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Before They Were President Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Before They Were President Quizzes, Trivia

Before They Were President Trivia

Before They Were President Trivia Quizzes

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Before they were president .. and after they were president!
9 quizzes and 125 trivia questions.
1.
  Mr. President, If You Please...   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Some presidents would rather be called "Mr. President" instead of their birth names or nicknames. This quiz is a tribute to presidents whose names were changed before they entered office, or weren't changed and were ridiculed.
Average, 10 Qns, adams627, Nov 27 15
Average
adams627
2505 plays
2.
  Before They Were President   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
There's a show on TV, "Before they were Stars", that tells us what celebrities did before they were famous. See if you know what these US presidents did before they held the nation's highest office.
Average, 15 Qns, bullymom, Dec 27 13
Average
bullymom
4492 plays
3.
  How to Become the Average U.S. President   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
It may not be easy to become president of the United States of America, but this quiz can help you become just like the average U.S. president. The questions deal with general statistics regarding all presidents.
Average, 10 Qns, napierslogs, Jun 13 20
Average
napierslogs
Jun 13 20
1280 plays
4.
  "Obviously A Yale Man"    
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
This quiz is about U.S. presidents and where they got their education.
Average, 25 Qns, seamax, Jul 13 22
Average
seamax
Jul 13 22
1335 plays
5.
  Trump's Business Troubles    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States on 8 November 2016. Before this, he was famous as a successful businessman. However, not all of his business ventures were successful. What do you know about just some of these failures?
Average, 10 Qns, Shadowmyst2004, Nov 28 16
Average
Shadowmyst2004
418 plays
6.
  Before the Oval Office    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Here are some questions about what some United States Presidents did prior to being President. This quiz ranges from Kennedy to Obama.
Average, 10 Qns, kstyle53, Feb 23 17
Average
kstyle53 gold member
578 plays
7.
  So Help Me God    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Every president since George Washington has repeated those four words at his inauguration. Let's explore the intersection between US Presidents and religion.
Tough, 10 Qns, parrotman2006, Feb 23 10
Tough
parrotman2006 gold member
506 plays
8.
  Hail to the School of the Chief    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about a few of the former presidents of the United States and where they went to college. I hope you like it.
Average, 10 Qns, gamemaker, Jan 24 11
Average
gamemaker
1136 plays
9.
  Before Becoming President    
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
Questions about what the presidents did before entering the White House.
Difficult, 25 Qns, Amatullah, Jul 21 05
Difficult
Amatullah
1202 plays
trivia question Quick Question
John Tyler graduated from which college, the preferred institution of wealthy Virginians?

From Quiz ""Obviously A Yale Man""





Before They Were President Trivia Questions
1. Prior to winning the presidency, Donald Trump attempted to go into the beverage business on at least four separate occasions. Which was the only beverage on the market in 2016?

From Quiz Trump's Business Troubles

Answer: Trump Ice

In 2015 Trump turned a slight profit on the sales of Trump Ice, ; the other three beverages had been long out of business. Trump Fire and Trump Power both never made it to market. Patents were filed in 2004, and abandoned by 2006. Trump's American Pale Ale went out of business in 2007.

2. What early American president created his own version of the gospels using scissors and glue?

From Quiz So Help Me God

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Informally known as the Jefferson Bible, it is formally "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." It removes all supernatural and divine references, and concludes with Jesus being buried in John 19. For many years, members of Congress were given the Jefferson Bible as a gift when they were sworn in. The University of Virginia placed the full-text on-line; fitting, since Jefferson founded the school.

3. John Adams, the second President, attended this New England college in 1751. The college he attended was_______________.

From Quiz "Obviously A Yale Man"

Answer: Harvard & Harvard University & Harvard College

John Adams, a native of Massachusetts, entered Harvard College in 1751. At the time students were enrolled solely on social status instead of academic proficiency. Adams ranked fifteenth of 24 students in the class of 1755.

4. This man was a military hero before he became president. Places he fought include Fort Necessity, Fort Duquesne, and Yorktown.

From Quiz Before They Were President

Answer: George Washington & Washington

America's first president was also the first of many military heroes to become president. As a young man of 21, he fought at Fort Necessity and Fort Duquesne (both in Pennsylvania) in the French and Indian War. Due to his success, he was chosen to lead the Continental Army in the American Revolution in 1775.

5. Who was kicked out of Dickinson College for breaking the rules?

From Quiz Before Becoming President

Answer: James Buchanan

6. HL Mencken coined the term "Gamaliel-ese" to sardonically mock the speech patterns of a twentieth-century president, who frequently made verbal gaffes. Which president's middle name of Gamaliel is abbreviated in most history books?

From Quiz Mr. President, If You Please...

Answer: Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding (Warren G. Harding) was the 29th president of the United States, and he served from 1921 until he suffered a fatal heart attack while still in office in 1923. Harding's presidency is best remembered for political scandals such as the Teapot Dome, where Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall accepted a bribe to lease oil lands in Wyoming to Harry Sinclair. Harding's wife, jealous of his love affairs that possibly fathered an illegitimate child while he was in office, is suspected by conspiracy theorists of poisoning him.

7. In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Taylor who would become First Lady when Johnson ascended to the presidency. By what name is Claudia Taylor better known?

From Quiz Before the Oval Office

Answer: Lady Bird Johnson

Legend has it that this nickname was given to Lady Bird in infancy, when it was noted by a nurse that she was as "purty as a ladybird." By adopting the name Lady Bird, both the President and First Lady had these same initials. Later, their daughters were named likewise, Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson. Even the family dog, Little Beagle Johnson, shared this characteristic.

8. Founded in 1693, which school in Virginia did Thomas Jefferson attend?

From Quiz Hail to the School of the Chief

Answer: College of William & Mary

At just 16, Jefferson enrolled at William & Mary and attended from 1760-1762.

9. Titles held by this man before becoming president include congressman and vice president. When he lost the election for Governor of California, he grumbled to the media, "Now you won't have ____ to kick around any more".

From Quiz Before They Were President

Answer: Richard Nixon & Nixon & Dick Nixon

As we all know, he stuck around in politics for a lot more kicking! Richard Nixon was Dwight Eisenhower's vice president from 1953-1961. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1960, losing by a narrow (some say stolen) margin to John F. Kennedy. He finally became president in 1969, and was re-elected in 1972, only to resign in disgrace in 1974 after the series of scandals known as Watergate.

10. Who told his students (when he was a teacher) that one day he would be president?

From Quiz Before Becoming President

Answer: Lyndon Johnson

11. What was the name of the United States Football League team that Donald Trump bought in 1983?

From Quiz Trump's Business Troubles

Answer: New Jersey Generals

Trump bought the team after the inaugural USFL season. The league at the time played in the spring, and didn't compete with the NFL. He immediately started trying to push the other owners into moving to the fall, which they agreed to do for the 1986 season. After the 1985 championship game the league folded, along with all of its member teams.

12. Which two presidents were Quakers?

From Quiz So Help Me God

Answer: Hoover and Nixon

Of the first 44 presidents, Hoover and Nixon were the only two Quakers. Hoover used the word affirm (instead of swear) when taking the oath of office; Nixon used swear. Coolidge was a Congregationalist, Buchanan was Presbyterian, and Fillmore was a Unitarian.

13. It's fairly common knowledge that President Gerald Ford was born as "Leslie", but the rest of his name was also rather demeaning. What was his full birth name?

From Quiz Mr. President, If You Please...

Answer: Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., in Omaha, Nebraska in 1913, Ford was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974-1976. His mother divorced his father less than six months after he was born, and King lived with his mother. She remarried in 1916 to Gerald Rudolff Ford Sr., and their son's name was changed from Leslie Lynch King to Gerald Rudolph Ford. As a young man, Ford became an Eagle Scout and played on the football team at the University of Michigan; his ascendence to the presidency only occurred through a sequence of coincidences that allowed him to gain leadership without being elected on a major party ticket. After Spiro Agnew resigned the vice presidency in December 1973, Ford took the spot, and he became president upon Richard Nixon's resignation in August 1974.

14. In what branch of the military did Richard Nixon serve during World War II?

From Quiz Before the Oval Office

Answer: Navy

Nixon served in the Navy from August 1942 to New Years Day 1946, reaching the position of Lieutenant Commander. Nixon was eligible for military exemption because of both his Quaker religious beliefs and because he worked in the Office of Price Administration but chose to enter the Navy instead. He would be elected to the US of Representatives in the 1946 election, representing California's 12th District.

15. James Madison was the first U.S. President to graduate from which famous university?

From Quiz "Obviously A Yale Man"

Answer: Princeton

He enrolled as a sophomore in 1769 in what was then known as The College of New Jersey. While at Princeton James Madison studied Philosophy, Latin, and Hebrew.

16. Who married his teacher?

From Quiz Before Becoming President

Answer: Millard Fillmore

17. Donald Trump owned a magazine that went out of print in 2009. It had three different names during its brief existence. What was NOT one of the titles?

From Quiz Trump's Business Troubles

Answer: Ivanka

The magazine was known as "Trump Magazine" from 2007 to its closure in 2009. Prior to that it was known as "Trump Style" and "Trump World" from 1998 through 2006. In its early days the magazine was distributed for free in hotel rooms owned by Trump's companies. Once the magazine, released quarterly, was sold on news stands it never gained a following. It had less than 100,000 paid subscribers at its peak.

18. Even with an undergraduate degree, the average US president is still not done with school. Where do you go from here to follow in the foot-steps of 13 of the first 43 presidents?

From Quiz How to Become the Average U.S. President

Answer: Law School

A lot of presidents do go on to law school - even if they don't graduate. Of the first 13 presidents who went to law school, only 7 eventually graduated. Harvard Law School and Yale Law School prove to be the most popular choices. Rutherford B. Hayes and Barack Obama attended and graduated from the former, Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton attended and graduated from the latter. Both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt withdrew from Columbia Law School. Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge became lawyers through their own independent study without actually attending law school. In this day and age, that route is probably even harder!

19. Who was the first Baptist to serve in the White House?

From Quiz So Help Me God

Answer: Warren Harding

Although Woodrow Wilson grew up in the South, he was a Presbyterian. As a matter of fact, his father was a Presbyterian minister. Harding, Truman and Carter were all Baptists - as is Bill Clinton, even though Hilary is a Methodist.

20. Gerald Ford was an avid participant in Boy Scout activities as a youth. What is the name of the highest rank attainable by a US Boy Scout?

From Quiz Before the Oval Office

Answer: Eagle Scout

The Eagle Scout is the highest rank in all of Boy Scouts. First established in 1911, over 2 million young men have reached the rank. Ford is the first Eagle Scout to ever become President of the United States though.

21. Which president during the Mexican-American War attended the University of North Carolina?

From Quiz Hail to the School of the Chief

Answer: James K. Polk

Polk was also president during the California gold rush and helped settle the Northwest boundary of the United States.

22. This man was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio, in 1865. Before becoming president he entered but failed in a number of careers. He finally saw success in 1881 when he became a partner in a successful newspaper, the "Marion Star".

From Quiz Before They Were President

Answer: Warren Harding

Harding was perhaps remembered most for his genial nature and his penchant for other women. His wife, Florence King DeWolfe, was a formidable and unpopular woman. The poor guy had several nervous breakdowns before he became president.

23. Who almost became a minister, but his annoying voice drove him to politics instead?

From Quiz Before Becoming President

Answer: James Madison

24. With school out of the way, what should one of your first career stops be on the way to becoming the average U.S. president, just like 15 of the first 43 presidents?

From Quiz How to Become the Average U.S. President

Answer: Soldier or General in the U.S. Army

At least 15 presidents were enlisted as a soldier or higher rank in the U.S. Army, including George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Writer is one of the least common professions before presidency, but one of the most common after presidency - 16 of the first 42 former presidents have at least one published book to their name after leaving the Oval Office.

25. Who was the first Congregationalist to be elected president?

From Quiz So Help Me God

Answer: Calvin Coolidge

Cleveland and Eisenhower were both Presbyterians, while LBJ was a member of the Disciples of Christ. Eisenhower was a Jehovah's Witness for much of his life, but switched to the Presbyterian church during his presidency.

26. What was unique about Jimmy Carter's birth in comparison to previous presidents?

From Quiz Before the Oval Office

Answer: He was born in a hospital

The oldest of four children, Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. This might have been especially fitting since his mother was a registered nurse.

27. Who led a revolt against his tyrannical schoolmaster at age 11?

From Quiz Before Becoming President

Answer: John Tyler

28. John F Kennedy gave a famous speech on religion to a group of ministers during his 1960 campaign. Where did he give that speech?

From Quiz So Help Me God

Answer: Houston

Kennedy gave the speech in front of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960. In it, he states his strong belief in the separation of church and state. "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic."

29. Sometimes it's the middle names that can be an embarrassment. Which twentieth-century president took his mother's maiden name "Milhous", but probably wasn't called that in the White House?

From Quiz Mr. President, If You Please...

Answer: Richard Nixon

Nixon was born in California in 1913 to Francis Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon, a strict Quaker mother. From a relatively poor family with a strict upbringing, Nixon earned a scholarship to Duke University's law school, which would signal his future in politics. After losing to John F. Kennedy in the extremely close 1960 presidential election, Nixon dropped out of the public sight; his ability to revive from obscurity to win the 1968 presidential election over Hubert Humphrey was remarkable. It probably wasn't Nixon's middle name that was most embarrassing for him as president, though; despite his strong foreign policy record, Nixon will be remembered for his role in the Watergate affair, which caused him to be the first-ever president to resign the office.

30. It is well known that Ronald Reagan was a film actor prior to being a politician. However, this is not the only job he held. For what baseball team did he serve as a broadcaster?

From Quiz Before the Oval Office

Answer: Chicago Cubs

It was once said Ronald Reagan had the two toughest jobs in America, being president and being a Cubs announcer. The Cubs have endured a number of losing seasons since winning their last World Series in 1908, making it difficult for an announcer to maintain enthusiasm for the team. Reagan actually did not attend the games he broadcast, but received telegrams throughout the game. This would cause him to occasionally stall on the broadcast when the telegram machine was not working.

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