Presidential Trivia Questions and Answers to Show Your Love for American History
AGE, BIRTH, AND DEATH
Who was the youngest president?
Theodore Roosevelt was forty-two years old when he became president in September 1901, following the death of William McKinley.
Who was the oldest president at the inauguration?
Ronald Reagan was nearly seventy years old at his inauguration on January 20, 1981.
Which presidents lived to be in their nineties?
John Adams, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan all lived until they were at least ninety years of age.
Which four presidents were fifty-seven years old when they were inaugurated?
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Quincy Adams were all fifty-seven when they were inaugurated.
Which presidents were in their forties when they became president?
James K. Polk (49), Franklin Pierce (48), Ulysses S. Grant (46), James A. Garfield (49), Grover Cleveland (47), Theodore Roosevelt (42), John F. Kennedy (43), Bill Clinton (46), and Barack Obama (47) were in their forties when they first became president.
Which presidents died on the Fourth of July?
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July. Adams and Jefferson—great political rivals—actually died on the same day, July 4, 1826. Monroe died on July 4, 1831.
In what month have no presidents died?
No presidents have died in the month of May.
Were any presidents born on the Fourth of July?
Yes, Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872.
Which two presidents died on the day after Christmas—December 26?
Harry Truman and Gerald Ford both died on December 26.
Which two presidents died on March 8?
Millard Fillmore and William Howard Taft both died on March 8.
Who is the only president to die before both of his parents?
Both of his parents were still alive when John F. Kennedy died at age forty-six.
STATES OF BI RTH
More presidents have been born in what state?
Eight Presidents have been born in Virginia: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.
What state has been called “The Mother of Presidents”?
Ohio has been called The Mother of Presidents because seven presidents have been born there: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding.
Which two presidents were born in Vermont?
Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge were born in Vermont.
Who was the only president born in New Jersey?
Grover Cleveland was the only president born in New Jersey.
Which presidents were born in Tennessee?
None, but three presidents spent much of their political lives in Tennessee: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson.
Who was the only president born in Missouri?
Harry Truman was born in Missouri.
Who is the only president born in Hawaii?
Barack Obama is the only president born in Hawaii.
FAMI LY
Which president had the most children?
President John Tyler had fifteen children—eight from his first marriage and seven from his second.
Which presidents had no children?
Presidents James K. Polk and James Buchanan never had children. Polk was married but was sterile from an operation as a teen. Buchanan was the only bachelor President.
Who is the only president to be divorced?
President Ronald Reagan was divorced from Jane Wyman in 1948. He later married Nancy Davis.
Who is the only president to have twins?
President George W. Bush has twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.
Which three presidents married while they were in office?
John Tyler, Grover Cleveland, and Woodrow Wilson all married while they were president.
Which two presidents had sons who later became president?
John Adams’s son John Quincy Adams became president. George H. W. Bush’s son, George W. Bush, also became president.
Which president’s grandson also became president?
William Henry Harrison was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison.
APPEARANCE
Who was the biggest president in terms of weight?
William Howard Taft weighed well over three hundred pounds during his presidency. He is the only president to weigh more than three hundred pounds.
Who was the tallest president?
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president in history at six feet, four inches tall.
Who was the shortest president?
James Madison was the shortest president, standing only five feet, four inches tall.
Who were the next shortest presidents?
Martin Van Buren and Benjamin Harri- son were both only five feet, six inches.
Which presidents were left-handed?
Eight presidents have been lefties: James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Who was the first president to have a full beard?
Abraham Lincoln was the first—but certainly not the last—president to have a beard.
EDUCATION
Who was the first president to graduate from Harvard University?
John Adams, the second president, graduated from Harvard.
Which two presidents graduated from the U.S. Military Academy?
Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower both graduated from the U.S. Military Academy.
Who is the only president to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy?
Jimmy Carter is the only president to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Which two presidents graduated from Harvard Law School?
Rutherford B. Hayes and Barack Obama are the only two presidents to earn a law degree from Harvard.
Which two presidents graduated from Yale Law School?
Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton both graduated from Yale Law School.
Who is the only president to earn a Ph.D.?
Woodrow Wilson, the nation’s twenty-eighth president, earned a Ph.D. in history and political science from John Hopkins University.
Who is the only president to have an M.B.A.?
George W. Bush, the nation’s forty-third president, is the only president to earn an M.B.A, which he obtained from Harvard Business School.
Which other president attended business school but did not finish his studies?
John F. Kennedy enrolled in Stanford’s business school but withdrew.
Which president attended medical school?
William Henry Harrison attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania but left before finishing.
Who is the only president to have been a Rhodes Scholar?
Bill Clinton earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford after graduating from college.
OCCUPATIONS
How many presidents previously served as vice presidents?
There were fourteen vice presidents who later became president: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Tru- man, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush.
Who was the last secretary of state to later become president?
James Buchanan served as secretary of state to James K. Polk, the eleventh president. Buchanan later became the fifteenth president.
Which two presidents previously had served as secretaries of war?
James Monroe briefly served as James Madison’s secretary of war and William Howard Taft served as Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary of war.
Who was the last president to have served as an ambassador?
George H. W. Bush served as ambassador to the United Nations before becoming president.
Which presidents served in U.S. Congress after they served as the chief executive officer?
John Quincy Adams served in the House of Representatives after he was president. Andrew Johnson served in the United States Senate after he was president.
Who was the only Speaker of the House to later become president?
James K. Polk, former Speaker of the House, later became the eleventh president of the United States.
Which four former New York governors later became president?
Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were governors of New York before becoming president.
Which three Ohio state senators later became president?
William Henry Harrison, James A. Garfield, and Warren G. Harding all served in the Ohio State Senate prior to becoming president.
Which two presidents were formerly state attorneys general?
Martin Van Buren and Bill Clinton were state attorneys general for New York and Arkansas, respectively, before becoming president.
Which two presidents were formerly in law enforcement?
Grover Cleveland was sheriff of Erie County, and Theodore Roosevelt was police commissioner of New York.
Which three presidents had no prior political experience or political appointments before becoming president?
Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower were all career military officers who later became president.
SPORTS
Which president had a chance to play in the National Football League?
President Gerald Ford, a star offensive lineman at the University of Michigan, had a chance to play in the National Football League. He declined and went to law school instead.
Which president had the sports-based nickname of “The Kansas Cyclone”?
Dwight D. Eisenhower was known as The Kansas Cyclone for his abilities as a halfback at West Point.
Which president played in the College World Series twice?
President George H.W. Bush played for Yale in the college world series on two occasions.
Which presidents were involved in the sport of boxing?
President Theodore Roosevelt loved to box, and participated in the sport at Harvard. He later boxed under the tutelage of Mike Donovan. Gerald Ford coached boxing at Yale University.
Which president played movie roles about famous sports figures?
Ronald Reagan played the part of Grover Alexander in the movie The Winning Team. He also played the role of the gifted Notre Dame football player George Gipp in Knute Rockne: All American.
Which presidents have hit holes-in-one in golf?
President Dwight D. Eisenhower scored a hole-in-one in 1968 at the age of seventy- seven. Gerald Ford hit a hole-in-one at a Celebrity Pro-Am event in Memphis, Ten- nessee. It was later called the “Shot Heard Round the World.”
Which president was part-owner of a major league baseball team?
President George W. Bush was part-owner and managing general partner of Texas Rangers.
MILITARY
Which presidents were former full generals?
George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower were all generals before becoming presidents.
Which presidents were major generals?
William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and James Garfield achieved the rank of major general.
Which presidents achieved the rank of brigadier general?
Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison were brigadier generals.
Which presidents were considered genuine war heroes before becoming president?
George Washington was a hero of the Revolutionary War. Andrew Jackson was a war hero from the War of 1812, the War with the Creek Indians, and the war with the Seminole Indians. William Henry Harrison was a hero from the Northwest Indian War. Zachary Taylor was a war hero from the Mexican–American War, though he served in numerous other wars in his illustrious military career. Ulysses S. Grant was a war hero from the Civil War. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a war hero from World War II. John F. Kennedy was considered a war hero but never rose higher than the rank of lieutenant.
ELECTIONS
Which president won the most electoral votes in a single election?
President Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 with 525 electoral votes to only 13 for his Democratic opponent Walter Mondale.
Which president initially tied for the most electoral votes with someone else?
In the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and his vice-presidential candidate Aaron Burr each received seventy-three electoral votes. That led to the Twelfth Amendment and separate electoral vote counts for the president and vice president.
Which president won by a single electoral vote?
Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden by an electoral vote count of 185 to184 in the Election of 1876.
Which presidents never won a presidential election?
John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford never won a presidential election. They all assumed the presidency while they were vice presidents.
Which president was never elected president or vice president?
Gerald Ford served in both capacities but was never elected to either position.
Which presidents won the election to the president even though they didn’t win the popular vote?
Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, and George W. Bush won the presidency even though they lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, and Al Gore, respectively. President John Quincy Adams probably also lost the popular vote—even though there wasn’t a popular vote at the time— because he finished behind Andrew Jackson in the number of electoral votes in 1824.
Which third-party candidate finished second in a presidential election?
Former President Theodore Roosevelt finished second in the 1912 presidential election, running as a member of the Progressive Party. He finished ahead of the third-place finisher, Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. However, he still lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
CABINET
Which president appointed the first woman to a cabinet position?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances D. Perkins as his secretary of labor in 1933.
Which president appointed the first African American to a cabinet position?
President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Robert C. Weaver as secretary of housing and urban development in 1966.
Which president appointed the first African American female to a cabinet position?
President Jimmy Carter appointed Patricia Roberts-Harris as secretary of housing and urban development in 1977.
Which president appointed more African Americans to his cabinet than any other?
President Bill Clinton appointed seven African Americans to his cabinet: Mike Espy, Ron Brown, Alexis Herman, Rodney Slater, Hazel O’Leary, Jesse Brown, and Togo West.
Which presidents named their chief primary opponents as their secretary of state?
President Abraham Lincoln named William Seward as his secretary of state when they competed for the 1860 Republican nomination. John Quincy Adams named Henry Clay as his secretary of state after they competed for the 1824 presidential election. James K. Polk named James Buchanan as his secretary of state after they competed for the 1844 Democratic nomination. James Garfield named James Blaine as his secretary of state after they competed for the 1880 Republican nomination. Barack Obama named Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state after they competed for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
Which president appointed his own brother to a cabinet position?
President John F. Kennedy appointed his brother Robert as U.S. attorney general. That precedent later led to a federal law that prohibits presidents from naming family members to cabinet posts.
Democratic President Barack Obama named which Republican as his secretary of defense?
Obama named Robert Gates as his secretary of defense—a position he had held under President George W. Bush.
SUPREME COURT
Who is the only president to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?
William Howard Taft served as both president and later as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Which presidents never appointed someone to the U.S. Supreme Court?
William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson, and Jimmy Carter never appointed anyone to the Supreme Court.
Which president appointed more people to the U.S. Supreme Court than any other?
President George Washington appointed nine men to the U.S. Supreme Court and ten appointments in all because he appointed John Rutledge as both associate justice and chief justice. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed eight men to the Court.
Who appointed the first person of the Jewish faith to the U.S. Supreme Court?
Woodrow Wilson appointed Louis Brandeis to the Court in 1916.
Who appointed the first African American to the U.S. Supreme Court?
President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Court in 1967.
Who appointed the first female to the U.S. Supreme Court?
Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Court in 1981.
Who appointed the first Hispanic to the U.S. Supreme Court?
President Barack Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor to the Court in 2009.
NAMES AND NICKNAMES
Which presidents changed their last names?
Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. He later took the name of his adoptive father, Gerald Ford. William Clinton was originally named William Jefferson Blythe but changed his name to William Jefferson Clinton to take his stepfather’s last name.
Which president switched his first and middle names?
President Dwight David Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower. He switched when he went to West Point.
Which president was named after a reverend?
Grover Cleveland was named after the Reverend Stephen Grover, a mentor to Cleve- land’s father.
Which president was named in part after the physician who delivered him?
Chester A. Arthur was named after Dr. Chester Abell, the physician who delivered him.
Which president had his mother’s maiden name as his first name?
Millard Fillmore was named after his mother, Phoebe Millard.
What is the most common first name of the presidents?
There have been six presidents named James: James Madison, James Monroe, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, James Garfield, and James Earl Carter Jr.
Who was called “Dubya”?
George W. Bush was called “Dubya” after his middle initial.
Who was called “The Great Communicator”?
Ronald Reagan was called The Great Communicator for his great public speaking ability and penchant for connecting with audiences.
Who was called “The Great Humanitarian”?
Herbert Hoover was known by this nickname for his humanitarian efforts around the time of World War I.
Who was called “The Great Emancipator”?
Abraham Lincoln was called The Great Emancipator for his role in freeing the slaves with the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Who was called “The Great Manager”?
Martin Van Buren was called The Great Manager for his skill in politics.
Who was called “The Napoleon of Protection”?
William McKinley was called The Napoleon of Protection because of his sponsorship of an extremely high tariff law.
Who was called “The King of Camelot”?
John F. Kennedy was called The King of Camelot after his wife revealed that his favorite musical was the play Camelot.
ASSASSINATIONS
Who was the first president killed by an assassin?
President Abraham Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.
How many presidents have been assassinated?
Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy were all murdered.
Who were the assassins?
John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln; Charles Guiteau killed Garfield; Leon Csolgosz killed McKinley, and Lee Harvey Oswald killed John F. Kennedy.
Which presidents survived assassination attempts?
Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan all survived assassination attempts.