Hail To The Chief Trivia Quiz

Answer: No, but I find it mighty handy

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) was president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. His future wife, who was a teacher, was outside her school one day watering the garden, when she glanced up into the window of the house across the road. She saw a young man there shaving in front of his mirror. Comically so, he was only dressed in his long underwear - and was wearing a top hat. When they were formally introduced at a later date, the two soon fell in love. Their marriage was one of true affection. Although Mr Coolidge, during his political career, was known as a fervent and inspiring speaker, he was by nature not a garrulous man and really disliked small talk. This earned him the nickname of "Silent Cal" by the media. An opposition member of the government once remarked that, at social functions, Coolidge looked as though he had been weaned on a pickle.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge

Answer: His Rotundity

Adams (1735-1826) was president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. He was highly skilled as a speaker, intelligent, and ambitious. His two terms as a vice-president galled on him exceedingly and he described them to his wife Abigail as "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived, or his imagination conceived". As a young man studying at Harvard College, his family wished him to become a minister. Adams seriously doubted that this was the career for him, and wished to become a lawyer instead. He remarked of it in a comically disrespectful manner that while he found the law to be full of "noble and gallant achievements" he thought the clergy was full of "the pretended sanctity of some absolute dunces". Interestingly, Adams never bought or owned a slave and was totally opposed to slavery. Instead, he and his wife hired freed black laborers to work for them. Yet, he spoke out against a proposed bill in 1777 to emancipate slaves in Massachusetts. He felt that at that time the issue was too politically diverse for the nation, and that it should be re-presented at a later date.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

Answer: Yes

Warren Harding (1865-1923) was president of the United States from 1921 to 1923. As a young man he played in a band and was considered quite accomplished on the cornet. He began work as a teacher and selling insurance, and then, in partnership with several others, purchased a newspaper. Eventually he became the sole owner of same and used it to promote his Republican views. He would go on to marry the divorced daughter of a rival newspaper owner, but only with the greatest reluctance after succumbing to her relentless pursuit of him. He ultimately decided that the social advantages he would gain from the match would be good for his career. It is said that Mrs Harding pushed Harding all the way to the White House. He was prone to referring to her as "The Duchess" because of her rather imperious manner of dealing with any obstacles in their way.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_G._Harding

Answer: John Quincy Adams

How surprising is that? Monroe certainly delivered the speech to Congress, but John Quincy Adams was its author. James Monroe (1758-1831) was president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Much has been made of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both dying on the 4th of July. James Monroe made this a trifecta when he too died on this notable historical date. This president, one of the Founding Fathers of the States, held the presidency during a relatively peaceful time, comparatively speaking that is. One interesting fact about this President is that nobody seemed to know which religion he followed, or if he really believed in any particular one at all. Born into the Church of England, he later sometimes attended Episcopalian churches, he has been referred to as a Deist as well, and was known to dismiss a man from his service simply because of his Jewish faith. Such is the mystery surrounding Monroe's faith - or lack of same - that it saw one prominent Presbyterian minister remarking of his death that Monroe "...lived and died like a second-rate Athenian philosopher".

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_monroe

Answer: One day

This was because, during John Adams term as president (1797-1801), the year 1800 was not a leap year. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was leader of the United States from 1825-1829. He is probably one of the most unappreciated presidents of the United States. He faced continual opposition during his term in office, but managed to achieve much in spite of this. These achievements included putting many international treaties into place, modernising the economy, reducing the National Debt by two-thirds, pushing for educational reform, instigating social reforms, and overseeing technological progress. He is described as one of the finest diplomats America has ever produced. Yes this fine man suffered from depression and a massive sense of poor self-image all his life. In addition to this, he also had the misfortune of having a domineering mother - and a domineering, if talented, wife. Other interesting facts about this president is that he was the first to have his photograph taken, he abhorred the practice of slavery, and he left behind an incredibly valuable collection of fifty volumes of his personal diaries which are as a reef of gold to any historian. In this regard, he is to America as Samuel Pepys was to Britain.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams

Answer: Martin Van Ruin

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was president from 1837 to 1841. He was the first president to be born under the label of an American citizen. Prior to his birth, all persons born in the United States were classed as British subjects. In spite of this, Van Buren grew up speaking Dutch, having been born into a Dutch speaking family in the state of New York. America was in a depression during his term as president and hard times were being experienced by all. The blame for this state of affairs, however, fell squarely on the shoulders of Van Buren - giving rise to his unflattering nickname. Owing to his rather pompous form of giving speeches, Van Buren was further labelled by his opponents as the "Gold Spoon Orator". He definitely didn't enjoy his term as president of the country. In fact, he would remark of it in later life that "...the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office - and my surrender of it".

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Buren

Answer: Granny Harrison, the petticoat general

Harrison's opponents said that he had left the army when the 1812 war began to save his skin. It was unfortunate that they chose to ridicule his military prowess in this way because his career in that regard was considered for the times to be a fine one. He had actually resigned in indignation because the Secretary of War had taken him away from the fighting. This campaign consequently backfired on his opponents. As did their attempts to convince the voters that all he would do would do, if elected president, would be to "sit in a log cabin and drink hard cider". This was in reference to the fact that Harrison had once constructed a distillery and manufactured whiskey for a living. He closed it down when he saw the effect that whiskey had on people. However, Harrison's support team once again turned his opponents' mud slinging back on them, and used a log cabin and jar of cider as campaign symbols, promoting the fact that Harrison stood for the common people. Harrison was a good man in many ways and no doubt would have proved a strong president should he have lived long enough to make his mark, but his record on slavery and his treatment of indigenous Americans left a lot to be desired. Born in 1773, he became president in 1841, and died from pneumonia on his 32nd day in office.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison

Answer: His Accidency

It's almost comical reading about Tyler's progress up the presidential ladder. He appears to be the most reluctant politician ever to take office, but constantly, throughout his career, found himself being selected to take various offices. These included being practically drafted into a second term in Congress in spite of his clear reluctance to take it on again. In spite of declining the office several times, he was subsequently all but shanghaied into the senate, having to give up his comfortable position as governor of Virginia to do so. And on it went. It should be noted however, that whenever he did assume the mantle of responsibility, he always handled the positions he was given efficiently.

Following his unwilling election as vice-president to Harrison, and hearing of Harrison's impending death, he again displayed an initial reluctance to step into the shoes that were all too quickly becoming empty. However he quickly stepped up to the mark and astonished his party members by the force of his decisions. "His Accidency" however was the title he earned from his opponents because of the means by which he had become president, and, quite possibly, from his future actions and decisions as well. Born in 1790, Tyler was president from 1841 to 1845. His term saw most of his cabinet resign in protest, and during his entire time as head of the nation, he appeared to do little else but alienate all around him. History hasn't been kind to this President. He died in 1862, after having being married twice and fathering fifteen children. Both his wives were very beautiful, and devoted to him. So, in that regard at least, he was an outstanding success.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_tyler

Answer: A Millard Fillmore shaped soap-on-a-rope

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was president from 1850 to 1853. He is another president who has been included on the list of history's least successful presidents. Part of the reason for this was that, in order to soothe the ruffled feelings of the south, he supported slavery in the territories America had gained in the Mexican-American War, and he approved the Fugitive Slave Act. This agreed to all runaway slaves being returned to their owners. However, he was certainly a big hit in the bathtubs of America 134 years after his death.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millard_Fillmore

Answer: I am afraid there are too many pigs for the teats

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) led the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. One would imagine he made the above remark with a degree of exasperation. Another comical fact about the great Abraham Lincoln was that he got cold feet on the morning of his marriage to Mary Todd, and remarked to a friend that he felt as though he was headed to hell. The marriage was a reasonably happy one though, until its dreadful conclusion. Once, however, when deeply absorbed in a book, he repeatedly ignored his wife's request to put another log on the fire. The exasperated Mrs Lincoln finally picked up a small piece of wood and rapped him on the head with him in order to get him to pay attention. President Lincoln was in a coma for nine hours following the assassination shots fired by John Wilkes Booth. He died at 7:22am on April 15, 1865. The Secretary of War, who was present at this great leader's passing, 'saluted, and then said "Now he belongs to the ages"'.

Information and quotes for this question obtained from the following site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln#Presidency