My Favorite "Presidential" Tunes Quiz

Answer: Ford

Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1955 rendition of "Sixteen Tons" hit number one on the Billboard charts. Merle Travis is credited as the author of the song, along with hits like "Dark as a Dungeon" and "Re-Enlistment Blues." Travis would be a good answer if we were linking the song to Texas or the Alamo, but the only presidential name I could associate with it is Ford. Gerald Ford replaced the resigned Richard Nixon in 1974 and served as president until 1977, losing the election of 1976 to Jimmy Carter. Ford died in 2006.

Answer: Jackson

"Running on Empty" is an album released by Jackson Browne in 1977. Browne is the author of the single, while "Stay" was written by Maurice Williams. In 2008 Browne sued John McCain and the Republican National Committee for using "Running on Empty" without permission, but since McCain did not become president, his name is not one of the choices. Andrew Jackson served as president from 1829 to 1837 and died in 1845.

Answer: Harrison

Of course these are two Beatles hits penned by George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle." Surely "Here Comes the Sun" would be every presidential hopeful's anthem during a campaign, and whose help would an elected president have more need of than the "Taxman", the IRS? There have been two Harrisons in the White House, beginning with War of 1812 military hero William Henry Harrison, who unfortunately died of pneumonia after only a month in office in 1841.

His grandson was Benjamin Harrison, who served as president for one term from 1889 to 1893.

He died in 1901.

Answer: Washington

The tune is "Washington Square." Actually a Dixieland jazz band, The Village Stompers also had a hit with "Midnight in Moscow" before the Beatles led the British Invasion to American shores and rock and roll took over even more of a stranglehold on popular music. George Washington was America's first president and the only one elected before the advent of party politics.

He set the two-term precedent from 1789 to 1797. He only survived his second term by two years, dying in 1799.

Answer: Jefferson

Of course the two hits mentioned were by Jefferson Airplane, members of which later on kept evolving into Jefferson Starship. The two songs were off the 1967 album "Surrealistic Pillow." Thomas Jefferson was America's second vice president and third president. Probably more famous as the author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson served two terms, from 1801 to 1809.

He also famously died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration's date, July 4, 1826, along with America's second president, John Adams.

Answer: Tyler

Two big hits that always rank in the top 100 rock and roll songs of all time, "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion" were both written by Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler. The president would be John Tyler, who served only one term, completing that of William Henry Harrison from 1841 to 1845. An interesting oddity of Tyler's term is that he served all four years without a vice president.

After leaving the office of president, he worked for Southern secession and served in the Confederate House of Representatives until his death in 1862.

Answer: Johnson

The artist is Robert Johnson, around whom hangs the Faustian story that he made a deal with Old Scratch at the crossroads on a Mississippi plantation. Largely forgotten between his death at age 27 in 1938 and a revival of his music in the 1960s, Johnson is today regarded as a master of the Delta blues style.

The two presidential Johnsons are inextricably linked both with their predecessors, both of whom were assassinated, as well as with each other as a result. Andrew Johnson served the remaining years of Abraham Lincoln's second term, from 1865 to 1869.

He died in 1875. Lyndon Johnson served the remainder of John Kennedy's term and then served a term of his own after winning the election of 1964. Probably best known for his civil rights legislation, LBJ died in 1973.

Answer: Wilson

Those were two number one hits for Wilson Pickett. My favorite Pickett hit was "Mustang Sally", but it never reached the top spot. Woodrow Wilson, whose first name was actually Thomas, served two terms, from 1913 to 1921. He served during World War I and after the war proposed the League of Nations in his "Fourteen Points." He suffered a serious stroke (his second) in 1919 and never made a full recovery, creating a situation in which his wife, Edith, may have been virtually running the country for a time.

He died in 1924.

Answer: Adams

"I Do It For You" won an Academy Award, being written for the 1991 Kevin Costner hit movie, "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves." Canadian Bryan Adams was co-writer of the song along with Michael Kamen and Robert John Lange. A three-time platinum winner, the song spent seven weeks at number one in the US and nine in Canada and was named the year's number one song for 1991 by "Billboard." John Adams was the second president (1797-1801), and his son John Quincy Adams was the sixth (1825-1829).

The elder Adams died in 1826 and the younger in 1848, two days after collapsing in a session of the House of Representatives, in which he had been serving since 1831.

Answer: Taylor

Taylor Swift is a huge talent, as her number one hits "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space", as well as others, show, but my taste in music just doesn't go that way, so I had to go back to James Taylor's folksy styling of "Fire and Rain" and "You've Got a Friend" for my last question. Written by Taylor, "Fire and Rain" got up to number three in 1970, while "You've Got a Friend", written and performed first by Carole King, was taken all the way to number one by Taylor in 1971. Zachary Taylor was the 12th President, winning the Election of 1848 at the head of the Whig Party on the strength of his status as a military hero in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.

He was still commanding troops when he won the election. However, he served only 16 months in office, dying on 9 July, 1850.