Alternate Presidents 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower

He was a 5-star general who became the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during the Second World War. His vice-president was Richard Nixon.

Answer: John Adams

He was the second President of the USA and died on 4th July 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence, which he helped draft, had been signed.

Answer: Martin Van Buren

Born to Dutch parents in the village of Kinderhook, New York, he was born in 1782 just six years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. He grew up with Dutch as his first language.

Answer: Calvin Coolidge

He succeeded Warren Harding who was the third president to die in office of natural causes. He was asleep at the family home in Vermont when a telegram bearing the news of Harding's death was received in the early hours of August 2nd 1923. Calvin's father had been a notary public for several years and was in the fortunate position of being qualified to take the Oath of Office from his son.

This circumstance is unique in American history.

Answer: Gerald Ford

He was born as Leslie Lynch King. His parents separated just after he was born in 1913 and his mother remarried in 1916 to Gerald Rudolff Ford. He was called Gerald R. Ford Jr. from that time on but it wasn't until 1935 that he actually changed his name legally. His middle name was changed to the more anglicised spelling.

Answer: James Madison

Before becoming the fourth U.S. president, Madison was a member of the House of Representatives and he drafted many of the early amendments to the Constitution. As president, he took the country into a war against Britain in 1812 leading up to the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 where the British were defeated and the war ended.

Answer: Andrew Johnson

Following the surrender of the southern states, he embarked on a policy of reconstruction, allowing many of the old southern leaders to retain their positions and also allowing the southern states to introduce work contracts for newly freed black Americans with conditions hardly better than pre-war slaves.

This did not go down well with the northern states. Johnson vetoed attempts by Congress to improve the situation of black Americans and they retaliated by placing limits on presidential power. Johnson was eventually impeached but escaped conviction by virtue of the fact that the required 2/3 majority of the Senate was missed by a single vote.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Although a Republican president, he started out as a member of the Democratic party, changing allegiance in 1962. After a career in films, he switched to politics and became Governor of California in 1964. He lost the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976 but won the first of his two terms as President in 1980.

He was a much loved president who died of Alzheimer's disease in 2004.

Answer: James Polk

Polk became president in 1845, coinciding with the rise of a new technology called photography. He is the earliest president for whom photographs exist that were taken at the time of his presidency.

Answer: John Quincy Adams

He was the sixth president and son of the second president, John Adams. The presidential election of 1824 resulted in none of the four candidates getting an overall majority. The candidates were Andrew Jackson, John Q Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay. Jackson had got the most Electoral votes with John Q Adams in second place.

The election fell to be decided by the House of Representatives. Henry Clay who was Speaker of the House, had finished fourth in the election but threw his support to Adams who was duly elected president and Clay became Secretary of State.

This state of affairs became known as "the Corrupt Bargain".