A quiz in honor of Presidents' Day:
1. Name three of the five Presidents who were never elected to the the Presidency.
2. How many Electoral College votes are required to win the Presidency?
3. Name two of the four Presidents who, while winning a majority of Electoral College votes, failed to win a plurality of the popular vote.
4. Eight Presidents have died while in office. Four were assassinated, and four died of natural causes.
a. Name three Presidents who were assassinated.
b. Name two Presidents who died of natural causes.
5. George W. Bush is our 43rd President, yet he is the 42nd man to serve as President. Explain this discrepancy.
6. One President and two Vice Presidents have resigned their respective offices. Name the President and one of the Vice Presidents.
7. Name one of the two Presidents to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
8. Name the President who, following his term in office, became Chief Justice of the United States.
9. In the event of the death, incapacitation, resignation, or removal from office of the President, the Federal Constitution (Article II, 20th Amendment, and 25th Amendment), the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, and the U.S.A. Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 specify the order by which holders of eighteen federal offices would accede to the Presidency.
a. Name the first two people, and their current offices, on that list.
b. Name at least one other woman (and her current office) on that list.
c. Though there are eighteen offices on that list, only sixteen people are currently listed on the Presidential line of succession. Why? (Note: all eighteen offices are currently filled.)
10. Name the first American President born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Answers!
1. Name three of the five Presidents who were never elected to the the Presidency.
John Tyler, William Henry Harrison’s VP
Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor’s VP
Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln’s VP
Chester A. Arthur, James Garfield’s VP
Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon’s second VP
2. How many Electoral College votes are required to win the Presidency?
A majority, 270 or greater.
3. Name two of the four Presidents who, while winning a majority of Electoral College votes, failed to win a plurality of the popular vote.
John Quincy Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
George W. Bush (1st term)
4. Eight Presidents have died while in office. Four were assassinated, and four died of natural causes.
a. Name three Presidents who were assassinated.
Abraham Lincoln
James Garfield
William McKinley
John F. Kennedy
b. Name two Presidents who died of natural causes.
William Henry Harrison
Zachary Taylor
Warren G. Harding
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
5. George W. Bush is our 43rd President, yet he is the 42nd man to serve as President. Explain this discrepancy.
Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as President. Thus, he is considered both the 22nd and 24th President.
6. One President and two Vice Presidents have resigned their respective offices. Name the President and one of the Vice Presidents.
President Richard Nixon
Vice President John Calhoun (1st Jackson Administration)
Vice President Spiro Agnew (Nixon’s first VP)
7. Name one of the two Presidents to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Andrew Johnson
Bill Clinton
8. Name the President who, following his term in office, became Chief Justice of the United States.
William Howard Taft
9. In the event of the death, incapacitation, resignation, or removal from office of the President, the Federal Constitution (Article II, 20th Amendment, and 25th Amendment), the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, and the U.S.A. Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 specify the order by which holders of eighteen federal offices would accede to the Presidency.
a. Name the first two people, and their current offices, on that list.
Dick Cheney, Vice President
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
b. Name at least one other woman (and her current office) on that list.
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation
Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Education
c. Though there are eighteen offices on that list, only sixteen people are currently listed on the Presidential line of succession. Why? (Note: all eighteen offices are currently filled.)
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez (born in Havana, Cuba) and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (born in Taipei, Taiwan) are ineligible since they are not natural-born citizens.
10. Name the first American President born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Martin Van Buren