Even US Presidents Can Have Nicknames Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. I had a bit of a weight problem and was thus referred to as "His Rotundity". (Hint - the second President of the United States.)

Answer: John Adams

John Adams was also known as the "Colossus of Independence" not for his weight but for his leadership in the 1776 Congress. In designing a memorial bust of Adams, Daniel Chester French (the sculptor of the famous Lincoln memorial statute) included "folds of material at the bottom of his vest that suggest his girth" which alluded to his nickname. (cite www.senate.gov)

Franklin was a famous statesman who is known for his presence at various European courts during the early days of American independence. Jefferson and Madison were Presidents of the fledgling country.

2. I was the seventh President of the United States and am known as the father of the Democratic party. I was called "Old Hickory" by my troops in the War of 1812 because of my strength and toughness like the wood used to make axe handles. Who am I?

Answer: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was a famous general in the American war of 1812. He was born in the then undesignated boundary between North and South Carolina and served as President from 1829 to 1837. Andrew Johnson, Martin Van Buren and James Monroe were also US Presidents.

A great history note involves the voyage of the steamship Enterprise in 1814 from Pittsburgh to New Orleans to supply General Andrew Jackson with desperately needed military supplies including "Cannon-balls, Gun-Carriages, Smith's Tools and Boxes of Harness, &c." Is there nothing that the valiant ship Enterprise can't do? (cite National Archives DNA-RG 107, E-1815 microfilm 222, reel 15. 11 Feb. 1815 to James Monroe, Sec. of War.)

3. I am known as "Old Man Eloquent" or "The Abolitionist" because of my campaign against slavery both as President and later as a Congressman. (I am the only US President to be elected to Congress after my Presidential term.) Who am I? (Hint - my father was America's second president.)

Answer: John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams served as US President from 1825 - 1829. He was the son of America's second President, John Adams. He may be best known for his role in the United States Supreme Court trial "United States v. the Schooner Amistad" (40 US 518, 1841). This incredibly tragic episode involves a mutiny on a Spanish slave ship and the efforts of the African captives to achieve their freedom. John Quincy Adams argued for the rights of the captives to return to their homeland.

Lincoln, Arthur and Johnson were also US Presidents. Lincoln, especially, is known for his abolitionist actions during the American Civil War.

4. I am known as "General Mum" due to my aversion to discuss controversial matters during my campaign. I was the ninth President of the United States of America. I hold the record for the shortest Presidential term and was also the last American president to be born a British subject. Who am I?

Answer: William Henry Harrison

Born in the British colony of Virginia in 1773, William Harrison was a governor of Indiana who served as President in 1841. He served for 31 days before dying of pneumonia.

William Jefferson Blythe III is the birth name of American President Bill Clinton. His birth father was killed in a car accident three months before he was born and he later took the last name of his mother's second husband. Tyler and Grant were also American Presidents.

5. Born in 1809 in Kentucky but lived in Illinois, which 6'4" president is known as "The Great Emancipator?" (Hint - He was the sixteenth president of the USA and led the country through a moral and cultural division.)

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is the famous politician, lawyer and president that led the United States during the American Civil War until his assassination in 1865. Mark Twain is the pen name of American author Samuel Langthorne Clemens. William Bonney is the birth name of the cowboy outlaw "Billy the Kid," and William Penn was the founder of the American colony known as Pennsylvania.

6. I am known as "The Hero of San Juan Hill" due to my charge leading the Rough Riders in a battle in Cuba in 1898. I served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Who am I?

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was indeed a hero of the battle of San Juan Hill. Often called "Teddy", evidently he hated this nickname and preferred the initials TR. (Cite PBS.org retrieved 2008.) Roosevelt was a wonderful preservationist and creator of America's national parks, forests and new monuments during his term. Harrison, Grant and Pierce were all US Presidents.

7. Known as "His Little Majesty," this fourth President of the United States was one of the shortest people to serve in this office (variously noted as 5'4" to 5'6"). He is widely regarded as the Father of the Constitution during the 1787 Federal Convention. Who is this? (Hint - his wife saved a famous portrait when the British burned the White House.)

Answer: James Madison

James Madison and his wife Dolley Madison served as President and the First Lady of the United States during the War of 1812. The British army attacked and burned the White House during his term ("It is done...the precious portrait is in the hands of the gentlemen for safe keeping" wrote Dolley to James about a portrait of George Washington in the White House that she and several attendants safeguarded.)

8. I was the 15th US President and served from 1857-1861. Elected immediately before the Civil War, I was the last President to be born in the 18th century and was also famously known as the "Bachelor President", never to marry. Who am I?

Answer: James Buchanan, Jr.

James Buchanan has consistently been rated by historians as "one of the worst Presidents in American history" due to his inability to reconcile the anti- and pro-slavery factions that led to the Civil War. (Cite "Scholars Rate 10 Worst Presidential Mistakes", LA Associated Press 2006, Elizabeth Dunbar) Admittedly, he served in a difficult era in American history. Polk, Arthur and Hayes were also American Presidents.

9. I served as the 36th USA president from 1963-1969 after a national tragedy. I was given a nickname due to my alleged habit when I entered and left rooms in the White House. What was I called?

Answer: Light-bulb Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States of American just 2 hours and 8 minutes after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in November, 1963.

In a Washington Post article in 1964, LBJ was called "Light-bulb Johnson" due to his habit of turning off lights to conserve energy. The other foils are imaginary.

It would appear that not much has changed in 50 years of Washington politics. In 1964, in front of a Senate Committee, Secretary of the Air Force Zuckert admitted that he used a US military plane to fly to Las Vegas to attend a party for Senator Cannon of Nevada - later calling it an "inspection trip."

In a press conference in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 11, 1964, LBJ sidestepped the issue when asked how that expenditure met his efforts to economize government spending. "I would suggest that you talk to the Senator and get the details. I am totally unfamiliar with them." Hmmm...does this sound familiar? (Cite "The President's News Conference 256 - April 11, 1964.)

10. I was the eighth President of the United States. One of my nicknames was "The Careful Dutchman" and I was also known as "The American Talleyrand" Who am I?

Answer: Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren served as President of the USA from 1837 to 1841. Called the "Careful Dutchman" because his first language was Dutch and also known as "The American Talleyrand" due to his versatile and skilled interpersonal talents. (Talleyrand was a French bishop, politician and skilled diplomat who lived during the same period.)

Monroe, Tyler and Fillmore are interesting US presidents in their own rights.

Source: Author CirceMagic

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Beginning with George Washington (known as "The Father of his Country"), many American presidents have been accorded nicknames. Can you match the sobriquet with the person?

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