Generations - U.S. Politics Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stevenson

Adlai Stevenson I was a Congressman from Illinois, Vice-President from 1893 to 1897, and unsuccessful candidate for Vice-President with William Jennings Bryan in 1900. His son, Adlai Stevenson Jr., served as a Governor of Illinois (1949-53) and Democratic Presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956.

He is perhaps best remembered as American ambassador to the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis. Grandson Adlai III represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate from 1970 to 1981. Adlai IV is a popular writer and journalist.

Answer: Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's only political experience before 1860 was a short stint as a Congressman from Illinois. Robert was the only one of his sons to live to adulthood. Robert Todd Lincoln was a highly-regarded public servant in his own right, though he did not enter elective politics.

He served as Secretary of War under Presidents Garfield (1881) and Arthur (1881-1885), and as ambassador to the United Kingdom (1889-1893).

Answer: Bayh

Hoosier Birch Evans Bayh II served Indiana in the United States Senate from January 1963 to January 1981, when he was succeeded by future Vice-President Dan Quayle. His son, Birch Evans Bayh III ("Evan" Bayh), was elected Indiana's Secretary of State (1986) and Governor (serving 1989 to '97), before being elected to the Senate in 1998.

Answer: Taft

It started with Peter Rawson Taft in the Vermont state legislature. Peter's son Alphonso Taft (1810-1891) moved west to Ohio where his fortunes and descendants flourished. He served briefly as Attorney General and then as Secretary of War in the first Grant administration, before assuming various diplomatic posts. Alphonso's son William Howard Taft was (so far) the only individual to serve as both President of the United States (1909-1913) and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1921-1930). President Taft's son Robert Alphonso ("Bob") Taft, known as "Mister Republican," represented Ohio in the Senate from 1939 to 1953. Bob Taft's son Robert Alphonso Taft Jr. was a Senator from Ohio from 1971 to 1976. Robert Jr.'s son Robert Alphonso Taft II ("Junior" is the father, "II" is the son) was Governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007.

Answer: Gore

Albert Gore Sr. (1907-1998) represented Tennessee in the House from 1939 to 1944 and 1944 to '53, before moving on to the Senate (1953 to 1971). His son "Al" Gore (seldom called "Jr.") served in the House from 1977 to 1985, and as Senator from 1985 to 1993 when he became Vice-President. His environmental activism garnered an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize.

There was another Senator Gore: Thomas Gore, who represented Oklahoma from 1907 to 1921 and 1931 to 1937. A remarkable individual, he was totally blind. Thomas of Oklahoma was not related to the Tennessee Gores.

Answer: McClellan

Son of a wealthy Pennsylvania family, George B. McClellan gained attention as commander of the Army of the Potomac - though his military skills were questionable. After being dismissed from command and losing the 1864 Presidential election to Abraham Lincoln, the elder McClellan and his wife left for an extended tour of Europe, where George B. Jr. was born in 1865.

After their return, McClellan Sr. was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1877. G.B. Jr. followed his father into the army, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He also entered elective politics - but in New York. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1903, and then as Mayor of New York City from 1903 to 1909.

Answer: Adams

John Adams was also the first Vice-President of the United States, and the second president. He and John Quincy Adams comprise one of two father-son Presidents (so far), but that would be too easy. John Adams also served as the first ambassador to Great Britain (1785-1788), prior to adoption of the Constitution.

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was considered a potential national candidate when FDR appointed him ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1938. The elder Kennedy's private and later public advocacy of negotiations with Hitler, and his perceived defeatism during the London Blitz, led to his resignation in November 1940. The public careers of his sons were far more successful.

Answer: Landrieu

Maurice Edwin ("Moon") Landrieu was a state legislator before being elected Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. He later served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Carter administration. His son Mitchell Landrieu was twice elected Lieutenant Governor, but was unsuccessful in running for mayor. His daughter Mary Landrieu was elected Senator from the Pelican state in 1997.

Ms. Landrieu is the second woman to represent Louisiana in the Senate. When Huey Long was assassinated in 1935, his wife Rose McConnell Long was appointed to succeed him. She won a special election in April 1936, but declined to run for a full term in November of that year. Mrs. Long's brief tenure marked the first time two women served in the Senate simultaneously. Can you name the other one?

Answer: Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller's descendants served three different states. Grandson Nelson was Governor of New York (1959-73) and Vice-President (1974-77); one of only two vice-presidents to date who were not elected to that office. Grandson Winthrop A. Rockefeller was Governor of Arkansas from 1967 to 1971. Winthrop A.'s son (John D's great grandson) Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, served as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2006. Great grandson John D. ("Jay") Rockefeller, Governor of West Virginia (1977-85) and Senator (1985-), is the lone Democrat of the four.

Answer: Bonaparte

Grandfather Jerome Bonaparte was the youngest brother of Napoleon I. He was briefly King of Westphalia during his brother's reign in France. Surviving political upheavals, his career prospered under his nephew Louis Napoleon. He served as president of the French Senate, and was made Marshal of France.

Jerome's son Prince Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte emigrated to the U.S. and married an American. Their son Charles Joseph Bonaparte became a prominent attorney in Baltimore. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Charles Bonaparte Secretary of the Navy - a challenging post given Roosevelt's knowledge of naval affairs. In 1906, he became Attorney General of the United States. In 1908, Attorney General Bonaparte founded the Bureau of Investigation, the precursor of today's F.B.I.