Presidents: Trivia

Pose a question MULTIPLE CHOICE or regular about the office/ office holders of
president, (U.S. or other)
First correct answerer sets
the next question.

Which of these U.S. presidents never RAN for president ?

A. Coolidge

B. Arthur

C. Ford

D. Truman

B. Arthur (not to be confused with Bea Arthur) because he took office upon Garfield's death but never ran for election in his own right, whereas Coolidge (1924), Ford (1976), and Truman (1948) all did.

Next: Who is the most recent U.S. president to have previously headed a federal cabinet department?
A. James Buchanan
B. George H. W. Bush
C. William Howard Taft
D. Herbert Hoover

C ?

Not C because he's not the most recent one, but Taft did serve as Secretary of War.

D. Hoover Sec. of
Commerce in the Coolidge Admin. ?

Not among the most quotable
"Silent Cal" remarks was his
opinion of Hoover, ca. 1927:
"That man has been giving me unsolicited advice for 6 years--all of it bad."
But he relented and became officially a (not very enthusiastic) supporter of
Hoover's 1928 campaign.

Yes indeed, Hoover.

Which 2 20th c. presidents
had no political background or past party affiliation,
and had not
even voted in every election, before running for president?

A. Truman and Nixon

B. Hoover and Eisenhower

C. Coolidge and Kennedy

D. T. Roosevelt and G. W. Bush

I'll go with B: Hoover the technocrat and Eisenhower the general.

Right, buckjohnson!

Please continue.

What was the first European country to have a woman president?
A. East Germany
B. Ireland
C. Malta
D. Iceland

//Hoping to open this up a bit to LTers outside the United States.//

B ?

Ireland has had two women presidents (Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese), but it wasn't the first; this other country elected a woman president in 1980, ten years before Robinson took office.

D ?

Yes, D: Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Europe's first woman president and the first freely elected woman president of any widely recognized country. Over to you, Roland.

European Presidents:

In 1958 Charles Degaulle
succeeded ___ ____ as president of France under a new "Strong President" constitution. The long-term, ceremonial, president under the old constitution was:

A. Vincent Auriol

B. Pierre Mendes-France

C. Joseph Laniel

D. Jean Le Pen

I'm pretty sure Auriol and Coty were the only presidents under the Fourth Republic, so because Coty's not an option, I'll go with A.

Auriol is right! (I had forgotten about Coty). Auriol, though an agnostic, was said to be a friend of another former diplomat Cardinal Roncalli, who became Pope John XXIII in 1958
(about the time of the DeGaulle ascendancy).

Please continue.

During a certain period within the past decade, what country had the unusual circumstance that its president and prime minister were twin brothers?
A. Poland
B. Cameroon
C. Lithuania
D. Mozambique

B ?

No, not Cameroon. The country in question held this distinction for 16 months, from July 2006 to November 2007. A few years later, the president died in a plane crash.

A. Poland ?
(I did hear of a plane crash that killed the president;
didn't hear that he was a twin.)

Yes, it was Poland. Lech Kaczynski was president from 2005 until his death in 2010; his identical twin, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was prime minister from 2006 to 2007. Over to you.

Match these presidents with
an opponent they had who did not belong to one of the
2 "Major" parties:
PResidents
1. Franklin Roosevelt
2. Harry Truman
3. George H. W. Bush
4. George W. Bush

Opponents*
A. Norman Thomas
B. Ralph Nader
C. Henry A. Wallace
D. H.Ross Perot

*None of these received any electoral votes; in the running along with one of them, however was Strom Thurmond (D, (later R), SC)
who did carry 4 Deep Southern states.

I'll go with 1-A, 2-C, 3-D, 4-B.
Wallace challenging Truman is unusual for at least two reasons: they both served as vice president under FDR, and Wallace served in Truman's cabinet.

All four right, buckjohnson.

I knew (and can even remember) that
Truman replaced Wallace
as vice president on the 1944 Dem. ticket.
The next time an incumbent veep was
left off the ticket was when Ford replaced
Nelson Rockeller with Bob Dole on the
1976 G O P ticket. (In their case, neither
the prez nor the veep had ever been
an elected v. p.)

Didn't know
that HW served in HST's cabiniet

Please take over.

Who is the only person known to have been present at the assassinations of three U.S. presidents?
1. John Milton Hay
2. Robert Todd Lincoln
3. Charles Francis Adams
4. James G. Blaine

//Try explaining that to the Secret Service. "No, I swear, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time...um, three times."//

(2)>Robert Todd Lincoln
--at the Lincoln and the Garfield assassinations

Yes, and he was present at McKinley's assassination as well. Robert Todd Lincoln's grave at Arlington National Cemetery is just a stone's throw from Taft's, so luckily Taft can't get any deader. Back to you, Roland.

Curiosa of the VEEP>PREZ Game:

Match these candidates with the curious fact about them.

1. John N. Garner (D TX

2. George H.W. Bush R (TX)
3. Al Gore, SR. D (TN)

4. WIlliam Miller (R, NY)

A. 4 years after he ran for veep, Norman
Mailer said he "NO LONGER looked like
the meanest yap in town".
(emphasis added).
B. Called the vice presidency "not worth
a bucket of warm spit".*
C. Became the 1st incumbent vice pres.
in 124 years to be elected president

D. Was furious when his party denied him
vice presidential nomination in favor of
the senior senator from his state, but lived
to see a son become vice president.

*Some have said that the quote was
"cleaned up" by saying "spit" instead
of the noun he actually used.

OVer 2 weeks since this was played on, so Iʻll change it
to a non-matching, non-multiple choice, question:

Identify:
The president who was
never a general, senator, or mayor, but WAS, however briefly, the de facto "ambassador" to Beijing,
and Director of the C I A.

George Bush, Senior ???

Is this correct? Any verification from anyone,

Thanks for bringing back this thread,
Silverifish.

Q. Biggest booster of the vice-presidentcy's
prestige: Before his tenure as veep, for many decades,
no vice president (except those who had
become president)had been considered
seriously as a presidential candidate.
After him, nearly all of them were so
considered:
Identify the Vice-President>President.

One of them was Richard Nixon . ???

Right, Silverfish. Nixon is
the vice-presidency booster that I was thinking of.

Next Puzzle: Both were USA Presidents:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt - 32nd president

Theodore Roosevelt - 26th president

Questions: Who won a Nobel Prize? Year/Kind of award?

Were they in any way related in the same ancestry's generation tree?

THEODORE Roosevelt won the Nobel Prize. Exact year I don't know; it was about 1905, Peace Prize, for mediating the Russo-Japanese War.
The two presidents Roosevelt were, I think, 5th
cousins. If my count is right, the ancestors they had in common would be a pair of great-great-great-great grandparents. TR was also the uncle of FDR's wife Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt and
was the relative who formally "gave" the bride at the E R / F D R wedding.

The first vice-president to become president as a result
of his president's death. As it turned out he served about 47/48ths of his running-mates's term.

To be exact, it is 1906.

Your next trivia on US Presidents.

next trivia:

The first president to become president as a result

of his president's
death. As it turned out, he served about 47/48ths

of his running mate's term.

James A Garfield ???

assasinated by a cook.

No, Garfield didnʻt go the
vice-president>president route; his running mate and successor did.

And the president I meantʻs predecessor wasn/t assassinated; he died of pneumonia which historians believe was activated by
an overly long inauguration speech in cold weather.

Warren G Harding ???

Not Harding; (youʻre now in the wrong century); itʻs true that
both he and Garfield didnʻt
get to complete their term. But they did complete more
than 1/48th of it.

I give up !

I guess no one else is trying.
So: John Tyler president during 1845--1849 is referred to.
Please set the "Next".

Who played the main role of Richard M Nixon in a Hollywood's movie, Nixon directed by O Stone ?

Anthony Hopkins
played Richard Nixon -- the title role in the movie Nixon --
(an exception to the usual casting of that time, because directors usually wanted someone who physically resembled* the character (in the case of real, not fictional persons), and Hopkins didnʻt by any stretch of the imagination resemble Nixon.)

*Compare the actors who played Mahatma Gandhi
in Gandhi (ca. 1981) and
Nine Hours to Rama (ca. 1961), especially the latter.

You have noticed the glaring difference between Anthony Hopkins and

Ben Kingsley. Ben Kingsley won Oscar for Best Actor in portraying the

role of Mahatma Gandhi in Oscar winning movie, Gandhi,well directed by

Richard Attenborough a sibling of famous botany guru- David

Attenborough.

I really enjoyed his mini series TV documentaries on

nature,birds,insects,animals and all things relating to nature. There are few

thespians who were able to act and behave liked the roles of the actual

famous and known personalities. Meryl Streep acted very well as

Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady; Helen Mirren as Queen

Elizabeth II in The Queen; Morgan Freeman as Nelson

Mandela.But,never forget Sir Anthony Hopkins is a superb British actor

as Hannibal in The Silence of The Lambs and won Oscar Best Actor's

award. Did Anthony Hopkins do well as a role of British's director love

story movie, Hitchcock about Alfred Hitchcock ? I believe he have tried

very hard in the role, I will give 6/10 rating.

Your next puzzle.

Identify:

The incumbent vice-president who failed to carry his own
state when he ran for president, but did win the popular vote nation-wide ?

Al Gore in George Herbert Bush Junior vs Al Gore race. There was a dispute in Florida votes counting.

49> 50

Al Gore (D, TN) is correct, silverfish999!
Please set the "NEXT".

Name the past living "Vice-Presidents" of USA, but never became

Presidents.

Name the past Vice-President's of USA names still living today but never

succeeded or elected to become a President eventually.

Al Gore (D, TN); Dan Quayle (R, IN)
Dick Cheney (R, WY)
and (I THINK still living?):
Walter Mondale (D, MN)

Your next move.

Identify:
A 2-term incumbent Vice President who became president by election. The last incumbent Vice President to be elected before him was
152 years earlier.
He defeated the governor of his native state, which was no longer his home state.
Like his predecessor of 152 years earlier, he was a one-term president.

(Can this thread be revived after 14 months?) Iʻll risk an (easier?) question than 56.*

Identify: First G O P CANDIDATE FOR president.
(Hint: Pre-Civil War; he had the initials
J. F., not A. L.)

*The answer to 56 is George H. W. Bush (in 1980)

< > > > >

Changing the question (57)
/
who was the first* NON-POLITICIAN;to be elected president in the 20th century? (Hint: He was a one-term, and not wildly popular president.)

*the second was Dwight Eisenhower -- ran for no elected office before 1952, though he had experience in "appointive politics", even having been president of a university.

< > > > >

Arthur

If (Chester A.) "Arthur" (61) means the answer to 59, it is incorrect.

The answer to 59 is Herbert Hoover (R,* Ia.)

*H C H became Republican, to run for president in 1928, from having been a member of no party. He was the first Republican candidate to carry any Southern states, but was widely criticized adversely in those states that remained Democratic
in the "Solid South" of that time.

Who was the only 20th century incumbent president who
failed to finish EITHER first OR second when he ran for re-election?

William Howard Taft, finishing third in 1912.

Correct! Good!*

WHT, b t w, has long interested me, not only because he failed to make even second (almost always attained by a"major"), but also because a co-worker once, a propose of nothing, casually told me that he was probably the best appointer of cabinet members -- because they were almost all prominent and competent business men!

*Got a "NeXT" for us?

In stark contrast to the current administration, who was only president to have NO turnover in his cabinet?

"NO turnover in his cabinet" (67)

Hmm, donʻt know but would like to. Sorry I gave away my last ed. of The World Almanac. That would have answered it -- if you have the patience to go trough their listings of presidential cabinets.
Thanks for getting the thread going again.

That would be Franklin Pierce (1853-1857), though the cabinet of that era was far smaller than that of today, consisting only of the VP, AG, Postmaster General, and Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior.

Next?

"Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) (D, NH) (69)"

Interesting. When I thought the most interesting thing about Pierce was that he appointed a wild pro-slavery senator as Secretary of War -- Jefferson Davis, in a few years to be President of the Confederacy.

OK, if you donʻ t want to be the "NEXT":

Which president won the POPULAR VOTE
exactly THREE times, but was only president twice (not 1, 3 or 4 times)?

Good question! Not sure, but I'll guess Grover Cleveland?

Good "guess!". Cleveland did indeed win the
1884, 1888, and 1892 popular votes. But his opponent,
Benjamin Harrison, won the 1888 Electoral College.
Cleveland also became known, by the conventional count, as not only a two-term president but two different presidents-- the 23rd and the 25th!

I figured it might be Cleveland since he had the split terms.

NEXT...

Who are the only two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery?

John F. Kennedy (sure); Woodrow Wilson (guessing)

The two are Kennedy, of course -- and Taft the other.

ghr4, are you taking a next turn? (I didn't
a right answer all the way.)

Oh, OK... I assumed that we just alternated asking questions...

NEXT:

Which two presidents served in World War I?

Harry S Truman; and, I suppose Woodrow Wilson (as Commander-in-Chief).

Truman and Eisenhower served during World War I. True that Wilson was Commander-in-Chief, but he never served in the military.

NEXT:

Which president appeared on the $500 bill? (No longer in circulation.)

Q. .... appeared on the $500 bill*?

A. William McKinley

(I don't expect ever to see one, even if it were still in
circulation, but I'm glad one of my UN-Favorite
presidents is no longer on currency.)

(Btw, Google calls them "notes" not "bills".

I'm assuming 81 (W.McKinley) is correct.*

*If it's not, Google is wrong!

BEFORE the notorious Donald J.Trump and George W, Bush,
who was the last president to LOSE the popular vote, and yet
WIN the presidency?

Benjamin Harrison in 1888?

"Benjamin Harrison" (84-85)

CORRECT! Please set the "NEXT".

Which president born in the 18th century (not the 1800s) has two living grandsons as of January 2019?

a wild guess: Martin Van Buren?

Pretty close! John Tyler, the tenth president, was born in 1790. His single term was from 1841 to 1845, so he was president in the same year as Martin Van Buren.

Two of his six grandchildren are still alive. Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. was born in 1924. Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928. They are the sons of Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr., one of President Tyler's 15 children.

". . . my father was 75 when I was born, his father was 63 when he was born," Harrison Tyler explained to New York Magazine in 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX8MOFhXm5U

NEXT:

Which foreign head of state was raised Mormon, but left that church as an adult?

A wild guess: Emmanuel Macron?

Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, so much in the news right now.

NEXT:

Which American president was the grandson of a previous president?

Benjamin Harrison grandson of short-term president
William Henry Harrison (president in 1841). BH was
defeated in 1892 byGrover Cleveland, whom he had defeated in 1888
but had lost to in 1884. Cleveland even won the popular
vote in his loss to Harrison., thus becoming the only
president to win the popular vote exactly three times.
(Frankiln Roosevelt later won it 4 times,)

Right of course, and interesting. Please set the NEXT.

"Be not over-hot, there being no water near
To quench your thirst, and as for other liquor
as: mighty ale or beer, they are things, I take it,
You must not think of, no, sir--not in a dream!"

THIS IS A QUOTE FROM:
A. T..S. Eliot
B. William Shakespeare}
C. Thomas Middleton
D. John Milton

I'm not really familiar with Thomas Middleton, so for some reason I'm picking him.

Good pick! Correct!

The line quoted was a favorite Elizabethan, non-Shakespearean,
line to A: T. S. Eliot. Please set the "NeXT".

But,Sorry: I notice now that the Middleton et al. question was
not "presidential", and should have been in the "Mulltiple Choice"
thread.

(Well, let's say it was related to Rutherford B. Hayes, a well-known teetotaler president.)

NEXT:

In 1865, African-American schoolteacher and church organist Elizabeth Jennings boarded a New York City horse-drawn streetcar, and refused to leave after being ordered off by the conductor.

Which future president represented her court case, which eventually led to desegregation of New York City streetcars?

Grover Cleveland?

Chester A. Arthur was the lead attorney on that case, so you were pretty close.

NEXT: Who was the last president *not* to use the Resolute desk in the Oval Office?

"Chester A. Arthur was the lead attorney (in
the Jennings case)..." (98)

I ruled out A. Johnson, Grant, Garfield, Hayes*, and Arthur, because
like all the presidents (except Cleveland) of the post-Civil- War
Era, their recent backgrounds had been as Union generals. I didn't
know that Arthur was also a lawyer.

As for the Resolute desk, I'm hearing of it for the first time!
So I hope some one else can answer.

*At least one historian has said that Hayes's rank was lower
than general. --(or was it an amateur historian/would-be-pundit?)

Okay, maybe nerding out over Oval Office furniture isn't that interesting. George H. W. Bush (41) was the last president *not* to use the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, one of only six desks used in the Oval Office. All other presidents since Jimmy Carter have used the Resolute desk, originally a present from Queen Victoria. JFK was the first to move it into the Oval Office, but LBJ was too large to use it.

NEXT:

Which living ex-president served in World War II?

Jimmy Carter? (b. 1924,and a graduate of Annapolis)

Yep! Please set the NEXT.

Who was the first president to seek (at least nomination)
for a third term?

A. Franklin D. Roosevelt

B. George H. W. Bush

C. Ulysses S. Grant

D. Harry S Truman

I'm assuming C., Ulysses S. Grant?

Right, kittycatpurr! Please set the next.

I did not know that. (in a Johnny Carson voice)

NEXT:

Which president appointed the first cabinet member to serve time in prison for conspiracy?

A. Warren Harding

B. Richard Nixon

C. Ronald Reagan

B. Richard Nixon ?

He was probably "most", rather than first.

I suspected it might be a decoy, the said "nah: they
weren't that legalistic in WGH's time!

But now I'll say A.

Right! Hellooooo Teapot Dome.

Please set the NEXT.

Which of these prominent Democrat New Deal figures
was NOT a vice-president of Franklin D. Roosevelt?

A. Henry A. Wallace

B. James Farley

C. John N. Garner

D. Harry S Truman

B. James Farley?

James Farley is correct, kittycatpurr !
Please set the "NEXT".

Which president signed the Panama Canal Treaty, returning control of the canal to Panama as of December 31st, 1999?

A. Theodore Roosevelt

B. Jimmy Carter

C. Bill Clinton

B. ? (As I remember it, Carter at least took
the flak for it.)

Yes indeedy. Please set the NEXT.

Which president nominated to the U. S.
Supreme Court Roger Taney (D, Md.), author
of the notorious slavery-enhancing Dred Scott Decision?

A. John Tyler

B. James Buchanan

C. James Knox Polk

D. Andrew Jackson

A. John Tyler?

"John Tyler" (120, 122) -- Good guess, --would
have been jus tlike JT -- but it was actually a
more respected Southern Democrat.

C. James K. Polk?

James K. Polk (124). No. (Not sure if JKP, a one-term
president, famous for his continental imperialism, ever
got to nominate a USSC justice.

It's down to just Buchanan and Jackson; I've already ruled out
Buchanan (D, PA) by saying it was a SOUthERN Democrat. So
I'll assume you're guessing (correctly) Andrew Jackson
and pass the "NEXT" on to you.

Get lost, @Wifs08! Oh, excuse me: it appears you
already are. Start your own thread, --OR find another
thread -- one that has something to do with your topic.

Which vice president was later elected president, but only after an intervening administration, and not directly afterwards?

A. Thomas Jefferson

B. Martin Van Buren

C. Richard Nixon

D. George H. W. Bush

C.Richard Nixon

Correct, of course. Although we'll see what happens with Biden. Please set the next!

NEXT: What president said about his ( as it turned out) successor:*
"That man has been giving me unsolicited advice for the last
six years -- all of it bad!"

A. Calvin Coolidge

B. Millard Fillmore

C. Theodore Roosevelt

D. James Madison

*He was, though. finally reconciled enough to him to endorse
him in the next election

Awesome quote, I haven't heard that.

I'm tempted by Theodore Roosevelt. I know he and Taft had a falling out.

But I'll say A. Calvin Coolidge about Herbert Hoover, since Hoover's economic ideas were so catastrophic.

Good change of mind: A. (Coolidge, said about his Sec. of
Commerce, Herbert Hoover) is right.

NEXT: Which president appointed a (now deceased) cabinet member who is the parent of a currently serving Supreme Court justice?

A. Gerald Ford

B. Ronald Reagan

C. Bill Clinton

-- And for extra imaginary points, the name of the cabinet member and the name of the justice.

A wild guess: B. Ronald Reagan

Correct! Anne Gorsuch was Reagan's EPA administrator, and the mother of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch.

https://twitter.com/billscher/status/827575838187089920?lang=en

Please set the NEXT.

Legend* says he was arrested for drunkeness by a
D. C. policeman, who didn't recognize him. Which president?

*Not sure this is history; it may be only folklore.

A. Ulysses S. Grant

B. Warren G. Harding

C. Franklin Pierce

D. John Tyler

Okay, I think I know this one! C., Franklin Pierce?

Pierce was apparently a high-functioning (or mid-functioning) alcoholic.

C. Franklin Pierce (137 - 138)

Correct! Please set the "NEXT".

Which president did NOT die on the Fourth of July? The other three did.

A. George Washington

B. John Adams

C. Thomas Jefferson

D. James Monroe

A. George Washington ?

Yep! John Adams (in Massachusetts) and Thomas Jefferson (in Virginia) died on the same day: July 4, 1826.

James Monroe was the last president of the Revolutionary generation, and patriotically passed away on July 4, 1831.

Please set the NEXT.

Which 2 presidents had the Army rank of captain in the
two World Wars? (Only the WW I vet was a combat veteran:
he was involved in the rescue of Major (later General)
George Patton.)

A. Taft and George W. Bush

B. Cooldige and Carter

C. Truman and Reagan

D. Hoover and Clinton

Oh wow. C., Truman and Reagan?

C. Truman and Reagan: CORRECT

Please set the "NEXT".

Which president and family had to move out of the White House during a 4-year renovation, because it was about to collapse?

A. Andrew Jackson

B. Ulysses S. Grant

C. Harry Truman

D. Lyndon B. Johnson

C. Harry Truman ?

Right!

Please set the NEXT.

(Truman) . . .move out of the White House: it's within
living memory, but before I was old enough to vote; I don't
remember it as a FOUR-YEAR eviction!

The presidential candidate played by Spencer Tracy in the political
classic movie State of the Union (of the Truman Era) was named:

A. "Grant Matthews"

B. "Wendell Morris"

C. "George Farren"

D. "Lee O'Brien"

No idea, so I'm going to say C. George Farren, although I spent some time looking at Wendell Morris because of Wendell Willkie.

Sorry, not George Farren/ And "Wendell Morris" was definitely
a decoy because he had part of the name of a real life candidate

Hmmmm. D. Lee O'Brien?

Not D. (O'Brien, but A. "Grant Matthews"

Maybe that was less of a classic than I thought. (Mrs. Matrthews, the
estranged wife of candidate Grant" b t w was played
by Katherine Hepburn. I saw it, not on TV but in a theater
many decades ago.

I'll set the "NEXT".

Which president co-authored a novel with a well-known
U. S. thriller writer?

A. Bill Clinton

B. Harry S Truman

C. George H. W. Bush

D. George W. Bush

Isn't that A. Bill Clinton? Recently, with James Patterson or someone similar?

Correct: with James Patterson!
Please set the "NEXT".

Which president has been buried in three different places, and in 2018, narrowly avoided being moved to a fourth resting place?

A. William Henry Harrison

B. James K. Polk

C. Ulysses S. Grant

D. Calvin Coolidge

a wild guess: B. James K, Polk ?

Yes! Please set the NEXT.

What not very publicized president, a Pennsylvanian, had
a play written about him by a later novelist (perhaps
Pennsylvania's most popular)?

A. John Quincy Adams

B. Rutherford B. Hayes

C. James Buchanan

D. Chester A. Arthur

I have NO idea. B., Rutherford B. Hayes?

Sorry, NOT, B. Hayes. Go ahead and choose
among the other three.

C. James Buchanan? Maybe we should be publicizing the unsuccessful presidents as How-Not-To lessons.

How-not to lessons?" (163). Right!

AND C, Buchanan is right. Please set the "NEXT".