US Presidents (And a Couple of Quizzes)

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My Fascination with US Presidents

When my brother and I were younger, we were both fascinated by the Presidents. We can credit our mother with much of the obsession -- she bought us president coloring books, biographies of the presidents, and, when her aunt handed down a few plastic president statues for us to play with, Mom went out and bought us the entire set. One of our favorite books growing up was "Facts About the Presidents". It listed each President with facts and figures -- family members, dates of birth, death, marriage, presidency, etc. It listed information about their Vice Presidents, their elections (popular and electoral votes), and even little tidbits. By the time we were in 2nd or 3rd grade, both of us knew the presidents in order, could tell you which president went with which number (for example, if someone said "18" we'd say "Grant" or if someone said "33" we'd say "Truman"). I can still do this (though anything over 36 or 37 I have to count up from before I can answer for sure). In any case, I have written a number of articles about specific presidents or about the presidents as a group and I thought I'd put them all together in one place, so people can find them on President's Day or any other time of the year (like before a history test????)

Presidential Trivia Quiz:

1. What President, one of the last signers of the Declaration of Independance, uttered the last words, "Thomas Jefferson still survives!" not knowing Jefferson had died earlier that day (July 4, 1826)?
2. What President, the only other President to die on July 4th, died 5 years later, July 4, 1831?
3. What President didn't know his "father" was really his step-father, until he was 17 and met his father, Leslie Lynch King?
4. Which President wrote the Monroe Doctrine (while serving as Monroe's Secretary of State)?
5. What President's daughter, Sara, was Jefferson Davis's first wife?
6. Most people know that James Buchanan was the only bachelor president, but he wasn't the only bachelor elected president. Who was the other?
7. What President married the niece of another president?
8. What President was 2nd cousins to James Madison?
9. Who was the first Rhodes Scholar elected president?
10. Richard Milhous Nixon was the second Quaker president. Who was the first?

"Presidents" on Jeopardy!

When I watch the TV Quiz show Jeopardy! (which I do religiously -- friends know not to call me during Jeopardy!) I am always excited when a Presidents category comes up. I also like First Ladies and Vice Presidents (I usually run the categories unless they have too much about recent presidents, vice presidents and/or first ladies) -- I was always fascinated with First Ladies and Vice Presidents too. I hope you enjoy my articles about the Presidents.
I wrote about my own experiences as a contestant on "Jeopardy!":

I Lost on Jeopardy 1
I Lost on Jeopardy 2
I Lost on Jeopardy 3
I Lost on Jeopardy 4
I Lost on Jeopardy 5
I Lost on Jeopardy 6

Presidential Trivia Quiz Answers:

1. John Adams
2. James Monroe
3. Gerald Ford
4. John Quincy Adams
5. Zachary Taylor
6. (Stephen) Grover Cleveland
7. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
8. Zachary Taylor
9. William ("Bill") Jefferson Clinton
10. Herbert Clark Hoover

Presidential "Number" Quiz

Probably because of my obsessions with both Presidents (and Presidential trivia) and Math, I've also been somewhat obsessed with knowing each President's "number" (as in George Washington was the 1st President, John F Kennedy was the 35th President). Keeping in mind that I am keeping with convention (George Washington 1, and counting Cleveland in two spots), can you match the number to the President?

1. 16
2. 22 
3. 6 
4. 32 
5. 39
6. 4 
7. 8 
8. 19
9. 28
10. 25

Presidential Number Quiz Answers:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. (Stephen) Grover Cleveland
3. John Quincy Adams
4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
5. James ("Jimmy") Earl Carter
6. James Madison
7. Martin Van Buren
8. Rutherford Birchard Hayes
9. (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson
10. William McKinley