Presidential Trivia

Question: George W. Bush is our 43rd President, but there have only been 42 Presidents. One President served 2 non-consecutive terms, can you name him?

Answer: It was Grover Cleveland. He was our 22nd President (1885-1888), and our 24th President (1893-1896). It was Benjamin Harrison who interrupted his White House reign, as our 23rd President.

Question: Ronald Reagan was our oldest President (69). Who was our youngest President?

Answer: John F. Kennedy, our 35th President (1961-1963), was the youngest ELECTED Chief Executive at 43. However, Theodore Roosevelt succeeded McKinley at age 42, making him the youngest President.

Question: Abraham Lincoln was the tallest President, at a towering 6’4”. Who was our shortest President?

Answer: At 5’4”, James Madison cast the shortest shadow. He weighed 100 pounds.

Question: George Washington’s presidential salary was $25,000/year. What’s the current salary for U.S. President today?

Answer: Current “congressionally approved” salary for the President is $400,000. Whew, inflation!

Question: Only 2 U.S. Presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One is JFK.Name the other.

Answer: The only other President buried there is William Howard Taft, 27th U.S. President.

Question: Before the U.S. Mint Presidential Golden Dollar Coin Program was launched, there have only been 7 Presidents portrayed on circulating U.S. coins. Can you name them all?

Answer: Did this one drive you crazy? Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy . . . plus one more . . . it’s Teddy Roosevelt (26th President). He’s pictured on the 2006 South Dakota State Quarter, on Mt. Rushmore.

Question: Two Presidents died the same day, July 4th, 1826. Name them both. (HINT: They were the last surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence.)

Answer: Amazing, but true. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4th, 1826. James Monroe also died July 4th, but in 1831.

Question: One President served only one month. Name him.

Answer: William Henry Harrison, our 9th President, served only one month. He died in office after catching a cold during his inaugral address, which developed into pneumonia.

Question: One of our Presidents was extra large, requiring special furniture and chairs in the White House. He topped the scales at 323 pounds. Name this big boy.

Answer: It was William Howard Taft, 27th President, who had custom furniture designed to “hold him” throughout the White House.

Question: According to census figures, there are approximately 32-million “lefties” in the U.S. How many Presidents were left-handed?

Answer: Just seven – James Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Question: One ambidextrous President could write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other. Can you name him?

Answer: James Garfield . . . and he could do it at the same time!

Question: 26 Presidents were lawyers. 12 were generals. Name two who were neither.

Answer: Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.

Question: It’s become a famous tradition – to have our Chief Executive throw out the first ball to start the baseball season. Which President started the tradition?

Answer: William H. Taft threw the first pitch in 1910 in Griffith Stadium in Washington D.C. on opening day for the Washington Senators.

Question: Pennsylvania Hospital is the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin. Can you name the first President to be born in a hospital?

Answer: Believe it or not . . . it was Jimmy Carter who was born on October 1, 1924.

Question: The “first President to fly” rode in an early Wright biplane at the International Air Show in St. Louis, Missouri. The flight lasted 4 minutes. Can you name him?

Answer: Teddy Roosevelt, reluctantly, in 1909. He had to be coaxed into taking that flight.