Presidents of the United States

Question 1

George Washington

1st President 1789-1797 (two terms)

Answer 1

Vice President - John Adams
Birthplace - Virginia
Wife Martha - two adopted children of Martha’s
Age 57 when elected. Died in 1799 (67)
Received every electoral vote - only president who has
Ran unopposed for both terms
Retired to Mt. Vernon in 1797

Question 2

John Adams

2nd President - 1797-1801 (one term)

Answer 2

Party Affiliation - Federalists
Birthplace - Braintree, Massachusetts
Vice President - Thomas Jefferson
Died in 1826 at the age of 90
Ran against Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Pinckney
Signed the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 - gave the president special powers to deport dangerous foreigners. Lost renomination battle with Jefferson by 8 votes. Created a separate Department of the Navy
Appointed John Marshall chief justice of the supreme court.

Question 3

Thomas Jefferson

3rd President - 1801-1809 (two terms)

Answer 3

Birthplace Goochland County, VA
Vice presidents Aaron Burr and George Clinton
Fathered various children with Sally Hemmings
Party affiliation - Democratic-Republicans
First president to take office in Washington, D.C.
Ran against John Adams and Aaron Burr in 1800- tied with Burr, therefore selected by Congress
Defeated Charles Pinckney in 1804
Monticello - Jefferson’s home that he designed himself.
Purchased the Louisiana territory
Commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition to find the best water route to the Pacific.
Sacagawea-scout who guided Lewis and Clark

Question 4

James Madison

4th President 1809 - 1817 (two terms)

Answer 4

Born - Port Conway, Virginia
Two vice presidents: George Clinton (died in office) and Elbridge Gerry (also died in office.)
Born in 1751; died in 1836 (85)
Play a leading role in Federal convention of 1787 and in drafting constitution and obtaining ratification.
Married the widow Dolly Pain Todd (nee Madison)
Secretary of State 1801-1809
Served concurrently with Napoleon Bonaparte
War of 1812 with Britain during Madison’s presidency
Ended with treaty of Ghent.
Defeated Charles Pinckney 1808, Dewitt Clinton 1812
5 feet 4 inches, 100 pounds

Question 5

James Monroe

5th President 1817-1825 (two terms)

Answer 5

Born - Westmorland County, VA
Born 1758, died 1831 (73)
Vice President: Daniel Tompkins (both terms)
Won all but one electoral votes 231-1. Was secretary of state and secretary of war under Madison
Monroe doctrine - US would not accept colonization by any European power of Caribbean and South America.
Missouri compromise under Monroe - Missouri and Maine both admitted as states to preserve slave state balance. Defeated Rufus King first term, Dewitt Clinton 2nd. Presided over the Era of Good Feelings.

Question 6

John Quincy Adams
6th President (1825-1829) (one term)

Answer 6

Son of the second president - John Adams
Author of the Monroe Doctrine
Vice-president - John Calhoun
Born 1767 in Braintree, MA; died 1848 (80)
Ran against Wm. Crawford, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson. No one received majority. Went to the House. Adams selected. Democratic party was born to assure the defeat of Adams in 1828. Ran against Jackson and lost. Served in the House of Representatives from 1831-1848

Question 7

Andrew Jackson
7th President (1829-1837) (two terms)

Answer 7

Born Waxhaw, South Carolina 1767; died 1845 (78)
Imprisoned in Revolutionary War where he contracted smallpox and suffered injuries that resulted in scar on face. Married Rachel Robards before she was divorced from her first husband. Served in US senate for Tennessee. Killed Charles Dickinson in a duel. Soldiers called him Old Hickory. He was first territorial governor of Florida, which was bought from Spain. Eliminated the national debt. Forced Indians to move west on the Trail of Tears. Vice president Martin Van Buren. Vetoed bill renewing charter of Second Bank of the US. Placed funds in state banks called pet banks. First president to have an attempt made on his life. Prevailed against the British in the battle of New Orleans. Initiated the spoils system. Vetoed more legislation than all his predecessors.

Question 8

Martin Van Buren
8th President (Democrat)
1837-1841 (one term)

Answer 8

Jackson smoothed the way for Van Buren’s election.
V.P. Richard Johnson. “The Herbert Hoover of his day” - cold and callous during a depression. Foppish. Secretary of State and VP under Jackson. Pro Slavery. Married his first cousin, once removed. Both from Kinderhook, NY. Doughface - a northern Democrat betting on southern interests. Panic of 1837 - banks refused to convert currency into gold or silver. Depression followed. Lost election to William Henry Harrison.

Question 9

William Henry Harrison
9th President
1841 (one incomplete term)

Answer 9

First president to die in office. Nicknamed Old Tippecanoe. From tidewater section of Virginia
Dropped out of medical school when his father died.
National hero as a result of war of 1812. At 68, he was the oldest president until Reagan at 69. John Tyler nominated for VP to placate the south. Ran as nominee of Whig party. Delivered his inaugural address in icy winds without a coat - caught pneumonia and died one month later.

Question 10

John Tyler
10th President
1841-1845 (completed unexpired term of William Henry Harrison)

Answer 10

Previously governor of Virginia, U.S. representative and Senator. Chosen by Whigs in 1840 as vice-presidential candidate because he was from Virginia.
Became president one month after election of William Henry Harrison when he died. Insisted on being called President and not “acting.” All secretaries except one resigned after Tyler vetoed a reversal of Jackson’s elimination of the Bank of the United States. Used recess appointments to establish new cabinet. Annexed Texas. Was denied the Democratic nomination in 1844. Elected to Confederate House of Representatives but died before taking office.

Question 11

James Polk
11th President
1845-1849 (one term)

Answer 11

Married Sarah Childress on the advice of Andrew Jackson. Steadfast backer of Andrew Jackson. “Young Hickory.” Was a state legislator, then member of the house, then speaker of the house. Elected governor of Tennessee. Defeated for second term. Ran for president against Martin Van Buren. Said he wanted Oregon all the way up to 54- 40’. Narrowly defeated Henry Clay. Accepted offer to make 49th parallel border with Canada. Captured California and New Mexico during Mexican-American war. Paid Mexico $15 million for lost provinces. Lost to Zachary Taylor in 1848 after Martin Van Buren split party. Died three months after leaving office at the age of 53.

Question 12

Zachary Taylor

12th President 1849-1850 (died in office)

Answer 12

Party affiliated Whig. 16 months in office before he died of a form of cholera. Famous Mexican War hero. Was second cousin to James Madison, who helped him obtain army commission. Old Rough and Ready. Neither smoked nor drank. Defeated Santa Anna in the battle of Buena Vista. Was the father-in-law of Jefferson Davis. President Taylor enjoyed frequent walks in the capital, strolling by himself on the streets of the District. Died when he ate a bowl of cherries evidently tainted with cholera.

Question 13

Millard Fillmore

13th President 1850-1853 (fulfilled unexpired term of Zachary Taylor)

Answer 13

Born in Cayuga County, New York
Last presidential representative of Whig party. Unelected president. Succeeded Zachary Taylor after 16 months in office. Self-taught successful lawyer in Buffalo. Compromise of 1850 included Fugitive slave law and inclusion of California into union. Fugitive slave law made it easy for slave owners to reclaim slaves.
Founder of the University of Buffalo. Was passed over by the Whigs for renomination in 1852.

Question 14

Franklin Pierce

14th president 1853-1857 (One term)

Answer 14

Born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Served in the Mexican War. Was nominated by Democrats on the 49th ballot at their convention. Supported slavery. Favored laissez-faire. Gadsden purchase - bought for $10 million from Mexico what is now New Mexico and southern Arizona. Attended Bowdoin College with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Charles Sumner beaten by Preston Brooks on the floor of the Senate. John Brown and his band murdered five proslavery settlers. Passed Kansas-Nebraska act which overturned Missouri compromise. Lost nomination for a second term to James Buchanan.

Question 15

James Buchanan
15th President - One term
1857-1861

Answer 15

Born in Cove Gap, PA
Civil war began six weeks after he left office.
Secretary of State under Polk. Minister of the Court of St. James under Pierce. Doughface. Passed over for renomination. Caused a schism in the party that allowed the election of Abraham Lincoln. Seven states succeeded by the time Buchanan left office. Bachelor.

Question 16

Abraham Lincoln
16th President - elected to two terms
1861-1865

Answer 16

Born in Hardin County, Kentucky
Served four terms as an Illinois legislator. Moved to Springfield. Studied law. Elected to Congress in 1844. Chose not to run in 1848. Pulled back into politics six years later because of Kansas-Nebraska act, which reversed Missouri compromise. Ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican in 1855 against Stephen Douglas. Douglas won. Lincoln ran for president. Won with 40% of the vote. Civil war started with Battle of Ft. Sumter. Issued emancipation proclamation in 1862 to weaken the south. Won reelection in 1864. Assassinated at Ford theater while watching Our American Cousin.

Question 17

Andrew Johnson
17th president - remainder of Lincoln’s second term.
1865-1869

Answer 17

Senator from Tennessee. Only senator from a succeeding state to remain in Congress. Slave owner and outspoken segregationist. Unenthusiastically slow walked reconstruction. Breach between Johnson and congress. Congress passed Tenure in Office Act requiring Senate approval for the president to fire an appointee. Johnson defied congress and was impeached. Retained office as a result of senate trial by one vote 35-19. Not re-elected. Returned to the senate in 1875. Died in office a few months later.

Question 18

Ulysses S. Grant

18th President - 1869-1877 (two terms)

Answer 18

Great general. Terrible president. Corruption all around him. Imposed no policies of his own. Patronage rampant. Replaced reformers and adopted discipline. Defeated Horace Greeley in 1872. Southern states formed White Leagues to keep blacks from polls. Grant blamed for corruption. Declared personal bankruptcy after leaving office. Wrote memoir to support his family after he died.

Question 19

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th President 1877-1881 (one term)

Answer 19

Born in Delaware, Ohio. Graduated from Kenyon College and Harvard Law School. Married Lucy Webb - first college educated first lady. Governor of Ohio. Ran against Samuel Tilden, known for breaking up Tweed Ring. Tilden took popular vote and led in the electoral college, but 19 votes were disputed. Special electoral commission gave office to Hayes. Wife banned liquor in the white house. Great uprising during his term - strike by railroad workers against four railroads. Sent federal troops. Declined to run for a second term and retired to do philanthropy.

Question 20

James Garfield

20th President 1881 (died in office)

Answer 20

Intelligent and likable but inconsistent and weak. From Orange, Ohio. Graduated from Williams College. Became president of Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later called Hiram College.) Disciple of Christ. Served in the House from 1862 until he became president in 1881. Shot in the back by a deranged office seeker Charles Guiteau. Lingered for two months before dying. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was passed after his death in his honor. Established permanent merit exams and outlawed political assessments.

Question 21

Chester A. Arthur
21st President (1881-1885)
Filled the unexpired term of James Garfield

Answer 21

Signed the Pendleton Act of 1883 which curtailed the spoils system. Despised the press. Prior to running for vice-president, was removed by President Hayes from a patronage job on suspicion of corruption. Born in Fairfield, Vermont. Vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act. Limited presidential hours to six a day. Suffered from Bright’s disease (kidney failure) of which he died in 1886.

Question 22

Grover Cleveland

22 and 24th President (1885-1889 and 1893-1897)

Answer 22

Largely a negative president. Remembered for his courage, firmness, uprightness and sense of duty. Born in Caldwell, New Jersey. Moved to Buffalo when his father died. Studied law at Buffalo firm and became a lawyer. Elected sheriff of Erie County, NY. Earned a reputation for incorruptibility. Elected mayor of Buffalo, then Governor of NY. Had an intense dislike of paternalism. Strikebreaker. Depression second term. Used veto freely. Married the daughter of his law partner 24 years his junior. Only president to be married in the White House. Had tumor removed from palate. Never made public.

Question 23

Benjamin Harrison
23rd President (1889-1893)

Answer 23

Grandson of William Henry Harrison. Born in North Bend, Ohio. Graduated from Miami University of Ohio. Moved to Indianapolis after attending law school. Was appointed senator. Nominated for president because he was free of scandal. He won because of Republican dirty tricks. Followed the lead of party bosses. Defeated in 1892 by Cleveland. Signed the Sherman antitrust act. Fathered a child with his second wife when he was 63 years old.

Question 24

William McKinley
25th president (1897-1901) - two terms but was assassinated at the start of second term)

Answer 24

Born in Niles, Ohio. Was a congressman and then Governor of Ohio. Closely identified with protectionism and high tariffs. Philippines captured by Dewey under McKinley. U.S. bought Philippines from Spain for $20 million. Wife was epileptic. Conducted a front porch campaign in Canton, OH. Ran against William Jennings Bryan and won. Declared war on Spain after they sunk the Maine in Havana harbor. Was reelected, went to the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo where he was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz.

Question 25

Theodore Roosevelt
26th president (1901-1909)

Answer 25

Succeeded to President when he was less than 40 years old. Was the youngest president to be elected subsequently at age 42. Previously governor of New York. Used bully pulpit to hold people accountable. Created the Department of Labor. Brought suits against trusts under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Urged congress to enact labor-friendly laws such as child labor laws and worker’s compensation. In response to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, enacted the Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug Act. Panama canal begun under TR. Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for ending Russo-Japanese War. Conservationist. Decline to run for second term Supported William Howard Taft. Died at the age of 60.

Question 26

William Howard Taft
27th President (1909-1913) (one term)

Answer 26

From Cincinnati. Fattest president - 330 pounds. Named as governor of the Philippines by McKinley. Named secretary of war by TR Roosevelt. Chosen by TR as his successor when TR decided not to run for reelection. Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan. Taft tacked right after election, incurring wrath of TR, who decided to run again against Taft. Taft was re-nominated and TR formed the Progressive or Bull Moose party and ran as third party candidate. Both defeated by Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Taft named chief justice of supreme court by Harding thereafter.

Question 27

Woodrow Wilson
28th President (1913-1921 - two terms)

Answer 27

Son of a theological educator, Wilson graduated from Princeton and attended U. of Virginia law school. He did not graduate because of ill health but sat for the bar. Governor of New Jersey. Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. President of Princeton. First wife died in 1914 of Bright’s disease. Married second wife a year later. White supremacist. Instituted first income tax. Created Federal Trade Commission. Instituted Clayton antitrust act and Federal Reserve Act. Entered WWI on Allied side. Promoted establishment of League of Nations. US never joined. Treaty of Versailles rejected. Suffered a stroke in 1919 and remained in office until 1921 despite partial paralysis.

Question 28

Warren G. Harding 
29th President (1921-1923) Died in office.

Answer 28

On everyone’s worst presidents list. Born in Corsica, OH. Elected to senate from Ohio in 1914. Publisher of newspaper in Marion, OH. Nominated for president after convention deadlock. Won presidency by what was then the largest popular majority. Pardoned Eugene Debs imprisoned under Espionage Act. Died unexpectedly on a trip to the west promoting himself for re-election. Corruption revealed after his death. Harding fathered illegitimate child while in office. Interior secretary Fall took bribes in exchange for drill rights on federal land (Teapot Dome.)

Question 29

Calvin Coolidge
30th President (1923-1929) Unexpired part of Warren G. Harding's term plus one full elected term.

Answer 29

Known as a cheap president. Saved money while in the white house. Vice president during Harding’s term. From Plymouth, Vermont. Graduate of Amherst College. Governor of Massachusetts. Became a hero by putting down strike of Boston Police Force. Subsequently elected to full term. Albert Fall went to prison for Teapot Dome. First cabinet member to do time. Goal was to reduce costs. Vetoed much spending legislation. Decline to run for second term. Died of a heart attack at age 60.

Question 30

Herbert Hoover
31st President (1929-1933)
One term

Answer 30

First president born west of the Mississippi. Orphan at age 9. Earned degree in mining as part of Stanford’s first graduating class. By age 40 he was a multimillionaire. Quaker. Masterminded Belgium relief fund during WWI. Commerce secretary for both Harding and Coolidge. Defeated Alfred E. Smith, first Catholic to run, in a landslide in 1928. Depression began in Oct. 1929 with stock market crash. A quarter of nation’s workforce out of work. He opposed government handouts. Shantytowns became Hoovervilles. Defeated in 1932 by FDR.

Question 31

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
32nd President (1933-1945)
Four terms, one unexpired

Answer 31

Record four terms will never be matched because of 22nd amendment. Democrat. Married his distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt. Married by Eleanor’s uncle Theodore Roosevelt. Elected at time of depression and then war U.S. entered in 1941. New Deal - US intervened in economy. Had an affair with Lucy Mercer, Eleanor’s social secretary. Contracted polio at age 39. Works Progress Administration, National Labor Relations Act, Social Security Act. Fireside chats. Tried to pack Supreme Court. Lend-Lease Act to help Britain, China and Soviet Union without granting direct aid. Interned Japanese Americans. Died 3 months into fourth term at age 63.

Question 32

Harry S. Truman
33rd President (1945-1953)
One term plus unexpired part of FDR’s fourth term

Answer 32

Chosen at the last minute as FDR’s running mate for his fourth term to prevent the previous vice-president, Henry Wallace, from becoming president. From Lamar, Missouri. Elected to the senate in 1934 and 1940. Met with FDR only twice before he assumed the presidency. Did not know about the atom bomb until he was president. Attended Potsdam conference with Stalin and Churchill. Churchill replaced mid conference with Clement Attlee when Labour won British elections. Authorized atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Passed G.I. bill in 1944. Instituted Council of Economic Advisors. Proposed Fair Deal which never passed. 22nd Amendment passed during Truman’s term limiting future presidents to two terms. Truman doctrine committed country to assisting other countries threatened by Soviet actions. Marshall plan for European recovery proposed by George Marshall. Airlifted supplies to break Berlin Blockade. Korean war occured under Truman. Fired Douglas MacArthur. McCarthy era occurred under Truman. Chose not to run for reelection. Left with approval rating of 31%.

Question 33

Dwight Eisenhower
34th President (1953-1961)
Two terms

Answer 33

Commander of Allied forces during the second World War. Ike’s single greatest achievement is that he “kept the peace.” Instituted atoms for peace program, which put management of atomic materials under international agency. Sponsored presidency of Ngo Dihn Diem in South Vietnam. SEATO organization formed to counter communism in southeast Asia. Signed two balanced budgets. Gallup poll rating of 75% approval during first term. Kept aloof from Joe McCArthy. Nasser seizes Suez canal during Ike’s second term. U.S. did not intervene. October 1957 Russia launched Sputnik. Suggested Russia had tech advantage. Orval Faubus, governor or Arkansas, challenged Brown decision by blocking desegregation. Ike sent in troops to desegregate. Vice-president Nixon went to Russia and Khrushchev came here. Ike had two heart attacks while president and a mild stroke which left him with impaired speech. Warned against the military-industrial complex.

Question 34

John F. Kennedy
35th President (1961-1963) (one incomplete term)

Answer 34

First Catholic to be elected president. Chosen as nominee of Democratic party at age 43. Vice-president was Lyndon Johnson. Ticket defeated Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot-Lodge by 116,000 votes out of 68 million cast. Authorized Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Poor performance at Vienna conference convinced Kruschev he could push Kennedy around. Presided over Cuban missile crisis wherein Russia was building missile sites Cuba, then backed down in the face of a U.S, blockade. Russia built Berlin wall to prevent hemorrhage of people in 1963. Increased troop complement in Viet Nam from from a few hundred to 17,000. Withdrew support for president Diem who was subsequently assassinated. Sent troops to desegregate Univ. of Alabama. Assassinated in Dallas Nov. 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was subsequently killed by Jack Ruby.

Question 35

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th President 1963-1969 (unexpired term of John Kennedy plus one additional term)

Answer 35

Took oath of office after Kennedy was assassinated. Master of vulgarity. Painful sense of inadequacy. As Kennedy’s vice-president Johnson sulked. Disdained by Kennedy’s cabinet. Passed the Civil Rights Act Of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare and Medicaid. A brilliant deal maker. Viet Nam consumed his administration. His belief in domino effect in Southeast Asia propelled him along in Viet Nam. Escalated involvement there from 100,000 troops in 1965 to 565,000 by the end of the war. Hid the extent of involvement from America people. Lied to by cabinet members. So unpopular in 1968 that he decided not to run for another term.

Question 36

Richard M. Nixon

37th President 1969-1974 (one full term plus part of second term from which he resigned)

Answer 36

First and only president to resign. Prolonged the Vietnam war. Defeated for governor of California after his first run for president against Kennedy, which Nixon narrowly lost. OPEC cartel ran up gasoline prices in 1973 causing shortage. Defeated Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern. Withdrew ignominiously from Vietnam. Watergate breakin during Nixon’s second term. Nixon implicated. Resigned rather than be convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors. Gerald Ford succeeded him after Nixon’s first vice-president, Spiro Agnew, resigned after being accused of taking bribes.

Question 37

Gerald R. Ford
38th President (unexpired term of Richard Nixon)
1974-1977

Answer 37

Played football at The University of Michigan. Passed up professional contracts to go to Yale Law School. There he was head boxing and assistant football coach. Served eight erms in house. Became Nixon’s vice-president when Spiro Agnew resigned because of corruption. Succeeded Nixon when he resigned. Pardoned Nixon. Popularity tanked. Rampant inflation during Ford’s term. Whip Inflation Now. North Viet Nam overran provinces. U.S. left Vietnam ignominiously. Squeaky /Fromme attempted assassination for Ford. Nominated Nelson Rockefeller as his vice-president. Defeated by Carter in 1978 after narrowly edging out Reagan for nomination.

Question 38

Jimmy Carter
39th President (1977-1981) (one term)

Answer 38

Georgia peanut farmer and former governor of Georgia. Nuclear engineer in the Navy. Born again Christian. Added secretaries of energy and education.. Cut spending and raised taxes. Inflation followed. OPEC slashed oil production and long lines at the gas pumps followed. Pushed through agreement giving back the Panama canal. Normalized relations with China. Negotiated Camp David accord between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. Boycotted 1980 Olympics when Russia invaded Afghanistan. Allowed Shah of Iran into U.S. for cancer treatment, resulting in 52 hostages being taken as the U.S. embassy. Attempted a rescue that resulted in 8 servicemen being killed. Longest living president after he left office.

Question 39

Ronald Reagan 
40th President (1981-1989) (two terms)

Answer 39

Charming and gregarious but passive with his children. Twice elected by big margins, he left office with a 70% approval rating. Born in Tampico, IL and graduated from Eureka College. After graduation became a sports announcer before moving to Hollywood where her appeared in 52 movies. Was at first a Democrat. Headed Screen Actors Guild during Truman administration. Married twice first to Jane Wyman and then to Nancy Davis. Defeated first Jimmy Carter and then Walter Mondale. Strongly conservative. Secured largest tax cut (25%) in history. National debt tripled. Savings and Loan industry cleanup cost estimated $500 billion. Sent troops to Grenada to overthrow Marxist regime. Profits from sale of arms to Iran illegally diverted to Nicaraguan contras. Diagnosed with altzheimer’s disease after he left office.

Question 40

George H.W. Bush
41st President (1989-1993) (one term)

Answer 40

Succeeded Reagan after being his vice-president for eight years. Persian Gulf war in which U.S. ejected Iraq from Kuwait occurred under Bush. Flew 38 combat missions in WWII. After Yale was a West Texas oil man. Served two terms in Congress before becoming Reagan’s VP. Berlin wall came down during his term. Quiet diplomacy during the disintegration of the Soviet Union on Bush’s watch. Tiananmen Square massacre also occurred during Bush’s term. Bush maintained quiet stability. Capitulated to Democrats and agreed to raise taxes after pledging not to do so. Lost favor and was defeated by Bill Clinton in 1989. Ross Perot also ran at the same time and lost.

Question 41

Bill Clinton

42nd President 1993-2001 (two terms)

Answer 41

Born in Hope, Arkansas. Graduate of Georgetown and Yale Law school. Also Rhodes scholar. At 32, he became the nation’s youngest governor (Arkansas.) Defeated when he ran for a second term. Re-elected governor in 1982. Philanderer. After elected president defeating George H.W. Bush, raised taxes and cut costs. Prosperity followed. Allowed wife Hillary to develop health care reform scheme which failed. Re-elected by defeating Bob Dole. Had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, an intern. Impeached but wasn’t convicted. Ken Starr presided over obstruction of justice investigation which aroused sympathy for Clinton. NAFTA passed during Clinton’s first term of office. Passed welfare reform that ended in block grants.

Question 42

George W. Bush
43rd President (2001-2009)

Answer 42

Handed his first election victory by the supreme court after they stopped the recount of Florida. Lost the popular vote to Al Gore in this election by 500,000 votes. Prior to election was Texas governor for two terms. Intellectually juvenile. Vice President Cheney reputed to have run the government. 9/11/01 took place on his watch. Invaded Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq looking for 9/11 culprits. Purported weapons of mass destruction never found in Iraq. Defeated John Kerry for second term. Surrounded by neoconservatives. One of the most radical right administrations ever to hold office.

Question 43

Barack Obama
44th President (2009-2017) (two terms)

Answer 43

First African-American president. Defeated John McCain in 2008. Native of Hawaii, Son of Kenyon and mother from Kansas. Worked as community organizer in Chicago before being elected state senator. Subsequently elected senator from Illinois and then president. Defeated Mitt Romney for second term. Fiscal crisis in 2008. Recession followed. Bailed out banks and auto industry. Killed Osama bin laden in second term. Signature bill the Affordable Care Act which reduced uninsured by millions.

Question 44

Donald Trump
45th President (2017-2021) (one term)

Answer 44

Businessman never previously elected to office. Chaos in the white house. Upended ever tradition of the presidency. Arguably the dumbest and most dishonest president ever. Incited mob to invade capital during the certification of Joe Biden who defeated him for a second term. The only president to be impeached twice. One of only three presidents (others John Adams and John Quincy Adams) who did not attend the inauguration of their successor. Ignored covid pandemic and tried to wish it away.

Question 45

Joe Biden 
46th President (2021 -)

Answer 45

Second Catholic president after John Kennedy. Came into office with recession as a result of pandemic as well as need to vaccinate most of the country to eliminate covid. Restored traditions of presidency. Attempted to reconcile with allies.