Transcript President`s Day Trivia Challengex - fchs

PRESIDENT’S DAY TRIVIA
CHALLENGE
The Presidents of the
United States of America,
from George Washington
to Barack Obama
GEORGE
WASHINGTON
As the first President of the United
States, he established precedents for
all who would follow him. During his
two terms in office, he saw the Bill of
Rights created, signed the Judiciary
Act into law, put down the Whiskey
Rebellion, and delivered his famous
“Farewell Address” to shape
American foreign policy for years to
come.
JOHN ADAMS
The second President of the United
States, John Adams was a Federalist
concerned with protecting American
interests and securing the nation’s
government. The Alien and Sedition
Acts, passed during his Presidency,
probably violated the Constitution, and
were steadfastly opposed by the
emerging rival party of the day, Thomas
Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Although he was the creator of the
Statute of Religious Freedom in
Virginia, the author of the Declaration
of Independence, and the President of
the United States; an accomplished
architect, political philosopher,
scientist, and writer; and the man who
bought the Louisiana Territory, sent the
Corps of Discovery and Lewis & Clark
to explore it’ and double the size of
the United States – despite all of this
– his proudest accomplishment was
that he founded the University of
Virginia.
JAMES MADISON
For a tiny, diminutive, and squeaky-voice
little President, this man did all right:
He was considered “The Father of the
Constitution” for his contributions and
note-taking at the Constitutional
Convention.
He was the author of many of the
Federalist Papers.
His efforts were largely responsible for
the passage of the Bill of Rights.
He was President of the United States
for two terms, and during the War of
1812, also known as “Mr. Madison’s
War.”
JAMES MONROE
Monroe was the President of the United
States during the so-called “Era of
Good Feelings” – there was only one
political party: The DemocraticRepublican Party. During his time in
office, though, politicians began to form
two distinct parties: The Whigs and the
Democrats. His is probably most famous
for his famous “Monroe Doctrine”, a
warning to European nations that the
Western Hemisphere, including all of
North and South America and the
Caribbean, was no longer available for
colonization.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
He was the son of a President, and
earned the hatred of Andrew Jackson
by conspiring with Henry Clay to win the
Presidency during the Election of 1824.
John Quincy Adams, though, was a
devoted and patriotic American
President and legislator. He is the only
American President to, after having
served in the White House, run for
election to the House of Representatives.
He continued to serve there throughout
the 1830s.
ANDREW JACKSON
He was the hero of the Seminole Wars
in Florida and the leader of American
forces at the Battle of New Orleans
at the end (technically, after the
end…) of the War of 1812. As
President, he destroyed the National
Bank, established the “Spoils System”,
assured the Cherokee Nation of their
fate by refusing to enforce the
Supreme Court’s decision in Cherokee
Nation V. Georgia, and threatened to
invade South Carolina after South
Carolina threatened to secede over
the “Tariff of Abominations” during
the Nullification Crisis. He is
photographed to the right in his old
age.
MARTIN VAN BUREN
He was known as the “Little Magician”
because he was such a capable
political manager during the 1800s.
He was Andrew Jackson’s campaign
manager and best political advisor,
and he ran for President successfully
to succeed Jackson in office. After
serving as president from 1837 to
1841, he was re-nominated to run for
President in 1848 by the Free-Soil
party, which was pledged to
abolishing slavery.
WILLIAM HENRY
HARRISON
After giving a lengthy inaugural
address in extremely cold weather,
William Henry Harrison passed away
of pneumonia within a month of taking
office. His campaign slogan had
been “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”,
since he had been a war hero at the
Battle of Tippecanoe. The “Tyler,
too!” part of his slogan became very
important.
JOHN TYLER
He was an afterthought during the
Election of 1840 – the “Tyler” part of
“Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!” When
William Henry Harrison died, he took
steps to ensure that he would take over
the office of a President – a procedure
which, at the time, was of questionable
Constitutionality. During his time in
office, the United States officially
annexed Texas – which had been an
independent republic previously. A
Virginian, he was strongly pro-slavery.
JAMES K. POLK
“Young Hickory”, a president who
considered himself a follower of
Andrew Jackson’s “common man”
Democracy, was the President most
responsible for securing the United
States “Manifest Destiny” – controlling
the North American continent from
“sea to shining sea” by taking the
Oregon Country and the Mexican
Cession during his Presidency.
ZACHARY TAYLOR
He was one of only a handful of
Whig Presidents, and he was elected
more as a war hero than as a
politician. During the MexicanAmerican War he had risen to fame.
Sadly, he passed away in the year
1850, as Congress attempting to
solve the growing troubles of
sectionalism and slavery by crafting
the Compromise of 1850.
MILLARD FILLMORE
When Zachary Taylor passed away in
1850 Millard Fillmore served out the
remainder of his term. He was the
President of the United States when
the Compromise of 1850 was passed.
During his time in office the United
States opened relations with the
Empire of Japan – forcing them to
sign the Treaty of Kanagawa.
FRANKLIN PIERCE
Elected President of the United States
during the troubled 1850s, this “doughfaced” President did little to solve the
problems of sectionalism and slavery
which would soon tear the United States
apart. Franklin Pierce was probably
best known for his insistence upon
enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act and his
failure to prevent the collapse of the
Union.
JAMES BUCHANAN
He was a largely ineffective President
who served from 1857 to 1861. As
the sectional crisis and concern over
slavery turned violent in “Bleeding
Kansas” Buchanan was unable to
improve the situation or even
negotiate compromise. He hoped for
the Supreme Court to resolve the issue
of slavery with its decision in Dred
Scott V. Sanford. When the nation
balked at the ruling, he was hapless.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Widely considered the greatest of
all American Presidents, Lincoln led
the nation through the Civil War. His
Emancipation Proclamation freed all
of the enslaved people of the South,
and he insisted that in order for the
nation to be reunited, Southern
States would have to pass the 13th
Amendment, banning slavery. His
sense of compassion and his
eloquence, as evidenced by the
Gettysburg Address, helped
Americans to survive the most
troubling years in our History. He
was assassinated in April of 1865
by John Wilkes Booth, just days
after Robert E. Lee surrendered at
Appomattox Court House, VA.
ANDREW JOHNSON
A Southerner and a Democrat, Andrew
Johnson became the first President of the
United States to be impeached – put on
trial by the Radical Republicans in
Congress following the Civil War for an
accused crime. In fact, the charge was
rather contrived, and he was never
removed from office – but he was
probably the President most hated by
Congress during his lifetime!
ULYSSES S. GRANT
Although he is frequently condemned
as a poor President due to the
corruption and graft of his
administration, Ulysses S. Grant was
genuinely devoted to the cause of
Civil Rights for African-Americans and
Reconstruction. He continued to
support Freedmen during the
Reconstruction by funding the
Freedman’s Bureau and keeping up
the military occupation to the end of
his time in office. His own memoirs
are probably a more accurate
account of his life than the group of
Southern historians that disparaged
him after his death.
RUTHERFORD B.
HAYES
The man who stole the Presidency
from Samuel Tildon. He lost the
popular vote in 1876, but when no
candidate managed to win a majority
of the Electoral College, he was
placed in office thanks to the
Compromise of 1876. He became
President, but was forced to end the
Reconstruction of the American South,
thereby undoing most of the gains
African-American citizens had made
following the Civil War. Hayes was a
miserable President, and left exslaves without the protection of the
Union Army or the federal
government.
JAMES GARFIELD
James Garfield was killed by an
angry office seeker in 1881. He had
pledged to bring an end to the so
called “Spoils System” – which
awarded government jobs to men and
women who were the friends, families,
and political supporters of victorious
candidates. After Garfield’s death,
Congress passed the Pendleton Act –
requiring government employees to
pass competency tests before they
would be eligible for government
jobs.
CHESTER ARTHUR
He became President upon the
death of James A. Garfield by
assassination in 1881. The most
significant accomplishment of his
Presidency was the passage of the
Pendleton Act in 1883. He was an
accidental President.
GROVER CLEVELAND
Cleveland is the only President to be
elected to two non-consecutive terms.
He was a devoted Anti-Imperialist.
When American planters overthrew
Queen Lilioukalani in Hawaii in 1893,
he refused to annex the islands under
their illegitimate provisional
government.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
He was elected in the year 1888,
defeating Grover Cleveland and
occupying the term between Grover
Cleveland’s two non-consecutive
presidencies. He was also a distant
relative of the other Harrison –
William Henry Harrison. Fortunately,
Benjamin Harrison’s presidency lasted
much longer!
GROVER CLEVELAND
Cleveland is the only President to be
elected to two non-consecutive terms.
He was a devoted Anti-Imperialist.
When American planters overthrew
Queen Lilioukalani in Hawaii in 1893,
he refused to annex the islands under
their illegitimate provisional
government.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
His time in office included the Spanish
American War – and resulted in much
overseas expansion and colonization.
The United States claimed Puerto Rico,
the Philippines, and Guam after the
war; the nation also claimed the right
to build a naval base at Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and
American Samoa. Sadly, he too was
assassinated, by an anarchist.
He became President when McKinley was assassinated, and was the
youngest President in US History at the time. He was known as a
trustbuster, for enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against
companies like Standard Oil. After reading Upton Sinclair’s The
Jungle, he helped to pass both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure
Food and Drug Act. As a committed conservationist, he helped to
establish the National Park System.
THEODORE
ROOSEVELT
WILLIAM HOWARD
TAFT
He was the only President to serve on
the United States Supreme Court after
having been President.
During the Election of 1912, he ran
against his political mentor –
Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow
Wilson, who defeated them both.
WOODROW WILSON
“He Kept Us Out of War” was this
President’s campaign slogan in the
Election of 1916. In April of 1917, he
asked Congress to declare war on
Germany to “Make the World Safe for
Democracy.” His Fourteen Point Plan to
restore Europe after World War I was
adopted in the Treaty of Versailles. On
a personal level, he was an extremely
racist man who re-segregated the White
House and gave D.W. Griffith’s The Birth
of a Nation rave reviews.
WARREN G. HARDING
He promised Americans a “Return to
Normalcy” after World War I and the
rise of Radicalism left many Americans
upset and disturbed. He was notoriously
corrupt, however, allowing the Teapot
Dome Scandal to happen on his watch.
He died in office in 1923. While the
nation grieved the loss of the President, it
was soon revealed that personal scandals
and government corruption ran rampant
while he was in office.
CALVIN COOLIDGE
“Silent Cal” presided over the United
States during an era of enormous
prosperity, and exclaimed, “The
business of the American people is
business!” Unfortunately, during his
administration too many American
were running their businesses on credit
and overproducing – the Great
Depression was caused in part by the
laissez-faire economics of the era.
HERBERT HOOVER
He was the President of the United States
when the Stock Market collapsed and the
Great Depression began, and he was
blamed for being unsympathetic towards
the poor. Newspapers became “Hoover”
blankets, empty pockets “Hoover” flags,
and communities of bums lived in
“Hoovervilles.” He was probably not
responsible for the downturn in the
economy, but his helplessness to react to
the nation’s troubles doomed him. His
treatment of the Bonus Army was his worst
hour, burning down a veteran’s camp.
FRANKLIN DELANO
ROOSEVELT
He designed the AAA, the CCC, the
REA, the FDIC, and many other New
Deal Programs. Re-Elected four times,
this man was the longest serving
President of the United States. He
was the victim of polio at a young
age, and restricted to a wheelchair
for much of his life; nevertheless he
was extremely active and a
charismatic leader.
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE COULD HARDLY HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG: TRUMAN WO N HIS
RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN 1948, AND WENT ON TO SERVE FOR FOUR MORE YEARS.
Harry S Truman
Harry Truman made the decision
to drop nuclear bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
Japan.
He is also the President who
desegregated the United States
Military by executive order in
1948
The Election of 1948
DWIGHT DAVID
EISENHOWER
This Nebraskan and World War II
hero directed Operation Overlord on
D-Day in Normandy, France prior to
becoming the President of the United
States. While he was in office, he was
caught lying about U-2 spy planes
missions over the Soviet Union. He
also sent troops into Central High
School in Little Rock, Arkansas to force
the school to integrate peacefully.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Kennedy was the President of the
United States during the embarrassing
“Bay of Pigs” Invasion and the
terrifying Cuban Missile Crisis which
came frighteningly close to producing
a nuclear holocaust. His youth and
energy, however, inspired a
generation to dream big – he made it
his goal to put a man on the moon by
the end of the 1960s and return him
safely to the Earth – and it happened.
Kennedy was assassinate in Dallas, TX
in November of 1963.
His “Great Society” reforms like Medicaid, Medicare, and Head Start were
considered magnificent accomplishments; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were signed during his Presidency, but his
legacy was damaged the Vietnam War.
LYNDON
BAINES
JOHNSON
RICHARD NIXON
This President was in office when Neil
Armstrong landed on the moon. He
opened diplomatic relations with the
People’s Republic of China during his
time in office. Yet, he is the only
President in the history of the United
States of America to resign from office.
Had he not resigned, he would likely
have been impeached and removed
from office for breaking in to the 1972
Democratic national headquarters and
lying about the criminal act.
GERALD FORD
He became Vice President of the United
States when Spiro Agnew was forced to
resign over an income tax scandal.
Richard Nixon selected him to take over
the office. Then, in 1974, he became
President of the United States when
Richard Nixon was forced to resign! He
is the only man to serve as President of
the United States who was never the
victor in a national election.
JIMMY CARTER
While this Democrat was president
from 1977 to 1981, The United States
was mired in Economic Recession. He
opposed the Soviet Union’s invasion of
Afghanistan so strongly, that the
United States boycotted the Moscow
Olympics in the year 1980. He was
also President when Iranians held
hundreds of Americans hostage at the
US Embassy for 444 days.
RONALD REAGAN
He was President of the United States
during the height of the Cold War, and
once called the Soviet Union an “Evil
Empire.” Yet, once Mikhail Gorbachev
came to power in the USSR and
pledged to improve relations with the
West, Reagan joined Gorbachev in a
partnership which reduced Soviet
tyranny over Eastern Europe. In
perhaps his most dramatic oration,
Reagan, standing before the Berlin
Wall, exclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear
down this wall!” By 1989, the wall had
crumbled.
RONALD REAGAN’S POLITICAL GLOBE:
GEORGE H.W. BUSH
He was President of the United States
during a dramatic moment in world
history – the collapse of the Soviet Union
and its empire. In the aftermath of the
Cold War, attempted to establish a
“new world order.” During his
Presidency, the United States fought a
war against Iraq in order to liberate and
maintain the sovereignty of the tiny, oilrich nation of Kuwait, which had been
attacked by Saddam Hussein’s forces.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON
CLINTON
Bill Clinton was the President of the
United States of America during the
1990s, a time of great prosperity and
growth for the United States economy.
During his time in office, the United
States signed the North American Free
Trade Agreement. Interestingly,
although he was elected twice, Clinton
never won more than 49% of the
popular vote – in both the Election of
1992 and 1996, an independent
candidate, Ross Perot, split the vote
three ways. The unseemly affair he
had with a White House intern did
nothing to improve the honor of the
office of the Presidency. He was
impeached for lying to Congress.
GEORGE W. BUSH
He was the President of the United
States when Al-Queda terrorists crashed
airplanes into the World Trade Center
buildings, the Pentagon, and a field near
Shawsville, Pennsylvania. While he was
president, the US military overthrew two
regimes – the Taliban in Afghanistan,
and Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in
Iraq. He signed the Patriot Act into law.
Hurricane Katrina was perhaps his worst
moment as a leader – although given his
unpopularity by the end of his second
term, there were other possibilities.
BARACK OBAMA
President Obama is the first
African-American president.
To date, his most important
accomplishments include the
passage of Health Care Reform
– The Affordable Health Care
Act (Obamacare), the conclusion
of the war in Afghanistan, and
the killing of Osama bin Laden.
During his Presidency, an
economic downturn dubbed
“The Great Recession” has come
to a slow end, and economic
growth has occurred. Bitter
partisanship and gridlock have
characterized Washington D.C.
politics throughout his term in
office