Campaigns & Elections Trivia

1. What was the name of the train car that Harry Truman used during his June 1948 "whistlestop" tour to the west coast?

From Quiz Just Another Whistlestop

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

The Ferdinand Magellan was a railroad car built by the Pullman Company specifically for the President of the United States in 1928. Its most famous journey was by Truman in the summer of 1948, when he traveled to California. It served as Presidential Rail Car No. 1 from 1943 to 1958. The train car currently resides at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was designated a national historic landmark on February 4, 1985. Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that circumnavigated the world. Magellan was killed in the Philippines, but his men completed the journey.

From Quiz When Presidents Lose

Answer: John Adams

John Adams was only America's second president. Initially elected in 1796, he then lost to Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

From Quiz The Iowa Caucuses

Answer: Republican & GOP

Huckabee, the former Arkansas Governor, earned nearly 35 percent of the vote while finishing first among the six Republican candidates. He would lose the nomination to John McCain. Barack Obama would ultimately win the overall race and become president.

From Quiz Dirty Election Tricks

Answer: Christine O'Donnell

O'Donnell admitted that when she was in high school, she did associate herself with people who may or may not have dabbled in witchcraft. She claimed that she never had participated in witchcraft herself. What was a relatively quiet issue blew up into the national spotlight when O'Donnell ran ads stating "Hi, I'm Christine O'Donnell and I am not a witch. I'm nothing you heard." The public saw the ad as comical and it was parodied and mocked. She lost her Senate race to Chris Coons 57%-40%.

From Quiz Vote for Adlai Stevenson!

Answer: Thomas Dewey

A former governor of New York, Dewey lost to FDR in 1944 and then again to Truman in 1948. Dewey was the heavy favorite in the 1948 race, so much so that the "Chicago Daily Tribune" erroneously published an edition of their paper with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman".

From Quiz Sometimes You Must Lose to Win

Answer: 538

You may have been able to deduce the answer if you remembered a simple majority of votes is needed. Twice 270 is 540, but since we want a majority, the answer couldn't be more than 539, and we want an even number (my hint), so it must be 538. When you read of U.S. Presidential elections, you will read things like "Candidate Y got 58% of the popular vote." That really means that the Electors of Y's party got 58% of the popular vote, and in most states that means that all the states' Electors will be of that party and vote for the appropriate candidate. In a nutshell, that is how it is possible for Presidents to lose the popular vote but win the Electoral vote.

From Quiz Race You For the US Presidency!

Answer: Walter Mondale

Walter Mondale was Jimmy Carter's Vice President during his one term, and then ran against Ronald Reagan (the "Great Communicator" whose campaign ad famously proclaimed that it was "morning in America") in 1984. Ronald Reagan handily won re-election, with Mondale taking *only his home state*. It was not a close election in 1984.

From Quiz 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

Answer: Massachusetts

He served from 2003-2007. He also ran for the U.S. Senate there in 1994. In that race, he gave incumbent Senator Ted Kennedy arguably the toughest re-election battle of his career, but ultimately lost by a 58%-41% margin.

From Quiz Lost and Running

Answer: Vice President

In the first five presidential elections, George Washington won twice, John Adams once, and Thomas Jefferson twice. Adams lost the first two and became the Vice President to Washington. Jefferson lost the next one, so he became Adams' VP. Both Aaron Burr and George Clinton lost to Jefferson in successive elections, becoming his two VPs.

From Quiz Presidential Also Rans

Answer: Massachusetts

George McGovern, a senator from South Dakota, was routed by President Nixon. He lost the electoral vote by 520-17 and won only about 38% of the popular vote. McGovern was considered too "liberal" by most American voters, except in the state of Massachusetts.

From Quiz Presidential Elections Since 1900

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt was disillusioned that Taft had stopped his Progressive ways in the Oval Office and thus formed his famous Bull Moose Party in 1912 in an effort to recapture the White House.

From Quiz Losing US Presidential Candidates: What Party?

Answer: Democratic

A Civil War general and general-in-chief of the Union forces, he lost to the Republican, Abraham Lincoln by a wide margin. Although Lincoln was his Commander-in-Chief, McClellan had no love for Abe and ridiculed him openly.

From Quiz Dennis Kucinich for President

Answer: Democratic Party

Dennis Kucinich has been a Democrat throughout most of his career and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination back in 2004. Kucinich did not win any of the primaries but he did come in second in the primary sponsored by the liberal online group Moveon. Kucinich also came in second in the Hawaii caucus.

From Quiz The Strange Presidential Election of 1848

Answer: Free Soil

Zachary Taylor was the Whig candidate, Lewis Cass was the Democrat and Martin van Buren ran as a member of the Free Soil Party.

From Quiz Seven Dwarves: 1988 US Presidential Race

Answer: Bruce Babbitt

Babbitt dropped out after New Hampshire. Hart and Biden had already been knocked out by scandal, though Hart re-entered the race in December, becoming the new 7th dwarf ("Sleazy", some cartoonists called him). But the scandal didn't go away and Hart exited again after Super Tuesday. Gephardt called it quits after losing Michigan, Simon after Wisconsin, and Gore after New York. Jackson stayed in the race until the convention, where Dukakis was nominated.

From Quiz Election of 1912

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt was a progressive. He ended up getting 88 of the electoral votes.

From Quiz The 2004 U.S. Election

Answer: I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty

John Kerry was a U.S senator from the state of Massachusetts. He was also a Vietnam War veteran.

From Quiz Running Men of the 20th Century

Answer: 4

Thurmond carried South Carolina, of which he was governor, as well as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. He also received 1 electoral vote from Tennessee, for a total of 39 electoral votes.

From Quiz Running Men of the 19th Century

Answer: Andrew Jackson & Jackson

In the election of 1824, Andrew Jackson received over 150,000 popular votes to John Quincy Adams' 108,000+ vote, receiving 99 electoral votes to Adams' 84. Problem was, William Crawford received 41 electoral votes and Henry Clay received 37, thus denying Jackson a majority. According to the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, added in 1804 after the problematic election of 1800, when no candidate received a majority of ALL electoral votes cast, the election then goes to the House of Representatives, from which they choose amongst the three highest vote getters. With Clay having been eliminated and Crawford having recently suffered a debilitating stroke, it was basically a two-man contest. Jackson believed that, since he was from the West (Tennessee being the western edge of the U.S. at that time), he would have the advantage of garnering the support of those who had backed Clay. Henry, however, had more in common, philosophically speaking, with John Quincy than "Old Hickory" and urged his supporters to vote for Adams. The final vote, taken on 9 Feb. 1825, saw Adams receiving 13 votes, Jackson 7, and Crawford 4. It has been long believed that Clay and Adams had struck a deal, whereby Clay was named secretary of state in return for his support. Although this was never proven, the charge dogged Clay for the rest of his career.

From Quiz Republican Presidential Losers

Answer: John C. Fremont

Fremont's campaign slogan was "free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Fremont and victory". One reason for Fremont's defeat was that Democrats claimed it would lead to secession because the south would not tolerate a Republican victory.

From Quiz Losers of Presidential Elections

Answer: George H W Bush and Ross Perot

In the 1992 election Bill Clinton first won the Presidency. Among the defeated was President George H W Bush. Bush won 168 electoral votes to Clinton's 370 electoral votes in the election of 1992. Perot did not win any electoral votes in that election (although he did capture 19% of the popular vote). No one can predict what would have happened if Perot had not run. Carter (D) and Anderson (I) lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Dewey (R) and Thurmond (I) lost to Truman in 1948. Humphrey (D) and Wallace lost to Nixon in 1968. Wallace represented the "American Independent" party in the election of 1968. In other elections, Wallace was a Democrat who favored segregation (Wallace won the election of 1962 to become Alabama's governor).

From Quiz They Ran for President

Answer: Howard Dean

The former Governor of Vermont announced he would seek the Democratic nomination in May of 2002, more than six months before anyone else. Though he was the early leader, a third place finish in the Iowa Caucuses followed by the infamous "I have a scream" speech started Dean's downfall. Dean ended the campaign for his party's nomination on February 18, 2004.

From Quiz 1948! The Greatest Presidential Election Ever!

Answer: Philadelphia

The 1948 conventions were the first to be covered by television and the Democrats, Republicans, and Progressives agreed to all meet in Philly for the networks' convenience...

From Quiz Past Presidental Elections

Answer: Chads

I am sure we all remember the county commissioners holding the punch cards to the light to count the votes.

From Quiz Polls, Promises and Politics: Presidential Campaig

Answer: Pat Buchanan

Aside from angering many Republicans, Buchanan managed to alienate several leaders in the fledgling Reform Party (including then-Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura). Buchanan pulled a similar stunt in 1992 when he forced the sitting president, George H. W. Bush to run a primary campaign.

From Quiz Presidential Campaign Slogans II

Answer: Ike

Dwight Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the elections of 1952 and 1956. The short, catchy slogan has proved very enduring, and Michael Dukakis attempt to coopt it as "I like Mike" in his 1988 campaign for president.

From Quiz Television and Politics

Answer: Lyndon Johnson

The famous 1964 'Daisy' spot aired only once but is still remembered as one of the most powerfully effective campaign ads ever. Without mentioning Johnson's opponent, Republican Barry Goldwater, the commercial played to fears that Goldwater was trigger happy and too unpredictable to have in control of the American nuclear arsenal.

From Quiz Presidential Campaign Slogans

Answer: William Henry Harrison

Harrison led U.S. forces in the battle of Tippecanoe, which occurred as he was leading expansionist U.S. forces on an expedition through Indiana in 1811. His troops were attacked by the Shawnees, who were upset that he was encroaching on their land. Harrison and his supporters turned this minor and indecisive skirmish into a tale of great heroics which helped catapult him to the presidency in 1840.

From Quiz The 1960 US Presidential Election

Answer: Hubert Humphrey & Lyndon Johnson

Stevenson lost to Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.

From Quiz The Road To The White House - 1980

Answer: Hubert Humphrey

Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey passed away in 1978. The final campaign for the "Happy Warrior" was in 1976, finishing behind Jimmy Carter for the Democratic Presidential nomination. McCarthy ran an almost token campaign, appearing on several state ballots as a 3rd Party candidate. Bush and Kennedy both ran full-fledged national campaigns.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:46 AM

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