Which U.S. President? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third President of the United States, from 1801 to 1809. Before that, Jefferson was the first Secretary of State, and the second Vice President. One of the original Founding Fathers, he was the principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1803, he offered Napoleon ten million dollars to acquire New Orleans and the adjacent areas, in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. The purchase doubled the size of the United States.

Answer: Jimmy Carter

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. They took fifty two Americans hostage. The hostages were held for 444 days, making it the longest hostage crisis in history. Jimmy Carter was president at the time and maintained that "the United States would not yield to blackmail".

In 1980, President Carter ordered a military operation to rescue the hostages, Operation Eagle Claw, but it failed. The hostages were finally released on January 20, 1981, just minutes after President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.

Answer: Andrew Jackson

"Old Hickory" or Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the seventh President of the United States, from 1829 to 1837. He was a soldier and statesman, and founder of the Democratic Party. During his tenure, Jackson had signed the "Indian Removal Act of 1830", forcing the Cherokee nation to give up its lands east of the Mississippi.

In 1838 and 1839, the Native Americans were made to move to land which later became Oklahoma. This move resulted in great hardship for the people, and became known as the "Trail of Tears".

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, marking the beginning of the first World War. At the time Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the 28th President of the United States. While President Wilson tried to keep the country out of the war, he eventually asked Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917. On June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the Archduke's murder, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending the war between Germany and the Allied Powers.

Answer: James Buchanan

Dred Scott vs Sandford was a landmark Supreme Court case, decided in 1857. On March 5, 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that a slave (Dred Scott) who lived in a free state or territory was NOT entitled to his freedom; that "Negroes" could never be citizens of the United States, and that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional. Considered one of the worst Supreme Court rulings of all time, it helped paved the way for the American Civil War. James Buchanan (1791-1868) was president at the time, and fully endorsed the decision.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858-1919) was an explorer, statesman, soldier and conservationist. He served as 26th President from 1901 to 1909. He became president after the assassination of William McKinley, becoming the youngest president, at 42 years of age.

It was during his tenure that a treaty was signed in 1903 for the construction of the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Roosevelt is often ranked by historians as one of the five best presidents, and his face is immortalized on Mount Rushmore.

Answer: James Madison

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and the United Kingdom, from 1812 to 1815. Because of continued interference with American shipping, James Madison (1751-1836), fourth President of the United States, asked Congress to declare war on Britain on June 1, 1812.

Initially, the war went badly for the new nation, until the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, when the tide (pun intended) began to turn. The war included the successful defense of Fort McHenry (and the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner").

Answer: Franklin Pierce

James Gadsden was a United States Ambassador to Mexico in 1853 when the Gadsden Purchase, aka the Treaty of La Mesilla, was signed by Gadsden and Mexican President Santa Anna, on December 30th. The acquisition gave the United States claim to almost 30,000 square miles of land in what is now Arizona and New Mexico.

The fourteenth President of the United States, Franklin Pierce, served from 1853 to 1857, and was in office at the time. Pierce also led a failed attempt to cede Cuba from Spain, and championed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Answer: John Adams

During the administration of second President John Adams (1735-1826), there was a diplomatic incident between the United States and France. It seems that an American envoy was sent to France in July 1797 to try to ease tensions with three French diplomats (X, Y and Z were substituted for their names). French Foreign Minister Tallyrand demanded huge bribes before negotiations could continue; this resulted in a "Quasi" undeclared war from 1798 to 1800, which became known as the "XYZ Affair". Eventually, continued negotiations between Tallyrand and American representative Elbridge Gerry led to an end to the hostilities.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

During the second term of President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), there was a political scandal known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Beginning in 1985, members of the Reagan Administration began supplying Iran (a sworn enemy) with weapons. The money from these sales, as well as guns, were then supplied to right-wing guerillas ("Contras") in Nicaragua.

The intent was a weapons-for-hostages exchange. The secret and illegal transactions were exposed in November 1987. Lt. Colonel Oliver North and National Security Advisor John Poindexter were initially convicted in the conspiracy, but the convictions were later overturned.