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Quiz about Those Colorful  Very Human US Presidents
Quiz about Those Colorful  Very Human US Presidents

Those Colorful & Very Human US Presidents Quiz


This quiz is designed to show the US presidents to be human--to have their foibles like the rest of us. Maybe you'll have a laugh or two. All information carefully gleaned (but not plagiarized) from "Secret Lives of the US Presidents" by Cormac O'Brien

A multiple-choice quiz by tigey. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
tigey
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
190,429
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
2346
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 24 (10/10), kstyle53 (10/10), NovaLuna (9/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson fed them in the White House but his daughter, Martha, hated them. What were they? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. It was during a Washington July 4th heat wave that this President of the United States made his rounds of speech, celebrating the holiday. Unfortunately, cholera had broken out in the city and everyone was advised to not eat raw fruit or drink water from unknown sources. When he arrived back at the White House, he was very thirsty and he drank an enormous amount of water. Not satisfied with this, he ate a bowl of cherries and followed it with iced milk. He immediately became very ill and by the 9th of July , he was dead from severe dehydration from constant vomiting and diarrhea. Who was this unfortunate man? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This president had a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and had been president of Princeton University. He has been called the best educated president. He had a love affair with a divorcee who lived in Bermuda but his wife forgave him and either the nation didn't know of this torrid affair or didn't care. He suffered from many, many ailments all through his life. He was dyslexic and couldn't read until he was 9. Later, he even used a stomach pump to fight off the horrible acid content of his stomach. He eventually suffered a stroke while campaigning for the League of Nations. Who was this austere president? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. What president was known to have told several federal staff members to get married and stop living in sin? (This president was also the first president to admit seeing a UFO.) Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This president doubled the size of the US. This person could only be? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Now, who could this president be that was paid $25,000 a year for being President of the United States? He needed money since a recent war had put him into financial trouble. But when he got into office, it was clear that he liked to splurge by spending an estimated 7% of his salary on alcohol and even purchasing leopard skin robes for his stable of expensive horses. For most of his life, he was in love with his best friend's wife, Sally Fairfax. He married but did not produce an heir. Some said he was sterile. Who was he? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This president won his election by a landslide. He started out as the editor of the Marion, Ohio "Star", a small town newspaper. He was persuaded to run for senate where he served for four years. Then, his wife, who was nicknamed "The Duchess", talked him into running for president. This election was the first in which women could vote and with their help, this man won an unprecedented 60% of the vote. It didn't hurt him at all that he was very handsome. It was during his term that the Teapot Dome scandal happened. He had a heart attack in a hotel in San Francisco and died, cutting his term short. Who was this dashing president who loved to play poker and lost a box of priceless White House china in a poker game? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. War was a preoccupation with this soon-to-be president. He was serving as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy when the "Maine" exploded in the Havana, Cuba harbor. First thing he did was to resign and form a rag-tag regiment of all volunteer cavalry soldiers which were called the Rough Riders by the press. Not a one of them had any military experience but our man hired a career soldier to train them. Their moment in the sun came in Cuba when they charged up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. Funny thing about this is that they had to do it on foot. They had left their horses on the dock in Florida. Now, I know you can guess who this man was. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land". This was said in this president's acceptance speech at the Republican convention in 1928. Only 7 months later, this leader had to eat his words as the Great Depression began turning the country into a nation of poorhouses. Who was this president who opposed direct government relief for the poor? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Along came two men that had more than their share of talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time How about these classic examples? (Incidentally, they are father and son and both have dealt or are dealing with very serious problem areas east of the Mediterranean Sea.)

"There is madmen in the world, and there are terror."
"We ought to make the pie higher."
"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though
I wasn't here."
"I understand small business growth. I was one."

His Daddy was also guilty:

"Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial and the Civil War and all that stuff. You can't be. And we were blessed. So don't feel sorry for----don't cry for me, Argentina." This gem was spoken in 1992 when he was attempting to describe his New England culture.

Who could we be talking about?
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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson fed them in the White House but his daughter, Martha, hated them. What were they?

Answer: Rats

Rats plagued the White House throughout the 19th century and Andrew Johnson left flour and water out for them at night. Needless to say, he was a great animal lover. They even nibbled on Rutherford Hayes' toes during his sleep, or so he claimed. By the time good old Grover Cleveland moved in, the rats had been joined with legions of roaches and spiders.

But the tide would turn with Benjamin Harrison who probably said, "That is ENOUGH!" and he not only called the professional exterminators but brought in ferrets that were free to roam the White House.

The uninvited guests were not long for this world. I wonder what happened to the ferrets?
2. It was during a Washington July 4th heat wave that this President of the United States made his rounds of speech, celebrating the holiday. Unfortunately, cholera had broken out in the city and everyone was advised to not eat raw fruit or drink water from unknown sources. When he arrived back at the White House, he was very thirsty and he drank an enormous amount of water. Not satisfied with this, he ate a bowl of cherries and followed it with iced milk. He immediately became very ill and by the 9th of July , he was dead from severe dehydration from constant vomiting and diarrhea. Who was this unfortunate man?

Answer: Zachary Taylor

Good old Zack. His clothing was so torn, soiled and tattered that people frequently mistook him for a farmer. It is said that he was "strange looking" with a "heavy trunk, long spindly arms and a
face like shoe leather". His nickname was "Old Rough and Ready" and he may have spent much of his life in the saddle, but he couldn't mount up alone. He needed help because of his too short and bowed legs.
3. This president had a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and had been president of Princeton University. He has been called the best educated president. He had a love affair with a divorcee who lived in Bermuda but his wife forgave him and either the nation didn't know of this torrid affair or didn't care. He suffered from many, many ailments all through his life. He was dyslexic and couldn't read until he was 9. Later, he even used a stomach pump to fight off the horrible acid content of his stomach. He eventually suffered a stroke while campaigning for the League of Nations. Who was this austere president?

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

When Wilson's first wife died of Bright's disease in 1914, Wilson became almost suicidal. However, he bounced right back and was married the very next year to Edith Bolling Galt. The "Washington Post" made an infamous and amusing typo when they described Wilson entertaining his wife-to-be.

They wrote that he spent the evening "entering" Miss Gait rather than "entertaining" her. Neither Wilson or First Lady Edith had any use for women voters and Edith called the suffragettes "disgusting creatures".

Despite their feelings, the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 giving women the right to vote.
4. What president was known to have told several federal staff members to get married and stop living in sin? (This president was also the first president to admit seeing a UFO.)

Answer: Jimmy Carter

Carter even put aside his duties as president for awhile to regularly teach a Bible class at the First Baptist Church in Washington. You remember our Georgia Jimmy who told "Playboy" magazine that he had "lusted in his heart". Now, why would anybody say that? When he decided to run for the presidency, his mother, "Miss Lillian", asked, "the presidency of what?" He might not have been our greatest president but when he wasn't busy building homes for Habitat for Humanity, he was gone negotiating peace in several international conflicts.

He even won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
5. This president doubled the size of the US. This person could only be?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon for $15 million and then sent Lewis & Clark out to see what kind of bargain he had made. His philosophies were strange. He was a devout opponent of slavery and lobbied against it his whole life, however, his home was one of the largest slave-operated farms in the country.

He was an inventor of note and even invented the dumb waiter and a device for a closet that had a turning machine for a rotating set of clothes hangers. It is odd that after two terms as President of the United States, writing the Declaration of Independence, designing and being the "Father of the University of Virginia" plus a myriad of other accomplishments, that he died $107,000 in debt.

His heirs partially paid that off by selling some of his slaves on the block.
6. Now, who could this president be that was paid $25,000 a year for being President of the United States? He needed money since a recent war had put him into financial trouble. But when he got into office, it was clear that he liked to splurge by spending an estimated 7% of his salary on alcohol and even purchasing leopard skin robes for his stable of expensive horses. For most of his life, he was in love with his best friend's wife, Sally Fairfax. He married but did not produce an heir. Some said he was sterile. Who was he?

Answer: George Washington

George Washington established a lot of the customs that we use today. The inaugural address was his idea and he wanted to be called "Mister President" when the senate wanted to call him, "His Highness the President of the United States of America and the Protector of Their Liberties". During his terms, he put down the serious and dangerous Whiskey Rebellion and even kept foes (at the time) Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson from tearing each other apart. And no, he did not chop down the cherry tree or throw a dollar across the Rappahannock River.

These myths came from a person by the name of Mason Locke Weems who published a book after Washington's death entitled "A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington".

It would seem that the public wanted to remember him maybe as a little more than human and Parson Weems was glad to oblige.
7. This president won his election by a landslide. He started out as the editor of the Marion, Ohio "Star", a small town newspaper. He was persuaded to run for senate where he served for four years. Then, his wife, who was nicknamed "The Duchess", talked him into running for president. This election was the first in which women could vote and with their help, this man won an unprecedented 60% of the vote. It didn't hurt him at all that he was very handsome. It was during his term that the Teapot Dome scandal happened. He had a heart attack in a hotel in San Francisco and died, cutting his term short. Who was this dashing president who loved to play poker and lost a box of priceless White House china in a poker game?

Answer: Warren Harding

It wasn't difficult for Warren Harding to attract the fair sex. "The Duchess" said, "I know what's best for the president. I put him in the White House." Warren had thoughts himself about what was best for him and these thoughts didn't necessarily include his strong-willed wife.

His first mistress was Carrie Fulton Phillips the wife of an old friend and the second was Nan Britton who was 30 years younger. Secret Service men, who were sworn to secrecy, ushered Nan through the West Wing to the meeting place with Warren.

It is said that Nan bore an illegitimate child by Harding, Elizabeth Ann Christian, in 1919, but that he never saw her.
8. War was a preoccupation with this soon-to-be president. He was serving as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy when the "Maine" exploded in the Havana, Cuba harbor. First thing he did was to resign and form a rag-tag regiment of all volunteer cavalry soldiers which were called the Rough Riders by the press. Not a one of them had any military experience but our man hired a career soldier to train them. Their moment in the sun came in Cuba when they charged up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. Funny thing about this is that they had to do it on foot. They had left their horses on the dock in Florida. Now, I know you can guess who this man was.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

A brief skirmish a few days before, added to this "run up the hill" against an enemy that was outnumbered fifteen to one, was Roosevelt's only military experience. The press loved it though and made Teddy an unadulterated hero of the time. Teddy loved it too and when he was campaigning for the governorship of New York, he always had a few Rough Riders with him and there was always a bugle call before every speech. Does anybody remember the play "Arsenic and Old Lace". Kind of rings a bell.
9. "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land". This was said in this president's acceptance speech at the Republican convention in 1928. Only 7 months later, this leader had to eat his words as the Great Depression began turning the country into a nation of poorhouses. Who was this president who opposed direct government relief for the poor?

Answer: Herbert Hoover

Nothing that Hoover did eased the horrible depression. Shantytowns sheltering the homeless and destitute began to cover the landscape. They were called "Hoovervilles". This did not deter the Hoovers though from enjoying their lavish lifestyle in the White House while the country was hungry. Both lunch and dinner usually required formal attire and there were no simple meals; most of them were seven course spreads.

In 1932, unemployment had reached 25%. He couldn't win, it seemed. During his presidency, Hoover lost over thirty five pounds, his hair turned white and he was overcome with melancholy.

He knew there was no way that he could beat Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 election and of course, he was right.
10. Along came two men that had more than their share of talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time How about these classic examples? (Incidentally, they are father and son and both have dealt or are dealing with very serious problem areas east of the Mediterranean Sea.) "There is madmen in the world, and there are terror." "We ought to make the pie higher." "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here." "I understand small business growth. I was one." His Daddy was also guilty: "Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial and the Civil War and all that stuff. You can't be. And we were blessed. So don't feel sorry for----don't cry for me, Argentina." This gem was spoken in 1992 when he was attempting to describe his New England culture. Who could we be talking about?

Answer: George H. and George W Bush

Do you remember the Bush thing where George H. threw up into the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister during a state dinner? The Japanese haven't forgotten. They call it "bushusuru" which means "to do the Bush thing". Daddy had his "Desert Storm" and son is up to his ears in terrorism, nine-eleven, the war in Iraq and all those Americans losing their lives over there. George W. Bush is the first president to have earned an MBA.

He also has to be very careful eating pretzels. In case you're wondering, I'm really not anti-Bush.

He is human just like the rest of us and he likes Fritos. Anybody who likes Fritos is a friend of mine.
Source: Author tigey

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
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