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Choosing Presidents Trivia Quiz

These questions span the history of choosing an American president from 1789 to 1996. Remember details about elections you yourself may have participated in and those you only heard about in your high school history class. Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by loring. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
loring

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
18,203

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
8 / 15

Plays
2982

Last 3 plays: Guest 73 (7/15), SgtHorse (11/15), susan829 (6/15).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. Who won the presidential election of 1876? Hint

Grant

Hayes

Cleveland

Harrison

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Question 2 of 15

2. Which one of these states was not among those whose popular vote was disputed in the 1876 election? Hint

North Carolina

Florida

Louisiana

Oregon

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Question 3 of 15

3. Who is the only president to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms (in the elections of 1884 and 1892)?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 4 of 15

4. Who defeated the incumbent in 1888 to prevent him from serving consecutive terms? Hint

William McKinley

Chester Alan Arthur

James Garfield

Benjamin Harrison

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Question 5 of 15

5. Who is the only president never to have been elected president or vice president? Hint

Coolidge

Ford

Taylor

Tyler

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Question 6 of 15

6. If a vice-president resigns or dies, who must confirm his or her replacement? Hint

both houses of Congress

the Supreme Court

the Senate

the state legislatures

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Question 7 of 15

7. Before Bill Clinton, no Democrat had won the White House without winning which state? Hint

Texas

Illinois

New York

Kentucky

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Question 8 of 15

8. Which state had the largest number of electoral votes in the first election in 1789? Hint

Pennsylvania

Massachusetts

Virginia

New York

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Question 9 of 15

9. Which state had the largest number of electors from 1812-1968? Hint

New York

Pennsylvania

Illinois

California

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Question 10 of 15

10. What was the only state which George McGovern won in 1972? Hint

South Dakota

Massachusetts

Missouri

Rhode Island

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Question 11 of 15

11. What was the only state which Walter Mondale won in 1984? Hint

Massachusetts

Delaware

New York

Minnesota

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Question 12 of 15

12. In which election were the most popular votes cast in the history of American presidential elections (not including 2000)? Hint

1988

1984

1992

1996

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Question 13 of 15

13. If you count up all the popular votes for president cast since 1824 (when the Electoral College began to be chosen by popular vote), which candidate has the highest total? Hint

FDR

Nixon

Reagan

Eisenhower

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Question 14 of 15

14. Al Gore ran for president once before 2000, but bowed out before the convention. What year was that?

Answer: (four digits)

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Question 15 of 15

15. The voters in which two states chose the national winners for president in every election from 1960 to 1996 (10 in a row)? Hint

Missouri, Delaware

Colorado, Wisconsin

Georgia, Illinois

Vermont, Ohio

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 08 2024 : Guest 73: 7/15
Nov 08 2024 : SgtHorse: 11/15
Nov 05 2024 : susan829: 6/15
Oct 07 2024 : Guest 73: 7/15

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who won the presidential election of 1876?

Answer: Hayes

Hayes won even though he got 250,000 fewer popular votes than his opponent, Tilden.

2. Which one of these states was not among those whose popular vote was disputed in the 1876 election?

Answer: North Carolina

A 15-member commission with 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats voted along party lines to accept Republican vote counts in all the disputed states, thus handing the election to Hayes in the Electoral College by one vote, 185-184.

3. Who is the only president to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms (in the elections of 1884 and 1892)?

Answer: Cleveland

Cleveland is the 22nd and 24th president of the U.S.

4. Who defeated the incumbent in 1888 to prevent him from serving consecutive terms?

Answer: Benjamin Harrison

Cleveland had more popular votes but lost in the Electoral College in 1888. Cleveland faced Harrison again in 1892 and won both the popular and electoral votes to regain the presidency.

5. Who is the only president never to have been elected president or vice president?

Answer: Ford

Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as Nixon's VP when Agnew resigned. When Nixon resigned, Ford became president. He then appointed Nelson Rockefeller as his VP, so that from 1974 to 1976 neither the president nor VP had been elected for the position in which he was serving.

6. If a vice-president resigns or dies, who must confirm his or her replacement?

Answer: both houses of Congress

According to the procedure stated in the 25th Amendment.

7. Before Bill Clinton, no Democrat had won the White House without winning which state?

Answer: Texas

Now you know why JFK chose LBJ as his running mate.

8. Which state had the largest number of electoral votes in the first election in 1789?

Answer: Virginia

Three states did not send electors to vote in that first election. Rhode Island and North Carolina had not yet ratified the Constitution, and New York could not resolve a dispute over the choice of electors in time.

9. Which state had the largest number of electors from 1812-1968?

Answer: New York

It had as many as 47 electors. California, under the 1990 census, has had 54, the most any state has ever had.

10. What was the only state which George McGovern won in 1972?

Answer: Massachusetts

11. What was the only state which Walter Mondale won in 1984?

Answer: Minnesota

And he won by only 3761 votes out of over 2 million cast.

12. In which election were the most popular votes cast in the history of American presidential elections (not including 2000)?

Answer: 1992

The candidacy of Ross Perot brought many Americans to the polls who did not normally vote.

13. If you count up all the popular votes for president cast since 1824 (when the Electoral College began to be chosen by popular vote), which candidate has the highest total?

Answer: Nixon

It has to be a candidate from the latter part of the 20th century when the voting population was much higher than before. Nixon got about 113 million votes in his three tries for the presidency to FDR's 103 million. Clinton and Bush, by the way, rank 4th and 5th behind Reagan.

14. Al Gore ran for president once before 2000, but bowed out before the convention. What year was that?

Answer: 1988

Gore won the primaries in AR, KY, NC and TN, but lost to Jesse Jackson in several Southern states and could not pick up a win anywhere outside of the South. Dukakis dominated and became the nominee.

15. The voters in which two states chose the national winners for president in every election from 1960 to 1996 (10 in a row)?

Answer: Missouri, Delaware

Missouri went narrowly for Stevenson in 1956 over Eisenhower. Otherwise, Missouri's string of voting for the winner would go back to 1904.

Source: Author loring

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
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