Weird U.S. Presidents Quiz

Question: What was the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s beloved dog?

Answer: Fala was FDR’s beloved dog, who he once defended in a press conference against Republican slander.

Question: What did Richard Nixon add to the White House so he could practice his favorite sport at home?

Answer: Richard Nixon added a bowling alley to the White House in 1969.

Question: What animal, meant for dinner, did Calvin Coolidge pardon and keep as a pet?

Answer: Calvin Coolidge pardoned a raccoon meant to be eaten at dinner; he intended it to be kept as a pet instead. Many presidents have pardoned animals, but most are Thanksgiving turkeys, not raccoons (nor are they kept as a pet afterwards!).

Question: What language did Herbert Hoover and his wife speak in the White House if they didn’t want anyone else to understand them?

Answer: Herbert and Lou Hoover lived in China before he was president; the couple spoke Mandarin together in the White House when they didn’t want to be overheard by staff or visitors.

Question: What did Thomas Jefferson invent to make work more comfortable?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair (and the chair is allegedly what he sat on while drafting the Declaration of Independence).

Question: An almost certainly false rumour claims which president ran over an old woman with his horse or carriage?

Answer: An almost certainly false rumour claims Franklin Pierce ran over an old woman with his horse or carriage. The rumour probably stems from Pierce’s reputation as a partier; believers say he was drunk driving (or riding).

Question: Whose chair did John Adams and Thomas Jefferson vandalize to get souvenirs?

Answer: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson each chipped off a piece of William Shakespeare’s chair on a visit to the Bard’s home in England so they could have souvenirs of their trip.

Question: What sport did Abraham Lincoln excel at as a young man?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln excelled at wrestling as a young man.

Question: What toy was named after Theodore Roosevelt?

Answer: The teddy bear was named after Theodore Roosevelt, inspired by a story of Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear on a hunting trip.

Question: Who was the first vice president to become president after a president’s death?

Answer: John Tyler was the first vice president to become president after a president’s death, succeeding William Henry Harrison as president in April 1841.

Question: What pet did Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter Alice carry around as if it were a bracelet?

Answer: Alice Roosevelt had a pet garter snake named Emily Spinach that she occasionally wore around her wrist like a bracelet.

Question: Who was the only U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms?

Answer: Grover Cleveland was the only U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms, from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.

Question: What was William McKinley’s good luck charm?

Answer: William McKinley almost always wore a carnation in his buttonhole, claiming it was his good luck charm.

Question: How many presidents were born before the United States of America was a country?

Answer: Eight presidents were born before the United States was a country. The first born in the new republic was Martin Van Buren.

Question: What instrument did Bill Clinton play?

Answer: Bill Clinton played the saxophone, even performing with the instrument on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992.