PRESIDENTIAL QUIZ AND FUN FACTS

In celebration of Inauuration Day, I thought it would be fun to post something different, but still appropriate. Therefore, I have prepared a “Presidential Quiz.” This will enable you to test your historical acumen. The questions range from ridiculously easy, to give you a degree of confidence, to absurdly hard and obscure, to separate the real historians from the “great unwashed.” Furthermore, you young readers will see that history did not begin in 1980 as you may have thought. Here we go, and no peeking at Google! The answers appear below in the “Conclusion.”

1. How many Presidents has the US had?

a. 42
b. 43
c. 44
d. 45

2. Which President was nickamed “Old Hickory.”

a. Andrew Jackson
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. Teddy Roosevelt
d. Barack Obama

3. Who was the first President to be born in the US?

a. John Tyler
b. Andrew Jackson
c. William Henry Harrison
d. Martin Van Buren

4. Which President never actually ran for the Presidency?

a. Dwight Eisenhower
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. George Washington
d. John Adams

5. Who consummated the “Louisana Purchase?

a. George Washington
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. James Madison
d. Harry Truman

6. Who was the first president to be elected without a majority of either the popular vote or the Electoral College?

a. John Quincy Adams
b. George W. Bush
c. George H. W. Bush
d. Grover Cleveland

7. Which president added the most territory to the US during his tenure?

a. Thomas Jefferson
b. James Polk
c. Zachary Taylor
d. Theodore Roosevelt

For extra credit, name the states added.

8. Who was the first president to use “Hail to the Chief” when entering a room?

a. James Polk
b. Theodore Rosevelt
c. William Taft
d. Chester A. Arthur

9. Which president is generally credited with “winning” the “Cold War?”

a. Dwight Eisenhower
b. Ronald Reagan
c. Franklyn Roosevelt
d. Lyndon Johnson

10. Which president accidentally instituted the 7th inning stretch?

a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Franflyn Roosevelt
c. Woodrow Wilson
d. William Taft

11. Which of the following was NOT president?

a. James Buchanan
b. Benjamin Harrison
c. Henry Clay
d. Millard Filmore

12. Who was the first president to occupy the White House?

a. George Washington
b. John Adams
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. James Madison

13. The term “ok” or “okay” was derived from which president?

a. John Tyler
b. James Monroe
c. Martin Van Buren
d. Millard Filmore

14. Which president, after winning the election, was president-elect, senator-elect and a member of the House of Representatives simultaneously before being sowrn in as president?

a. Chester A. Arthur
b. Grover Cleveland
c. James Garfield
d. Benjamin Harrison

15. It is reputed that the baby Ruth candy bar is named after the daughter of which president (not Babe Ruth)?

a. Benjamin Harrison
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. William Taft
d. Grover Cleveland

16. Who was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms?

a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Grover Cleveland
c. James Monroe
d. Andrew Jackson

17. Which president had a children’s toy named after him?

a. Ronald Reagan
b. Gerald Ford
c. William Taft
d. Theodore Roosevelt

18. Which president was a direct descendent of two passengers on the Mayflower?

a. George Washington
b. John Adams
c. Milliard Filmore
d. James Madison

19. Who officially named the president’s residence the “White House?”

a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. James Monroe
c. John Adams
d. William Taft

20. Under whose presidency was the Oval Office designed?

a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. William Taft
c. FDR
d. Calvin Coolidge

Extra credit: FDR was elected president four times. How many vice presidents served under him?

CONCLUSION

This quiz turned out to be harder than I originally intended. You have to be a presidential historian to get them all correct. However, I think you can be proud of yourself if you got more than half correct. On the other hand, if you got them all wrong you’re NOT smarter than a 5th grader (and maybe should repeat the 5th grade)!

Answers:

1. c; 2. a; 3. d, 4. c; 5. b; 6. a; 7. b – AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, WY; 8. a; 9. b; 10. d; 11. c; 12. b

13. c; 14. c; 15. d; 16. b; 17. d; 18. b; 19. a;; 20. b; EC – 3