Presidential Life Spans Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford is the only president who was never elected to that office or to the office of vice president. He was appointed in 1973 by Richard Nixon after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and succeeded Nixon when he resigned in 1974.

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

Wilson served as president from 1913 to 1921 and led the United States through World War I. Wilson advanced the cause of the League of Nations after the war but the United States did not join that organization.

Answer: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was a war hero from the War of 1812 having dealt the British a sound defeat at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Unbeknownst to both combatants the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in December 1814. This frontiersman and "People's President" had made opposition to the renewal of the Charter of the Second Bank of the United States one of his central campaign issues.

Answer: James Polk

James Knox Polk, the first "Dark Horse" or compromise candidate to become president campaigned for an aggressive stand for territorial expansion and the annexation of Texas and land in Oregon Country. The Mexican War was fought during his administration resulting in large territorial gains in the West. Honoring his promise to only serve one term he retired to Tennessee after leaving office and died some three months later.

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson was the main author of the Declaration of Independence. A gifted botanist, architect, scientist, author and more it was of him that president Kennedy said during a gathering of Nobel Prize winners at the White House that it was the "... most extraordinary collection of (...) human knowledge (...) ever (...) gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone".

Answer: John Adams

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were one-time bitter political rivals but shared an extensive correspondence with each other later in life. Both fought for Independence during the Revolution and in one of the great ironies of history, both died on the 50th anniversary of the independence of the United States. Adams' last words were reportedly "Thomas Jefferson survives", not knowing his great rival and friend had died just hours earlier.

Answer: Rutherford Hayes

Hayes won one of the most disputed elections in US history beating Samuel Tilden by one vote in the Electoral College. One of the conditions that were part of the resolution of the election crisis was an end to the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.

Answer: William McKinley

William McKinley served as governor of Ohio prior to assuming the presidency of the United States. The Spanish-American War was waged during his term in office resulting in the acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines by the USA. Struck by an assassin's bullet while visiting the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo on September 6, 1901, McKinley lived 8 more days before succumbing to his wounds.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt served as President from 1901-1909 and famously gave his name to the iconic Teddy Bear. He also campaigned unsuccessfully for president in 1912, on behalf of the "Bull Moose Party" - a reference to an occasion when he made a speech with a bullet in his chest, declaring he was "fit as a bull moose". He is one of four presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

The Great Communicator assumed the presidency when the nation was reeling from an economic downturn and feeling the effects of the Iranian hostage crisis and left it when it was "morning again in America" and a nation that was confident and strong. In between, Reagan played an important part in ending the Cold War without a shot being fired but with the USSR on the brink of collapse.

In 1994 Alzheimer's Disease led him into the "sunset of his life" and he passed away in 2004.