Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Back when the Republican political party "Stalwarts" (those who wanted Grant to return to the White House) were opposed by the "Half-Breeds" party (the majority of whom were backing Senator James Blaine from Maine), the resulting stalemate at the Republican convention led to the choice of a "Dark Horse". And the "Dark Horse" was elected President of the United States. Soon after his inauguration, it was time for him to name his staff and there was a gentleman by the name of Charles Guiteau that decided he wanted to be the Consul General in Paris. He begged the president for this appointment, was denied over and over again so he shadowed the White House, stalked cabinet members and flew into a murderous rage each time he was denied. He purchased a British Bulldog pistol and walked calmly up to the president who was waiting for a train in the railway station and fired twice. The second shot lodged in his back. He had only been president for four months. Who was he?
2. Oh, what a story! This president had an interesting route to the White House in that he had paid a 32 year old Polish immigrant to take his place in the Civil War for $150 -legal in those days. He had been the Sheriff of Erie County, New York; Mayor of Buffalo, New York and Governor of New York. This president weighed in excess of 250 pounds but that didn't deter him from marrying his ward when she was 21. They married in the White House and had five childen. Only Esther was born in the White House. This president is the only one to marry in the White House and also to have a child in the White House. Who was this colorful president?
3. And next we have a president who was the last president to have served in the Civil War and the first to have his inaugural captured on film. He had served as the Governor of Ohio and was known as a "nice guy". This man welcomed the press and their coverage of his administration. He even promoted it by building the first White House pressroom. Cuba had been seething for years against its Spanish owners and since America had a great deal of money invested there, the president sent down the battleship Maine to Havana to show we were keeping an eye on our interests. Two hundred sailors met their Maker when the ship blew sky high. The probable cause of the explosion was a coal fire but everyone wanted to believe, and therefore concluded that the culprit was a Spanish mine.
4. The secret to longevity, according to this president, was cold foot baths. For 60 years, he soaked his feet in cold water. He was a tinkerer - an inventor who invented the dumbwaiter and even a copying machine that allowed the writer to write two identical letters at the same time. He was married to Martha for ten years but he was reputed to also be overly fond of other men's wives. He also had a habit of greeting ambassadors and other stately visitors in his pyjamas that set two continents' tongues wagging. He was known for his great agricultural advances, among other things. Now, who was this great president who had a mansion on top of a small mountain?
5. This president was only 5'7" tall and had previously been a mailroom clerk, farmer and even owned a menswear store in Kansas City that went belly-up. He traversed through a county judgeship and on to the U.S. Senate where his investigation of defense contracts saved the government billions of dollars, and on to Vice President of the United States. He was drinking bourbon with the Speaker of the House when he heard of the president's death. "Jesus Christ and General Jackson!" he exclaimed and when speaking the next day, he said to the press, "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now!" When he walked into the former president's funeral, nobody stood up as they couldn't bear to think of this little man as the new president. He was the only president in the 20th century to not have a college degree. He came from an interesting family and when his mother, who had never forgiven the Union side for the Civil War, visited, she was offered the Lincoln Bedroom. She said she'd really rather sleep on the floor. And so, who was this president who had a middle initial that didn't stand for anything?
6. American history seems filled with assassins and would be assassins. This president was walking through the rotunda of the Capitol when a man jumped out in front of him and levelled a pistol at the president. The young man was convinced that he was heir to the British throne and that this president was preventing him from being crowned. The man, Richard Lawrence, aimed closely at the president, but the pistol misfired. He produced another pistol, and but it misfired too! The odds of two consecutive misfirings were estimated at 1 in 125,000. This president was certainly no stranger to pistols and it is rumored that he fought in more than 100 duels. He was known as an Indian fighter and he beat back a British invasion at New Orleans. Once, he narrowly escaped starvation by eating acorns. He was married to Rachel. Who is this president?
7. He watched, with his mother, the Battle of Bunker Hill from a crest near his childhood home. His father went out of his way and spared nothing in cultivating the pursuit of excellence in his son. At the age of 14, he translated French, which was the official language of the Russian Court, for the American minister, Francis Dana. He went on to become our country's most esteemed diplomat. He spoke seven languages and was the only president to serve in the House of Representatives after leaving the presidency. He was no man of the people though. He was haughty, arrogant and had an icy effect on everyone around him. He was thin lipped, had a shrill and high pitched voice and was very confrontational. He was the second of the first seven presidents to be thrown out after only one term. Who do we have here?
8. This president was raised in Kansas by parents who belonged to a fundamentalist religious sect called the "River Brethren". They were strict pacifists who could not abide even hearing of the taking of another's life. When the young man left on the train for West Point, it was said that his mother cried at the train station when he left - the only time the family had seen her cry. Our man was mediocre at West Point, being far too interested in athletics, and graduated 61st in a class of 164. Who would guess that this homely little guy would become Commander of all Allied Forces in Europe during World War II? Following the war, he did all possible to not run for president. He served as Army Chief of Staff, became the President of Columbia University and even wrote his best selling memoirs of World War II. He finally gave under the pressure from those who wanted him to run for president. He threw his hat into the ring and ran in 1952 as a Republican. He defeated Adlai Stevenson in a landslide. Isn't this easy? What was his name?
9. This president hailed from Braintree, Mass. He eloquently defended the British soldiers accused of killing colonists during the Boston Massacre. He believed that laws applied equally to all. He created the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusettes, one of the oldest of such documents still operating in the world. This was not a popular and well liked man as he was irritable, vain and some even said he was "actually insane." He and his vice president got along poorly after a time of mutual respect in the early years. The vice president used all opportunities to fuel opposition to the president in the press. Eventually, the two in their final years, again began corresponding and this correspondence ramains one of the most interesting and extraordinary in the English language. They died on the same day - July 4, 1826 - the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Who was this man who was nicknamed "Mr. Rotundity"?
10. Here we have a clever Pennsylvania lawyer whose courtroom talents made him a fortune that would support him to the end of his days. When elected president, he had no grasp of how enormous the issue of slavery had become. Though personally against slavery, he considered abolitionists to be a noisy and treasonous bunch of "no-gooders". When the Dred Scott decision was handed down by the Supreme Court that Congress had no right to ban slavery, our man thought the matter was settled. Little did he know! The president became out of touch, he was losing allies and starting to look like a real "loser". All of this served to strengthen the first political party in American history to take on slavery; the Republicans and Lincoln was their man. The agitated southerners began planning their secession and when Lincoln was elected, the states hightailed it out of the Union. Our man did nothing at all while waiting for Lincoln to take office, believing that stopping secession was unconstitutional. Our man did preside over an administration that remains one of the most corrupt in American history. Who else could this be but the one and only ...?
Source: Author
TIGEY
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