President’s Day Trivia Challenge
The Presidents of the United States of America, from George Washington to Barack Obama
James K. Polk
“Young Hickory”, a president
who considered himself a
follower of Andrew Jackson’s
“common man” Democracy,
was the President most
responsible for securing the
United States “Manifest
Destiny” – controlling the
North American continent
from “sea to shining sea” by
taking the Oregon Country
and the Mexican Cession
during his Presidency.
John Adams
The second President of the
United States, John Adams was
a Federalist concerned with
protecting American interests
and securing the nation’s
government. The Alien and
Sedition Acts, passed during
his Presidency, probably
violated the Constitution, and
were steadfastly opposed by
the emerging rival party of the
day, Thomas Jefferson’s
Democratic-Republicans.
Grover Cleveland
Cleveland is the only
President to be elected to two
non-consecutive terms. He
was a devoted Anti-
Imperialist. When American
planters overthrew Queen
Lilioukalani in Hawaii in 1893,
he refused to annex the
islands under their illegitimate
provisional government.
The Chicago Tribune could hardly have been more wrong: Truman won his re-election campaign in 1948, and went on to serve for four more years.
Harry S Truman The Election of 1948
Harry Truman made the decision to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
He is also the President who desegregated the United States Military by executive order in 1948
Barack Obama
2009 – the Present The Obama Presidency
President Obama is the first African-American president.
Health Care Reform, economic recession, conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and gridlock in Washington, D.C have defined his Presidency so far.
James MonroeMonroe was the President of the United States during the so-called “Era of Good Feelings” – there was only one political party: The Democratic-Republican Party. During his time in office, though, politicians began to form two distinct parties: The Whigs and the Democrats. His is probably most famous for his famous “Monroe Doctrine”, a warning to European nations that the Western Hemisphere, including all of North and South America and the Caribbean, was no longer available for colonization.
William Henry Harrison
After giving a lengthy
inaugural address in
extremely cold weather,
William Henry Harrison passed
away of pneumonia within a
month of taking office. His
campaign slogan had been
“Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”,
since he had been a war hero
at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
The “Tyler, too!” part of his
slogan became very
important.
Andrew Johnson
A Southerner and a Democrat,
Andrew Johnson became the
first President of the United
States to be impeached – put on
trial by the Radical Republicans
in Congress following the Civil
War for an accused crime. In
fact, the charge was rather
contrived, and he was never
removed from office – but he
was probably the President
most hated by Congress during
his lifetime!
William Howard Taft
He was the only President to
serve on the United States
Supreme Court after having
been President.
During the Election of 1912,
he ran against his political
mentor – Theodore Roosevelt,
and Woodrow Wilson, who
defeated them both.
Gerald Ford
He became Vice President of
the United States when Spiro
Agnew was forced to resign
over an income tax scandal.
Richard Nixon selected him to
take over the office. Then, in
1974, he became President of
the United States when Richard
Nixon was forced to resign! He
is the only man to serve as
President of the United States
who was never the victor in a
national election.
George Washington
As the first President of the
United States, he established
precedents for all who would
follow him. During his two
terms in office, he saw the Bill
of Rights created, signed the
Judiciary Act into law, put
down the Whiskey Rebellion,
and delivered his famous
“Farewell Address” to shape
American foreign policy for
years to come.
Zachary Taylor
He was one of only a handful
of Whig Presidents, and he
was elected more as a war
hero than as a politician.
During the Mexican-American
War he had risen to fame.
Sadly, he passed away in the
year 1850, as Congress
attempting to solve the
growing troubles of
sectionalism and slavery by
crafting the Compromise of
1850.
George H.W. Bush
He was President of the United
States during a dramatic
moment in world history – the
collapse of the Soviet Union and
its empire. In the aftermath of
the Cold War, attempted to
establish a “new world order.”
During his Presidency, the United
States fought a war against Iraq
in order to liberate and maintain
the sovereignty of the tiny, oil-
rich nation of Kuwait, which had
been attacked by Saddam
Hussein’s forces.
John F. KennedyKennedy was the President of the United States during the embarrassing “Bay of Pigs” Invasion and the terrifying Cuban Missile Crisis which came frighteningly close to producing a nuclear holocaust. His youth and energy, however, inspired a generation to dream big – he made it his goal to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s and return him safely to the Earth – and it happened. Kennedy was assassinate in Dallas, TX in November of 1963.
Calvin Coolidge
“Silent Cal” presided over the
United States during an era of
enormous prosperity, and
exclaimed, “The business of
the American people is
business!” Unfortunately,
during his administration too
many American were running
their businesses on credit and
overproducing – the Great
Depression was caused in part
by the laissez-faire economics
of the era.
James MadisonFor a tiny, diminutive, and squeaky-voice little President, this man did all right: He was considered “The Father of the Constitution” for his contributions and note-taking at the Constitutional Convention.He was the author of many of the Federalist Papers. His efforts were largely responsible for the passage of the Bill of Rights. He was President of the United States for two terms, and during the War of 1812, also known as “Mr. Madison’s War.”
John Quincy Adams
He was the son of a President,
and earned the hatred of Andrew
Jackson by conspiring with
Henry Clay to win the Presidency
during the Election of 1824. John
Quincy Adams, though, was a
devoted and patriotic American
President and legislator. He is
the only American President to,
after having served in the White
House, run for election to the
House of Representatives. He
continued to serve there
throughout the 1830s.
Franklin Pierce
Elected President of the
United States during the
troubled 1850s, this “dough-
faced” President did little to
solve the problems of
sectionalism and slavery
which would soon tear the
United States apart.
James GarfieldJames Garfield was killed by an angry office seeker in 1881. He had pledged to bring an end to the so called “Spoils System” – which awarded government jobs to men and women who were the friends, families, and political supporters of victorious candidates. After Garfield’s death, Congress passed the Pendleton Act – requiring government employees to pass competency tests before they would be eligible for government jobs.
George W. Bush
He was the President of the
United States when Al-Queda
terrorists crashed airplanes
into the World Trade Center
buildings, the Pentagon, and a
field near Shawsville,
Pennsylvania. While he was
president, the US military
overthrew two regimes – the
Taliban in Afghanistan, and
Saddam Hussein’s
dictatorship in Iraq.
William Jefferson ClintonBill Clinton was the President of the United States of America during the 1990s, a time of great prosperity and growth for the United States economy. During his time in office, the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. Interestingly, although he was elected twice, Clinton never won more than 49% of the popular vote – in both the Election of 1992 and 1996, an independent candidate, Ross Perot, split the vote three ways.