Presidents

Question 1

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Answer 1

George Washington 1789-97 (The Father of His Country)

· Political Party: Federalist
· Vice President: John Adams
· First Lady: Martha (Custis, nee Dandridge) Washington
· State: Virginia (retired to Mount Vernon in VA.)
· George Washington was a surveyor in his early life.
· George Washington fought in the French & Indian War of 1754-63 with the American Colonists on the side of the British, gaining valuable experience as a soldier, leader, and knowledge of British war tactics.
·He was the only president to not live in the White House.
· He was the only president to have a state named after him.
· He was the only president elected by unanimous electoral vote.
· He had no natural children.

Question 2

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Answer 2

John Adams
1797-1801 (The Duke of Braintree)

· Political Party: Federalist
· Vice President: Thomas Jefferson
· First Lady: Abigail Adams
· State: Massachusetts (Braintree)
· John Adams graduated from Harvard University.
· He opposed the Stamp Act.
· He was delegate to first Continental Congress.
· He is the first president alphabetically.
· He is the father of John Quincy Adams.

Question 3

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Answer 3

(The Sage of Monticello)

· Political Party: Democratic-Republican
· Vice Presidents: Aaron Burr (killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel); George Clinton
· First Lady: none (his wife Martha died before he took office)
· State: Virginia Monticello
· Home: Monticello
· Thomas Jefferson was elected to his first term by the House of Representatives after being tied with Aaron Burr.
· He wrote the Declaration of Independence.
· He was the first president inaugurated in Washington D.C.
· He made the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon in 1803.
· He founded The University of Virginia.
· He fathered one and probably several children by slave Sally Hemming.
· He played the violin.

Question 4

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Answer 4

James Madison 1809-17 (The Father of the Constitution, The Sage of Montpelier)

· Political Party: Democratic-Republican
· Vice Presidents: George Clinton , Elbridge Gerry (Gerrymandering was named for him-rearranging voting districts for political purposes)
· First Lady: Dolley Madison (noted for her being a great hostess in the White House)
· State: Virginia (Montpelier)
· James Madison was president during the War of 1812.
· He is credited with writing the Bill of Rights.
· He was the shortest president at 5’ 4”.

Question 5

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Answer 5

James Monroe 1817-25

· Political Party: Democratic-Republican
· Vice President: Daniel Tompkins
· First Lady: Eliza Monroe
· State: Virginia (Ash Lawn)
· James Monroe fought as a major in the American Revolution and was wounded in the Battle of Trenton.
· He served in the cabinet of Thomas Jefferson and as governor of Virginia.
· In 1820 he ran unopposed for president.
· He established Monroe Doctrine in 1823 that opposed European intervention in the affairs of the western hemisphere.
· He presided over “The Era of Good Feelings.”
· Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is named for him.
· His picture is on the $5,000 bill.

Question 6

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Answer 6

John Quincy Adams 1825-29 (Old Man Eloquent)

· Political Party: National-Republican
· Vice President: John C. Calhoun
· First Lady: Louise (Johnson) Adams
· State: Massachusetts (Braintree)
· John Quincy Adams won the election of 1824 over Andrew Jackson by decision of the House of Representatives.
· He returned to the House of Representatives after being president.
· He was the attorney for the slaves of the mutiny ship Amistad.
· He was the son of John Adams.

Question 7

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Answer 7

Andrew Jackson 1829-37 (Old Hickory)

· Political Party: Democrat
· Vice Presidents: John C. Calhoun (first V.P. to resign), Martin Van Buren
· First Lady: Rachel Jackson
· State: Tennessee (The Hermitage)
· Andrew Jackson led the American troops in the Battle of New Orleans.
· His wife Rachel died seven weeks into his first term.
· His cabinet was nicknamed the “Kitchen Cabinet”
· He was the first president from a state west of the Appalachians.
· He withdrew all funds from the Bank of the United States.
· He adopted the “spoils system” of appointing political supporters to government positions.
· He was the first president involved in an assassination attempt.
· He was the first president born in a log cabin.
· He defeated the Creek Indians in Alabama.

Question 8

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Answer 8

Martin Van Buren 1837-41 (The Sage of Kinderhook)

· Political Party: Democrat
· Vice President: Richard Johnson
· First Lady: none (wife died in 1819, never remarried)
· State: New York
· Martin Van Buren was of Dutch descent.
· He served as governor of New York.
· He served in the cabinet of Andrew Jackson as Secretary of State.
· He was the first president born in the USA.
· He was beaten decisively by W. H. Harrison in the 1840 election, mainly because of a depression during his administration.

Question 9

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Answer 9

William Henry Harrison 1841 (Old Tippecanoe)

· Political Party: Whig
· Vice President: John Tyler
· William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office.
· He gave a 3.5 hour inauguration speech in the cold and rain, caught pneumonia and died 32 days later.
· He was grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison.

Question 10

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Answer 10

John Tyler 1841-45

· Political Party: Whig
· Vice president: none
· First Lady: Julia Tyler (married while president)
· State: Virginia
· Secretary of State: Daniel Webster
· John Tyler served as governor of Virginia.
· He was the first VP to succeed to presidency upon the death of a president.
· He served briefly in the Confederate Congress.
· He was the president with the most children. (15)

Question 11

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Answer 11

James Knox Polk 1845-49 (First Dark Horse, Young Hickory)

· Political Party: Democrat
· Vice president: George M. Dallas (Dallas, TX namesake)
· First Lady: Sarah (Childress) Polk
· State: Tennessee
· James K. Polk served as governor of Tennessee and as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
· His administration fought and won the war with Mexico, annexing Texas and a vast amount of land west of the Rocky Mountains.
· He ran on the platform of “Manifest Destiny”, i.e., all land west to the Pacific Ocean should become part of the United States.

Question 12

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Answer 12

Zachary Taylor 1849-50 (Old Rough and Ready)

· Political Party: Whig
· Vice president: Millard Fillmore
· State: Virginia
· First Lady: Margaret (Smith) Taylor
· Zachary Taylor was a general in the Mexican-American War.
· He won the Battle of Buena Vista, defeating Mexican general Santa Anna.
· He was the second president to die in office July 9, 1850.
· He was Jefferson Davis’ father in law.

Question 13

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Answer 13

Millard Fillmore 1850-53

· Political party: Whig
· Vice president: none
· First Lady: Abigail Fillmore
· State: New York
· Millard Fillmore became president upon the death of Zachary Taylor.
· He established the first trade talks with Japan.
· He was the last Whig president.

Question 14

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Answer 14

Franklin Pierce 1853-57 (Handsome Frank)

· Political party: Democrat
· Vice president: William Rufus King
· First Lady: Jane (Appleton) Pierce
· State: New Hampshire (only New Hampshire president)
· Franklin Pierce graduated from Bowdoin College.
· He served in the Mexican-American War.
· He made Gadsden Purchase from Mexico.
· He was the first president to have a full time bodyguard.
∙ He is a relative of First Lady Barbara (Pierce) Bush

Question 15

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Answer 15

James Buchanan 1857-61 (The Bachelor President)

· Political party: Democrat
· Vice President: John C. Breckinridge (youngest V.P.)
· First Lady: none
· State: Pennsylvania (Wheatland)
· James Buchanan was James Polk’s Secretary of State.
· He was the only president to never marry.
· He retired to his Wheatland estate in Lancaster, PA.

Question 16

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Answer 16

Abraham Lincoln 1861-65 (Honest Abe)

· Political Party: Republican
· Vice presidents: Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson
· First Lady: Mary Todd Lincoln (spoke French and died in mental ward)
· State: Illinois
· Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky.
· He fought in The Blackhawk War.
· He participated in Lincoln-Douglas debates.
· He was the first Republican president.
· He was the tallest president.
· He enacted Emancipation Proclamation. (He called it his greatest achievement).
· He was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater.
· Son Robert Lincoln was Secretary of War under Chester Arthur.

Question 17

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Answer 17

Andrew Johnson 1865-69

· Political Party: Republican
· Vice president: none
· State: Tennessee
· Andrew Johnson served as governor of Tennessee.
· He was impeached and tried during his tenure (won trial by one vote).
· He was the only president to return to the Senate after his presidency.

Question 18

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Answer 18

Ulysses Simpson Grant 1869-77 (The Galena Tanner)

· Political party: Republican
· Vice Presidents: Schuyler Colfax (involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal), Henry Wilson
· First Lady: Julia (Dent) Grant
· State: Ohio
· Ulysses S. Grant graduated from West Point Military Academy.
· He served under Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War.
· He captured Vicksburg and Chattanooga during the Civil War.
· He became commander of the Union Armies toward the end of the Civil War.
· He established Yellowstone National Park as the nation’s first national park.

Question 19

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Answer 19

Rutherford Birchard Hayes 1877-81

· Political party: Republican
· Vice president: William Wheeler
· First Lady: Lucy Hayes (Lemonade Lucy)
· State: Ohio
· Rutherford Hayes studied law at Harvard.
· He served as governor of Ohio.

Question 20

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Answer 20

James Abram Garfield 1881

· Political party: Republican
· Vice president: Chester A. Arthur
· State: Ohio
· James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 by Charles Guiteau and died on September 19th after serving 199 days.
· His term was the second-shortest of any president.
· He was the first left-handed president.
· He had a dog named Veto.

Question 21

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Answer 21

Chester Alan Arthur 1881-1885

· Political party: Republican
· Vice President: none
· State: New York
· Chester Arthur became president upon the assassination of James Garfield.
· Robert Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, served as his Secratary of War.
· He renovated the White House.

Question 22

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Answer 22

Stephen Grover Cleveland 1885-89

· Political party: Democrat
· Vice President: Thomas Hendricks
· First Lady: Francis Folsom Cleveland
· State: New York
· Grover Cleveland served as governor of New York.
· He dedicated the Statue of Liberty, October 28, 1886.
· He was the first president married in the White House.
· He was the only president reelected after losing the presidency.
· His picture is on the $1,000 bill.

Question 23

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Answer 23

Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893

· Political party: Republican
· Vice president: Levi P. Morton
· First Lady: Caroline (Scott) Harrison
· State: Indiana
· Benjamin Harrison commanded Indiana’s 70th Infantry during Civil War.
· He defeated incumbent Grover Cleveland in 1888.
· He was grandson of William Henry Harrison.

Question 24

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Answer 24

Grover Cleveland 1893-97

· Vice president: Adlai E. Stevenson
· He became the first and only president to serve non-consecutive terms.

Question 25

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Answer 25

William McKinley 1897-1901 · Political party: Republican · Vice presidents: Garrett A. Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt · First Lady: Ida (Saxton) McKinley · State: Ohio (Canton) · William McKinley was governor of Ohio. · He promised a full dinner pail. · He was assassinated in Buffalo, New York by Leon Czolgosz on Sept. 6, 1901. · His picture is on the $500 bill.

Question 26

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Answer 26

Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909 (The Squire of Sagamore Hill) · Political party: Republican · Vice president first term: none · Vice president second term: Charles W. Fairbanks (Fairbanks, Alaska namesake) · First Lady: Edith Roosevelt · State: New York · Teddy Roosevelt’s first wife died in 1884. · He led the charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. · He became president when McKinley was assassinated. · He was the youngest president to assume office. (JFK youngest elected) · He sponsored antitrust legislation. · He enacted Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, which established the FDA. · He was the first president to travel outside the USA during his presidency to dedicate the Panama Canal. · He mediated an end to the Russo-Japanese War for which he won a Nobel Peace Prize. · Was shot and wounded in 1912 while running for president as a candidate of the Bull Moose Party. · His motto was “speak softly and carry a big stick”. · Had a daughter named Alice Blue. · Teddy Bear was named after him.

Question 27

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Answer 27

William Howard Taft 1909-1913 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: James S. Sherman · First Lady: Helen (Herron) Taft · State: Ohio · William Taft served as civilian governor of the Philippines after they were ceded to United States at the end of the Spanish-American War. · He was the only president to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. · He was the heaviest president. · He was president when the last of the contiguous U.S. states joined the union. · He created Dollar Diplomacy policy of low cost loans to Latin America and East Asia. · He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Question 28

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Answer 28

Thomas Woodrow Wilson 1913-21 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president: Thomas R. Marshall · First Lady: Edith (Galt) Wilson · State: Virginia · Woodrow Wilson Graduated from Princeton University. · He is the only president with a PhD. · He served as president of Princeton University and governor of New Jersey. · He brought the U.S. into WWI. · He established peace program of 14 points at end of the war. · He helped establish the League of Nations. · He is the only president buried in Washington, DC. · His picture is on the $100,000 bill.

Question 29

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Answer 29

Warren Gamaliel Harding 1921-23 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: Calvin Coolidge · First Lady: Florence (DeWolfe) Harding · Warren Harding was president during the Teapot Dome Scandal in which his interior secretary, Albert Fall, was sent to jail for taking bribes to secure oil leases on Federal lands. · Herbert Hoover was his Secretary of Commerce. · He died in office of an embolism.

Question 30

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Answer 30

John Calvin Coolidge 1923-29 (Silent Cal) · Political party: Republican · Vice president first term: none · Vice president second term: Charles G. Dawes · First Lady: Grace (Goodhue) Coolidge · State: Massachusetts · Calvin Coolidge became president upon the death of Warren Harding. · “The business of America is business.”

Question 31

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Answer 31

Herbert Hoover 1929-33 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: Charles Curtis · First Lady: Lou Hoover · State: Iowa · Herbert Hoover had an engineering degree from Stanford University. · He made his fortune with mining rights in Asia. · He was in China with wife Lou during the Boxer Rebellion. · He was Commerce Secretary under Harding and Coolidge. · He was president during the start of the Great Depression, which ended his political career.

Question 32

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Answer 32

Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945 · Political party: Democrat · Vice presidents: John Nance Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Harry S Truman · First Lady: Eleanor (Roosevelt) Roosevelt, a distant cousin to FDR · State: New York · Franklin Roosevelt served as governor of New York. · Was the only president elected four times. · He had an advisory group called “The Brain Trust.” · He sponsored New Deal program in response to the Great Depression. · He created the Tennessee Valley Authority. · He created the Good Neighbor Policy to improve relation with Latin America. · He contracted polio in 1921. · He died in office April 12, 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage. · His father was a distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt. · He had dog named Fala.

Question 33

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Answer 33

Harry S Truman 1945-53 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president first term: none · Vice president second term: Alben W. Barkley (Veep) · First Lady: Elizabeth (Bess) Truman · State: Missouri (Independence) · Harry Truman served as an artillery commander during WWI. · He became president upon the death of FDR. · He made the decision to use the atom bomb to end WWII. · He implemented the Marshall Plan to aid reconstruction of Europe after WWII. · He sponsored legislative program “Fair Deal”. · He was the last president without a college degree.

Question 34

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Answer 34

Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-61 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: Richard M. Nixon · First Lady: Mamie (Doud) Eisenhower · State: Texas · “Ike” Eisenhower graduated from West Point Military Academy. · He commanded a tank corps training center during WWI. · He served as Allied Supreme Commander during WWII. · He had an affair with his WWII chauffeur Kay Somersby. · He was president of Columbia University. · He did not hold public office before becoming president. · He warned against the “military-industrial complex”. · His Secretary of State was John Foster Dulles. · He had a home in Gettysburg, PA. · He was the first president to have a pilot’s license.

Question 35

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Answer 35

John Fitzgerald (Jack) Kennedy 1961-63 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president: Lyndon Johnson · First Lady: Jacqueline (Bouvier) Kennedy · State: Massachusetts · John F. Kennedy was the son of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. · He graduated from Harvard University. · He won Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage. · He served on the “PT-109”, which was sunk during WWII. · His father served as ambassador to Great Britain. · He was the youngest president ever elected. · He made “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in West Berlin. · He established the Peace Corps. · He considered the failed Bay of Pigs invasion his worst personal embarrassment. · He was president during the Cuban Missile Crisis. · He laid the ground work for the manned moon missions. · His brother Robert Kennedy was his Attorney General. · He was assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. · He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. · He had a home in Hyannisport, MA.

Question 36

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Answer 36

Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-69 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president first term: none · Vice president second term: Hubert H. Humphrey · First Lady: Lady Bird (Claudia Taylor) Johnson · State: Texas (The Elms) · Lyndon Johnson became president upon the death of JFK. · He launched the “Great Society” program to raise living standards. · He expanded the war in Vietnam.

Question 37

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Answer 37

Richard Milhous Nixon 1969-74 · Political party: Republican · Vice presidents: Spiro Agnew (resigned), Gerald R. Ford (first VP named under the 25th amendment) · First Lady: Pat Nixon · State: California · Richard Nixon served as a supply officer during WWII. · He served as two term VP under Dwight Eisenhower. · He had “Kitchen Debate” with Nikita Khrushchev. · He was defeated by JFK in 1960 presidential election. · He ordered gradual removal of U.S. troops during Vietnam War. · He opened relations with Communist China. · He resigned presidency in 1974 due to Watergate Scandal. · He was pardoned for “all offenses against the U.S.” by Gerald Ford. · He had a dog named Checkers. · He had a home in Casa Pacifica, CA. ∙ He has been on the cover of Time Magazine more often than any other person

Question 38

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Answer 38

Gerald R. Ford 1974-77 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: Nelson Rockefeller · First Lady: Betty Ford · State: Michigan · Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. · He played football at University of Michigan. · He served on the commission investigating the assassination of JFK. · He survived two assassination attempts by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and Sara Jane Moore. · He was the only VP and president not to be elected by vote.

Question 39

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Answer 39

Jimmy (James Earl) Carter 1977-81 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president: Walter F. Mondale · First Lady: Rosalyn (Smith) Carter · State: Georgia (Plains) · Jimmy Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. · He worked as a peanut farmer before his public life. · He served as governor of Georgia. · He signed Panama Canal Treaty and Salt II Treaty. · He boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics due to USSR invasion of Afghanistan. · He provided framework for Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. · He served during Iran hostage crisis. · He lived the longest of any president after his presidency.

Question 40

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Answer 40

Ronald Wilson Reagan 1981-89 (The Great Communicator, Dutch, The Teflon President) · Political party: Republican · Vice president: George Bush · First Lady: Nancy (Davis) Reagan · State: Illinois (Tampico) · Ronald Reagan graduated from Eureka College in Illinois. · He appeared in approximately 50 motion pictures. · He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. · He served two terms as governor of California. · He survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. · He initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI or Star Wars). · He was the oldest president elected and the oldest to serve. · He was the only divorced president.

Question 41

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Answer 41

George Herbert Walker Bush 1989-93 · Political party: Republican · Vice president: Dan Quayle · First Lady Barbara Bush (The Silver Fox) · State: Texas · George Bush was shot down as a fighter pilot in WWII. · He served as director of CIA. · He served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. · He served two terms as VP under Ronald Reagan. · He coordinated United Nations effort to win the Persian Gulf War. · He has vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. · His sons, George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, served as Governors of Texas and Florida. ∙ He was the first vice president to be directly elected to the presidency since Martin Van Buren.

Question 42

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Answer 42

William Jefferson Clinton 1993-2001 · Political party: Democrat · Vice president: Al Gore · First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton · State: Arkansas · Bill Clinton had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. · He was impeached and acquitted during his second term. · He had a chocolate lab named Buddy.

Question 43

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Answer 43

Political party: Republican · Vice president: Richard Cheney · First Lady: Laura (Welch) Bush · State: Texas · George W. Bush became the fourth president in U.S. history to lose the popular vote and still win the election.* · He is the second son of a president to become president. * Others: J.Q. Adams v. Jackson, 1824, Hayes v. Tilden, 1876, Cleveland v. B. Harrison, 1888

Question 44

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Answer 44

Barack Hussein Obama II 2009- · Political party: Democrat · Vice president: Joseph Biden · First Lady: Michelle (Robinson) Obama · State: Illinois · Barrack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. · He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. · He has two daughters named Malia and Sasha. · In 2009 he became the third U.S. president to win the Noble Peace Prize. · His pet Portuguese Water Hound named Bo was a gift from Ted Kennedy.