U.S. Presidential Deaths Trivia

1. William Henry Harrison holds the record for the shortest term of office of any president, but for how long did he hold the presidency before he died?

From Quiz Being President is a Dangerous Job

Answer: Four weeks

On March 24 1841, three weeks after his inauguration, which took place on March 4, President William Henry Harrison went on his daily walk to a number of local markets. Just as at his inauguration, which was a cold and wet day, Harrison went on his walk without a coat or hat. Although caught out in a sudden rainstorm, the president did not change his clothes on his return to the White House. Two days later, Harrison began complaining of cold-like symptoms and sent for his doctor. Although the president said he felt better after taking some medication, the doctor, Thomas Miller, returned the following day to find Harrison in bed with a "severe chill". The doctor applied mustard plaster and prescribed a mild laxative. However, early on March 28, Harrison developed severe pain, and the Miller initiated bloodletting, applied heated cups to improve blood-flow, and induced vomiting, eventually diagnosing pneumonia. Despite the efforts of a team of physicians, Harrison became steadily weaker, developing severe diarrhoea and becoming delirious in the evening of April 3, and died at around 12.30am on April 4, four weeks after his inauguration. Although there was a long-standing belief that the conditions at his inauguration contributed to his death, an analysis of Miller's notes done in 2014 showed that the White House's water supply was downstream of public sewage, and that Harrison most likely died as a result of typhoid.

From Quiz Presidential Life Spans

Answer: Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford is the only president who was never elected to that office or to the office of vice president. He was appointed in 1973 by Richard Nixon after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and succeeded Nixon when he resigned in 1974.

From Quiz R.I.P. Mr President

Answer: A bullet wound to the head

President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Friday November 22 1963. His assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested in a theatre 80 minutes later, but himself was assassinated two days later by Jack Ruby. In 1979 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Kennedy's assassination was likely part of a conspiracy.

From Quiz Presidential Birth States

Answer: Bill Clinton

Clinton was born August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas.

From Quiz Lifespans of US Presidents (1)

Answer: Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the 8th president of the USA, and the first born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He was born on December 15, 1782 or 6 years after the USA became a nation. The first seven presidents were of course citizens, but were born in the colonies under British rule.

From Quiz Presidential Final Words

Answer: John Tyler

Tyler's coffin was draped with a Confederate flag. His body lay in state at the Confederate Congress in Richmond. Because of his loyalty to the Confederacy, Tyler's death was ignored by the US Government.

From Quiz Presidential Deaths Part Two

Answer: Margaret 'Peggy' Mackall Smith Taylor

Mrs. Taylor never recovered from her husband's sudden death. She died two years after him in August, 1852 at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

From Quiz Presidential Birthplaces

Answer: Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was born in 1782. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

From Quiz Being President is a Dangerous Job

Answer: Independence Day

On July 4 1850, at an Independence Day intended to help raise funds for the construction of the Washington Monument, President Zachary Taylor reportedly consumed a significant amount of both raw fruit (cherries) and iced milk. Over the course of the next few days, the president became extremely ill with an unknown digestive complaint, which was diagnosed by his doctor as "cholera morbus", a catch-all term used in the mid-nineteenth century to describe diverse intestinal conditions such as diarrhoea and dysentery. Taylor subsequently developed a fever, and died at about 10.30pm on July 9, six days after Independence Day. In later years, rumours persisted that Taylor had in fact been assassinated by the administration of poison. In the 1980s, his body was exhumed and samples taken for analysis, which concluded that there was no evidence of poisoning, and instead Taylor had most likely died due to acute gastroenteritis as a result of his food or drink being contaminated by Washington's open sewers.

From Quiz Presidential Life Spans

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

Wilson served as president from 1913 to 1921 and led the United States through World War I. Wilson advanced the cause of the League of Nations after the war but the United States did not join that organization.

From Quiz R.I.P. Mr President

Answer: Cancer

President Grant died from throat cancer on July 23 1885. Shortly before his death, he had just finished writing his memoire, detailing his life as general-in-chief during the Civil War. It was published by Mark Twain and became a best-seller. It was also the second presidential autobiography, the first being that of president James Buchanan.

From Quiz Presidential Birth States

Answer: Richard Nixon

Nixon was born on January 9th 1913 in Yorba Linda, California and married Thelma Ryan ("Pat") Nixon.

From Quiz The Curse of Tecumseh

Answer: Tenskwatawa (The Prophet)

While Tecumseh was the leader of the confederation, his younger brother Tenskwatawa, a religious leader, was the solidifying element in the group. Following the battle of Tippecanoe, "The Prophet" uttered the fateful curse, which paraphrased says that every President elected in a year ending in 0 would die in office.

From Quiz Lifespans of US Presidents (1)

Answer: Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford was 91 at the time of the inauguration and limited his travel. Carter, Bush Snr and Clinton attended the inauguration.

From Quiz Presidential Final Words

Answer: John Adams

Adams didn't know it but Jefferson had died a few hours earlier. Adams died at age 90. He was America's longest-lived president until being surpassed by Ronald Reagan (93) and George H W Bush (94).

From Quiz Presidential Deaths Part Two

Answer: Hiram Ulysses Grant

Grant's throat was swabbed with a cocaine solution to ease the pain caused by tongue and throat cancer.

From Quiz Presidential Birthplaces

Answer: Virginia

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson were all born in Virginia - eight in total. Ohio comes second, with seven - Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Ohio sometimes claims Harrison as one of their presidents, since he later settled there, but he was clearly born in Virginia.

From Quiz Being President is a Dangerous Job

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

On April 14 1865, five days after he had received the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, effectively ending the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia were invited by President Lincoln to attend a performance of the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. News of the attendees reached actor and Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth, who had privately made a number of threats to the life of the president, and who resolved to use his knowledge of the theater and the play to assassinate both Lincoln and Grant that night. However, Grant and his wife had actually declined to attend, instead leaving for a trip to Philadelphia. Lincoln and his wife were instead accompanied by their friends Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris. Booth's plan was to use the laughter at the play's funniest line to mask the sound of the gunshot. He was able to gain entry to Lincoln's unguarded box and, at the delivery of the line, shot Lincoln behind his left ear, before using his dagger, with which he originally intended to attack General Grant, to stab Rathbone in the arm. The wound inflicted on the president caused an immediate coma, and Lincoln eventually died at 7.20am the following morning.

From Quiz R.I.P. Mr President

Answer: Pneumonia

President Harrison's pneumonia was at the time believed to have been induced by his long inaugural address, which was the longest in history at 8445 words and took two hours to deliver on a extremely cold and windy day. However, the modern medical view is that he actually died of "septic shock due to enteric fever", which may not have been caused by being out in the cold at all. Coincidentally, his grandson, President Benjamin Harrison, was also sworn in on a rainy day, gave the second longest inaugural address in history, and also died of pneumonia (though not until 1901, well after his term of office had ended).

From Quiz Presidential Birth States

Answer: Illinois

Born February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. After school he was a Radio Sports Announcer, then took a Hollywood screen test and appeared in 53 films.

From Quiz The Curse of Tecumseh

Answer: William Henry Harrison

Harrison was Tecumseh's main adversary in the battle for the Indian lands. He was elected president in 1840, but during his inauguration speech he contracted a cold after standing in the bitterly cold rain for an hour and forty minutes. His cold quickly turned to pneumonia, and he died on 4 April 1841.

From Quiz Lifespans of US Presidents (2)

Answer: 46

JFK was born on May 29, 1917 and assassinated at the age of 46 on November 22, 1963. He was the youngest elected president at the time of his election in 1960. He was also the youngest deceased president as of 1963.

From Quiz Lifespans of US Presidents (1)

Answer: 5

Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, and Clinton were alive at the same time from GWB's first inauguration in 2001 until Ronald Reagan's death in 2004. Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and GHW Bush were all alive from Clinton's inauguration in 1993 until Nixon's death in 1994. Van Buren, Tyler, Pierce, Fillmore, and Buchanan were alive at the same time from Lincoln's inauguration in 1861 until Tyler's death in 1862.

From Quiz Presidential Final Words

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

His last words were spoken to James Amos, TR's former White House valet. Amos came by to visit his former employer. He became alarmed at the former president's weakened condition and stayed with him until his death.

From Quiz Presidential Deaths Part Two

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

The contents of Lincoln's pockets on the night of his assassination remained under seal until February 12, 1976. Among the items were a {$5} Confederate bill.

From Quiz Presidential Life Spans

Answer: James Polk & Polk & James Knox Polk

James Knox Polk, the first "Dark Horse" or compromise candidate to become president campaigned for an aggressive stand for territorial expansion and the annexation of Texas and land in Oregon Country. The Mexican War was fought during his administration resulting in large territorial gains in the West. Honoring his promise to only serve one term he retired to Tennessee after leaving office and died some three months later.

From Quiz Presidential Birth States

Answer: Connecticut

Although Bush is "from Texas", he was born in New Haven, Connecticut where his father (George H.W. Bush (Sr)) went to Yale.

From Quiz The Curse of Tecumseh

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

That night, a southern-sympathizing actor named John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln as he sat in his box at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. Lincoln died the next day.

From Quiz Presidential Final Words

Answer: Rutherford B Hayes

Lucy Hayes was the first "First Lady" to have a college degree. She was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" because she did not serve alcohol in the White House. The Hayes' were happily married. Lucy died in 1889. Rutherford died four years later. He longed to be with his wife.

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Last Updated Sep 12 2026 5:50 AM

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