U.S. Presidents Grab Bag, Part 1 Quiz

Answer: John Adams

I was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. I signed the Declaration of Independence, which I also helped to write. I was not a signer of the Constitution, though. I also helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the American Revolution and made the United States a truly independent nation.

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

My nickname from childhood was "Ike." While I was President, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into space. When my second term ended, I made a farewell speech to the American people in which I warned against the growing influence of the military-industrial complex.

Answer: James K. Polk

I was a close political ally of President Andrew Jackson. In my early political career, I served in the U.S. House of Representatives, where I eventually became Speaker of the House. I also served as governor of Tennessee before becoming President in 1845.

Answer: Jimmy Carter

Although my Presidency was generally considered a failure, I have been very successful in the years following my one term in office. I have actively participated in numerous humanitarian projects around the world and helped to find peaceful solutions to some of the world's most difficult political problems. In 2002, I was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

I won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905 for helping Japan and Russia negotiate the end of the Russo-Japanese War. I was awarded the Medal of Honor for my actions on San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Although I was recommended for the Medal of Honor not long after I led the Rough Riders up that hill, my political enemies made sure I never got it during my lifetime. On January 16, 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded me the medal posthumously. My great-grandson accepted the medal on my behalf.

Answer: George Washington

Before becoming the first President of the United States, I tried to serve my country the best I could, in any way I could. As a young man, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War, I was an aide to a British general who led his troops into a slaughter by the French army and its Indian allies. Later, when the United States found it necessary to separate itself from Britain, I was chosen as the commander-in-chief of the American army.

After the War for Independence ended, I presided over the convention that wrote the American Constitution.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Although I always hated slavery and wanted to see its eventual destruction, preserving the Union was by far my most cherished goal. As I told my friend Horace Greeley in a letter I wrote to him during the great War Between the States, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." (Lincoln letter to Horace Greeley dated August 22, 1862. Source: "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln", edited by Roy P. Basler.)

Answer: James A. Garfield

President Garfield was a kind and generous man and a politician of great promise. He served with distinction in the Union army during the War Between the States, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General. He also served as a congressman from Ohio before he was elected to the Presidency.

Answer: Chester A. Arthur

Many of my political enemies thought I was just another corrupt political "insider" because I was supported by New York City's Republican "machine." They actually had me removed from my post in the New York Customs House for two years. But I fooled them all! After I became President, I oversaw the enactment of the Pendleton Act, the first great civil service reform act in American history.

Answer: Benjamin Harrison

In addition to the two Dakotas, four other western states joined the Union during my term in office. Those states were: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington.