Each of these places has a leader who mades sure we follow the laws.

In a community, the mayor is the leader.

In a state, the governor is the leader.

Our country is led by the President. The president's job is to make sure that everyone in our country follows our country's laws.

We vote for our government leaders, like the President.

To vote means to choose who we are for or against.

The special time when we vote for our leaders is called an election. In an election, the person with the most votes wins.

Some government leaders are appointed.

To appoint means to pick someone for a job.

usually these people are appointed by an elected leader.

Governments are made up of many people with different jobs.

A group of people called the city council makes laws for a city.

The mayor makes sure that people follow the city's laws.

Judges makes decisions about laws and makes sure that laws are fair.

Judges work in a court. People go to a court to get help when they cannot agree about the law.

When Thurgood Marshall was a boy, some laws were not fair to African Americans.

He became a lawyer to help fight unfair laws.

Some states had laws that said black children could not go to school with white children. Thurgood Marshall helped to change the law so that all children could go to school together.

Thurgood Marshall was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to be a judge on the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve on this court. There he helped to change unfair laws for all people.