, such as offering to buy a sick neighbor groceries, staying after school to tutor a child struggling in math or donating to a charity."

Fill in the Conclusion box your essay with a summary of your goals. Write about the larger concept of what you would want to accomplish as president. For example, if your essay focuses mostly on bringing peace to countries in war, discuss how, as president, you would bring the public's attention to issues around the globe by airing a TV special in which you addressed the most urgent conflicts around the world.