The Wit Of The White House - Part Two Quiz

Answer: Ronald Reagan

A former actor and sports broadcaster, Ronald Reagan was the 40th President, serving from 1981 to 1989.
Reagan was checking sound levels for a radio broadcast when he indulged in some banter. Unfortunately, the microphone was live to the White House press room and was promptly recorded and later broadcast.
The Russians were not best pleased.
For all his own quotable quotes and the jibes made at his expense, Ronald Reagan will be remembered for his role in ending the Cold War.
His domestic economic policy was more mixed, though he did reform social security and overhauled the tax system.

Answer: Barack Obama

Barrack Obama was the 44th President, serving between 2009 and 2017.
Obama was appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel television show just prior to the 2016 Presidential elections. He was reading out tweets the then-hopeful Donald Trump had written, and responding to them.
I think we all know the outcome of the election by now...

Obama's legacy will take time to evaluate. He did force through health care reforms, but for much of his time in office he was frustrated by Congress.
He also escalated the war in Afghanistan and left many disappointed that what they saw in the campaign trail was not translated into action in office.

Answer: George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President and served between 1989 and 1993. His father had been a senator, one son (George W) also became a President, and a second son (Jeb) was a state governor. Other possibly tongue-in-cheek statements by him are: "It's no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another" and "We're enjoying sluggish times, and not enjoying them very much".

Few candidates for the Presidency were as well prepared. He had a long history in government, and served eight years as vice-president. As president, he oversaw some achievements in foreign policy, but these were not enough to outweigh the economic recession that affected the day-to-day lives of voters.

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President, serving between 1953 and 1961.
"Ike" had been a career soldier and was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War 2. The vice-president referred to was Richard Nixon.

Eisenhower was initially seen as a barely average President, however his standings have improved over time. He was not good at explaining his policies, especially to the Press, often giving garbled answers to questions. However, looking back at his term, he did manage to keep America out of a war in Indochina in 1954, and he negotiated the ceasefire that ended the war in Korea. His terms did see some movement towards Civil Rights at home, though maybe he did not push them hard enough, and he did manage to curtail the anti-communist witch hunts of Joseph McCarthy. All-in-all, "Ike' was a popular war hero, and a popular President when he left office.

Answer: James Garfield

James Garfield was the 20th President serving from 1881 to his assassination later that year.
There are commentators who insist that Garfield's full presidency would not have been a successful one for America. He was an interferer, but relied too much on his political aides - several of whom were just not that able.
Some say he could have done more to advance the cause of of civil rights and they also believe he was unfit to handle the financial recession that occurred in the early 1880s. In the event, he was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881 and died 11 weeks later.

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR won a record four Presidential elections and was Commander-in-Chief from 1933 until his death in 1945. (There was no term limit on the presidency at that time. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1947, limits a President to two terms in office.)

Some commentators rate FDR as one of the best Presidents the USA has ever had up to that time - barring probably Lincoln. He came to power at a challenging time, and the challenges did not get any easier.
First, he had the economic crisis of the early 1930s. He promised a 'new deal' for jobs and prosperity, and it is generally believed that he largely delivered on those promises.

By the late 1930s, FDR understood the growing threat of Nazi Germany and Japan to world order. When the conflict started, he went to the support of America's allies, while seeking to stay out of the war. Would America have entered the war but for Pearl Harbor? - that has been an often-debated question. Maybe not some commentators believe - there was no appetite for war in Government. However once Japan launched those air strikes, American involvement was inevitable.

Answer: Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President, serving from 1945 to 1953.
In 1948, he was the subject of a famous front page headline in the "Chicago Daily Tribune" that said "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" - all in capitals! Of course Truman was the winner, going on to a second term.

Truman is one of those Presidents whose stature has been revised in the years since he left office. In 1952 he was very unpopular. America was embroiled in the Korean War; corruption was rife in high circles; and Joseph McCarthy was leading an anti-communist witch-hunt.

On the other hand, he stood up to Russian expansion; made commitments to Israel and South Korea; and ensured America had a lead role in NATO. On the home front, he protected Roosevelt's New Deal; and pushed forward the cause of civil rights by desegregating the military and banning discrimination in the civil service.

Answer: Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was the 37th President, serving from 1969 until 1974, when he became the first President ever to resign.

If you overlook one glaring occurrence, Nixon actually had a pretty good presidency. He championed nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and opened up China through diplomacy. He also brought America out of the unpopular Vietnam War.

And yet, the accusations persisted that much of what he did was out of self-interest. He seemed to support causes while privately holding counter views - such as the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency. The fact remains that whatever he did will always be overshadowed by Watergate and the subsequent cover-ups.

That quote in the question came from a "Ms" magazine interview in 1971.

Answer: Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was 14th President, serving from 1853 to 1857.
Pierce is often thought of as a lightweight, even inept, President.
He came to power at a time when the new nation was falling apart over slavery. Pierce was probably not up to the job and he was easily led. He was pressed into backing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and this probably put the country on an unstoppable course towards civil war.

As to that remark about getting drunk, Pierce was known for a fondness for alcohol and it may well have hastened his death at the age of 64 in 1869.

Answer: Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the eighth President, serving from 1837 to 1841.
Some commentators have a clear view of Van Buren. They believe he was a great politician before he entered the White House, and a poor President while in it. He revitalised the Democratic Party before 1837 and his aim was ensure state and local concerns were dominant and power of the federal government was limited. However, once in the White House, he faced many challenges, not least an ongoing economic depression, and he has been criticised for not doing enough to ease it.