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Notable Secretaries of State Trivia Quiz

The office of secretary of state has always been an important one in the U.S., and in the early days of the republic it was often a steppingstone to the presidency. Here are questions about ten of the people who have served as secretary of state.

A multiple-choice quiz by chessart. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
chessart

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
321,781

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
738

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Johnmcmanners (10/10), briarwoodrose (10/10), hellobion (10/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. James Monroe had only one secretary of state during his two Presidential terms (1817-1825). Who was this man, who wrote the Monroe Doctrine while secretary of state and then succeeded Monroe as president? Hint

Martin van Buren

James Buchanan

James Madison

John Quincy Adams

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Question 2 of 10

2. This man, though better known for his service as a prominent Senator from Massachusetts, served as secretary of state under three presidents: William Henry Harrison (1841), John Tyler (1841-1843), and Millard Fillmore (1850-1852). Hint

Daniel Webster

John C. Calhoun

Henry Clay

Lewis Cass

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Question 3 of 10

3. This man served two full terms as secretary of state, serving under both Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He is best known for engineering the purchase of Alaska, called a "folly" by many at the time. Hint

James G. Blaine

Hamilton Fish

William H. Seward

William M. Evarts

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Question 4 of 10

4. This man served as Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of state, and received the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to foster world peace. Hint

Elihu Root

Philiander C. Knox

John Sherman

John Hay

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Question 5 of 10

5. President Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state resigned in 1915 due to differences with Wilson over World War I policies. Who was this principled man, who ran himself for president three times, and at the end of his career assisted the prosecution in the Scopes monkey trial? Hint

Bainbridge Colby

Charles Evans Hughes

William Jennings Bryan

Robert Lansing

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Question 6 of 10

6. Franklin D. Roosevelt called his secretary of state "The Father of the United Nations". Who was this man, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his role in establishing the United Nations? Hint

Frank B. Kellogg

John Foster Dulles

Cordell Hull

Henry L. Stimson

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Question 7 of 10

7. The United States efforts to rebuild Europe after World War II were named after this man, who was President Truman's secretary of state from 1947 to 1949. Hint

George Marshall

John Foster Dulles

Dean Acheson

Adlai Stevenson

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which secretary of state was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his role in ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War? Hint

Dean Rusk

Alexander Haig

George P. Shultz

Henry Kissinger

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Question 9 of 10

9. Cyrus Vance served as Jimmy Carter's secretary of state but he resigned in 1980, in protest of which action undertaken by the Carter administration? Hint

boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics

attempted rescue of the hostages in Iran

return of the Panama Canal to Panama

support of new Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank

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Question 10 of 10

10. In 2008 Barack Obama appointed his chief challenger for the Democratic nomination for president to be his secretary of state. Who was this person, who gave up a position as a Senator from New York to take on the job of secretary of state? Hint

Joe Biden

John Edwards

Hillary Clinton

Joe Lieberman

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: John Quincy Adams

Many historians consider Adams to be the greatest secretary of state ever for his many accomplishments during Monroe's presidency. His own presidency was not as successful as Monroe's, however.

Answer: Daniel Webster

Webster's most noteworthy accomplishment as secretary of state was the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which resolved a number of disputes with Great Britain concerning the location of the border between the U.S. and Canada.

Answer: William H. Seward

Seward arranged for the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2m, or about two cents an acre. It was called "Seward's Folly", "Seward's Icebox", and "Johnson's Polar Bear Garden". History has been kinder to Seward, however, and Alaska celebrates Seward's Day on the last Monday in March as an official state holiday.

4. This man served as Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of state, and received the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to foster world peace.

Answer: Elihu Root

Root continued his efforts to set up peaceful means to resolve international disputes until his death in 1937 at the age of 91.

Answer: William Jennings Bryan

Bryan tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace treaty with Germany, and in June of 1915 he resigned in frustration over Wilson's policies which seemed to put the U.S. on a collision course toward war. Bryan's famous encounter with defense lawyer Clarence Darrow in the 1925 Scopes monkey trial in Tennessee was marvelously portrayed in the 1960 film "Inherit the Wind".

Answer: Cordell Hull

Hull served as Roosevelt's secretary of state from 1933 to 1944, an extraordinarily long tenure for such a demanding position. Besides his U.N. role, Hull is also credited with improving U.S. relations with Latin America with his "Good Neighbor Policy".

7. The United States efforts to rebuild Europe after World War II were named after this man, who was President Truman's secretary of state from 1947 to 1949.

Answer: George Marshall

In 1947 Marshall became the first secretary of state to be named Time magazine's "Man of the Year" (later changed to "Person of the Year"). He had earlier won the award in 1943 while serving as Army Chief of Staff. In 1953 Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize, a fitting climax to his extraordinary career.

8. Which secretary of state was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his role in ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War?

Answer: Henry Kissinger

Kissinger and Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho shared the award in 1973 for their joint role in ending the U.S. combat role in the Vietnam War.

9. Cyrus Vance served as Jimmy Carter's secretary of state but he resigned in 1980, in protest of which action undertaken by the Carter administration?

Answer: attempted rescue of the hostages in Iran

Vance was a tireless worker for world peace, and during his tenure as secretary of state he played a major role in Carter's decision to turn back the Panama Canal Zone to Panama, and also in the Camp David Accords which led to peace between Israel and Egypt.

However, when Carter decided to go ahead with Operation Eagle Claw, the secret attempt to rescue the hostages, Vance submitted his resignation, which was kept secret until after the mission was over. This was not the first such resignation for Vance; during the 1960s he served as deputy secretary of defense but resigned in protest over the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Answer: Hillary Clinton

The hard-working Mrs. Clinton visited 44 different countries in her first year on the job.

Source: Author chessart

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