Things Said by U.S. Vice Presidents Quiz

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt was forty-two years old at the time he became president and was at that time the youngest person to hold that office. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his efforts in mediating the Russo-Japanese war.

Roosevelt himself was shot, but not killed, while campaigning in 1912. Despite being shot, Roosevelt delivered his speech.

Answer: Alben W. Barkley

In his 1912 campaign for Congress Barkley said of his opponent: "When the Pope died some years ago, nobody would tell Hendrick, for fear he would declare for that office". Barkley won the election.

Barkley was elected to the Senate from Kentucky in 1926. He became the Democratic Party floor leader in the Senate and helped pass the Hatch Act, limiting political activity of most federal executive branch employees.

Answer: Dan Quayle

Quayle was elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 and re-elected in 1978. In 1980 he was elected to the Senate, becoming at that time the youngest person ever elected to the Senate from Indiana.

In 1992 at a school in New Jersey, Vice-President Quayle mistakenly changed a twelve year old student's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe". Quayle claimed in his memoirs that he had relied on cards provided to him by the school.

Answer: Richard Nixon

Nixon, as a California congressman, served on the House Un-American Activities Committee and gained national attention for his aggressive questioning of Alger Hiss. In 1950 Nixon was elected to the Senate and then became Dwight Eisenhower's vice president.

As vice-president, Nixon took several trips to foreign countries, including the Soviet Union in 1959 where he had a "kitchen debate" with Soviet Premier Khrushchev.

Answer: Joe Biden

Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972. Shortly after the election, Biden's wife and one year old daughter were killed in an automobile accident. Biden's two sons were also injured, but recovered.

In the Senate, Biden was a member of the Judiciary Committee and presided over the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.

Answer: Henry A. Wallace

Wallace experimented with plant breeding as a child. As an adult, he founded the Hi-Bred Corn Company, which became Pioneer Hi-Bred and was ultimately purchased by DuPont Corporation.

Wallace was unsuccessful as a Progressive Party candidate for president in 1948. His platform included universal health insurance.

Answer: Al Gore

In 1976 Gore dropped out of law school to run for Congress and won the election. In 1976, as a first term congressman, Gore held the first congressional hearings on climate change.

Gore was the co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, for his contributions to the climate change debate.

Answer: Dick Cheney

At the 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Barak Obama quipped: "A few weeks ago Dick Cheney said he thinks I am the worst president of his lifetime, which is interesting, because I think Dick Cheney is the worst president of my lifetime".

Answer: Hannibal Hamlin

President Lincoln replaced Hamlin as vice-president in his second term. Andrew Johnson became president when Lincoln was assassinated. Johnson appointed Hamlin as collector for the port of Boston, but Hamlin resigned. Hamlin later returned to the Senate from Maine.

Answer: Spiro Agnew

Agnew's quote was from an October 1969 speech at a Republican fund raiser, which took place four days after a major anti-Vietnam war demonstration.