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About This Quiz
The history of America is forever entwined with its presidents. Since the time of George Washington, the United States has elected a host of fascinating people to lead and represent the nation, each leaving their own individual mark on the Oval Office. Through their leadership of the Executive Branch, these men worked tirelessly to better the country and steer its course through the murky waters of history. But even among such an august coterie, some are more famous than others. Names like Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln stand out immediately to any American, of course, but what about the others? What of the lesser-known presidents who had their own histories, slogans, agendas, successes and failures?
Together we will examine a host of images of these lesser-known presidents. They came from every corner of the nation, each with a unique collection of American experiences and beliefs. How familiar are you with these somewhat less famous men who once led our country? Fear not if you need a little help: we've seeded this presidential quiz with hints to help you along.
Time waits for no one! Let's click onward to test your ability to recognize the many past masters of the Oval Office!
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Which president, born in 1872, is this?
John Quincy Adams
Calvin Coolidge
The 30th president, Calvin Coolidge was an austere, restrained personality, who was famously brief with words. His motto was that "The chief business of American people is business!"
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
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Which Whig president is this?
Millard Fillmore
The 13th president, Millard Fillmore inherited the position after the death of Zachary Taylor. Fillmore was responsible for the Compromise of 1850 being passed, which temporarily calmed the nation's fears of a secession crisis. He eventually joined the Know-Nothing party, and is notable for being the last Whig to hold the White House.
Jimmy Carter
Warren G. Harding
Woodrow Wilson
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Which president was often satirized by Chevy Chase?
Ronald Reagan
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford became the 38th president of the United States after his predecessor, Richard Nixon, resigned. Ford chose to pardon Nixon, which was not a popular decision, and he was consequently defeated by Jimmy Carter.
Ulysses S. Grant
John Adams
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Who was the 14th president?
Bill Clinton
Thomas Jefferson
Zachary Taylor
Franklin Pierce
The 14th president of the United States, Pierce oversaw the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico and the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which yet again saw violence erupt over slavery. Due to these conflicts, as well as his attempt to thread the needle between patronage and neutral civil service requirements, he was not renominated after his first term.
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Which president, shown here, was born in 1795?
James K. Polk
The 11th president of the United States, James K. Polk is best known for his aggressive expansion of the U.S. borders. After leading the United States to victory in the Mexican American War, he then annexed the state of Texas and absorbed the territory outlined in the subsequent Mexican Cession. War with Great Britain over Oregon loomed on the horizon, but he avoided it and instead purchased the land through diplomacy.
George Washington
Richard Nixon
Alexander Hamilton
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Which president served just before the Civil War?
Thomas Jefferson
Donald Trump
Daniel Webster
James Buchanan
The 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan was the last president to serve prior to the Civil War. Buchanan is roundly lambasted by historians for doing little to prevent southern states from seceding. He is also the only president to be a lifelong bachelor.
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Which president was also the 10th vice president?
John Tyler
The 10th president of the United States, Tyler ascended on the premature death of William Henry Harrison. Besides setting this precedent for speedy transfer of power upon a sitting president's death, Tyler is most noted for his role in working towards the annexation of Texas.
Andrew Johnson
Herbert Hoover
Enoch Root
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Who was the 31st president?
Herbert Hoover
The 31st president of the United States, unhappy Herbert Hoover is best known for being in office at the time of the Great Depression. He was blamed for the Depression, as well as for not doing enough to alleviate its symptoms. He also oversaw the passing of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, which further worsened the economic situation.
Zachary Taylor
Trent Reznor
Jimmy Carter
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Which president, shown here, was born in 1857?
Abraham Lincoln
Barack Obama
James Cena
William Howard Taft
The 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft is best known as the only man to have ever been both president of the U.S. and chief justice of the Supreme Court. Conflict with T. Roosevelt led to him being defeated by Woodrow Wilson.
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Which president was the son of John and Abigail?
Woodrow Wilson
John Quincy Adams
The 6th president of the United States, John Quincy Adams was for free commerce and freedom of the seas. He was defeated by Andrew Jackson.
Ronald Reagan
Walter Mondale
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Which president was the last from the Founding Fathers?
James Monroe
The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe is best known for the Monroe Doctrine, a diplomatic declaration aimed to preventing European Powers from interfering in newly independent countries of the Americas. He also oversaw the founding of Liberia as a country for freed slaves, and their capital, Monrovia, is named after him.
Calvin Coolidge
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Thomas Jefferson
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Who was the 28th president?
James Calhoun
Woodrow Wilson
The 28th president of the United States, Wilson convinced the nation to join the Triple Entente in the Great War. He also brought about the resegregation of many civil service positions and prompted the creation of the League of Nations, although the U.S. itself did not join.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Bill Clinton
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Which president was assassinated in 1901?
William Howard Taft
John Adams
John F. Kennedy
William McKinley
The 25th president of the United States, William McKinley is known for the Spanish-American War, which saw the U.S. seizure of Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. He also was a major supporter of the use of protective tariffs. He was assassinated in 1901.
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Which president had Calvin Coolidge as his vice president?
Richard Nixon
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Warren G. Harding
The 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding was the first post Great War president. He was well liked during his presidency, but scandals that emerged after his passing, including the well-known Teapot Dome scandal over Oil in Wyoming, has cast a pall over his administration. He died in office in 1923.
Barack Obama
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Which president was also the first vice president?
John F. Kennedy
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
The second president of the United States, John Adams is known for his successful defense of the British soldiers who perpetrated the so-called Boston Massacre, the passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the naval military build-up that led to him being called the "Father of the Navy."
Zachary Taylor
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Which president only served for about a year?
George Will
Zachary Taylor
The 12th president of the United States, Zachary Taylor rose to fame commanding the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War. He sought compromise over the issue of slavery and died in office after a short time.
George Washington
Theodore Roosevelt
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Which president was the first to be born as a U.S. citizen?
Richard Nixon
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth president of the United States, and the first to speak English as a second language - his original language was Dutch. Van Buren denied the annexation of Texas and worked to create a two-party system based around political differences rather than cults of personality.
Abraham Lincoln
George Herbert Walker Bush
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Who was the fourth president?
Noah Wilson
James Madison
The fourth president of the United States, Madison worked on the Federalist Papers. He is most famous for his work drafting the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Albert Adams
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Which president, shown here, was born in 1822?
Rutherford B. Hayes
The 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes lost the popular vote but won the electoral college, causing a massive controversy. He crushed the great railroad strike of 1877.
Millard Fillmore
Woodrow Wilson
Craig T. Nelson
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Who was the 17th president?
Ulysses S. Grant
John Pettigrew
Ronald Reagan
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, ascended upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He is most noted for his policies toward the defeated South, allowing quick admission with few changes to their anti-black policies, and his impeachment for his attempts to dismiss secretary of war Stanton.
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Which president conducted "front-porch" campaigns?
William Henry Harrison
Jimmy Carter
Benjamin Harrison
The 23rd president of the United States, Benjamin Harrison helped create the forest reserves, and no less than six states in the West were admitted into the Union on his watch.
James Madison
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Who was the 21st president?
Benjamin Pettigrew
Heddy Yarmouth
Chester A. Arthur
Ascending after Garfield's assassination, The 21st president Chester A. Arthur's administration was noted by the smooth functioning of its government, its dedication to civil service reform, and its lack of showy adventures. Although easily forgotten, he is generally well regarded by historians.
Gerald Ford
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Which president is this?
John Quincy Adams
James K. Polk
William Henry Harrison
The ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison was the oldest president yet elected in his time, ascending at the age of 68. He died of pneumonia soon after taking office.
George W. Bush
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Which president was assassinated in 1881?
James Garfield
The 20th president of the United States, James Garfield was best noted for ending corruption in the U.S. Post Office and, well, being murdered. He was shot by an assailant, and poor medical treatment resulted in his subsequent infection and death.
Nathaniel Odie
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Herbert Hoover
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Which president was born in Missouri?
Jimmy Carter
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, ascended upon the death of FDR. He ordered the use of atomic weapons upon Japan, helped found the UN, supported Israel and was noted for desegregating the U.S. Military after WWII.
Calvin Coolidge
Franklin West
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Which president is associated with the Teapot Dome scandal?
Theodore Roosevelt
Warren G. Harding
In his younger days, Warren G. Harding purchased The Marion Star, the smallest paper in Marion, and built it into a successful business. It was only later that he would become a major figure in Republican politics.
John F. Kennedy
George Washington
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Which president took office after the assassination of James Garfield?
Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur's claim to fame was the Pendleton Act. Previously to Arthur, patronage - the system of gaining government jobs and contracts in exchange for votes and donations - was the unwritten rule of politics. The Pendleton Act moved things toward a less corrupt, merit-based system.
Harry S. Truman
John Quincy Adams
John Bigelow
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Who was the eighth president?
Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren
Martin van Buren had a storied political career, serving as the governor of New York as well as the secretary of state under Andrew Jackson. On the darker side, his presidency saw the continuation of Jackson's policy of "Indian Removal," which was effectively ethnic cleansing.
Zachary Taylor
Dwight Eisenhower
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Which president was also a peanut farmer?
Jimmy Carter
The 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter presided over a period of economic turmoil. He is known for his efforts to fix the Energy Crisis of the late '70s, as well as his efforts toward Middle East Peace between Israel and her neighbors.
Bill Clinton
Dwight Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
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Which president commanded the Union Army during the Civil War?
John Tyler
Lyndon B. Johnson
Zachary Taylor
Ulysses S. Grant
The 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant was well known for his role in commanding the Western, and then the Eastern Union Armies to victory in the Civil War. Unfortunately, his presidency was marred by corruption and patronage.
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Who was both the 22nd and 24th president?
James A. Garfield
Thomas Jefferson
Grover Cleveland
The 22nd and 24th president of the United States, Grover Cleveland is the only person to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms as president. He fought against several popular waves in his opposition to the railroad strike of 1894 and his refusal to move the country to a free silver standard.
George W. Bush
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Which president was born on the Fourth of July?
Millard Fillmore
Barack Obama
William Wright
Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge was known as "Silent Cal." a story tells that a woman seated next to Calvin Coolidge informed him that she had made a bet that she could get more than two words out of him, to which he replied, "You lose."
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Which president also served as the tenth chief justce?
William Acton
William Howard Taft
Taft had an extraordinary career, being appointed a judge as a young man, after which he was selected to be civilian governor of the Philippines, and later secretary of war! And his greatest achievements, president and chief justice, were yet to come!
William Jefferson Clinton
William Willke
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Who was the 23rd president?
Ronald Reagan
John Adams
Herbert Hoover
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison may not be the most famous president, but he defended African Americans' voting rights when few would do so, and also opposed his own party's Chinese Exclusion Act, making him ahead of his time in many ways.
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Which president served after Abraham Lincoln was shot?
Phillip Adams
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson believed slavery to be a form of private property, protected by the Constitution. He reluctantly stayed with the Union during the Civil War, finally seeing slavery as an enemy to the Government he loved. Nonetheless, he consistently supported the marginalization of black Americans.
Andrew Jackson
Herbert Hoover
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Who was the 14th president?
Franklin Pierce
Soon after his election, Franklin Pierce's 11-year-old son was horribly killed in a train accident in front of his parents. It is believed that the subsequent depression that he suffered may have plagued him throughout his presidency.
John Quincy Adams
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
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Which president was born in North Carolina?
Jimmy Carter
Zachary Taylor
James K. Polk
James K. Polk's war with Mexico concluded in the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, which massively increased the size of the United States at Mexico's expense. It effectively ended Mexico as a presence north of the Rio Grande.
Andrew Jackson
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Which president only served for 32 days?
James Monroe
Martin van Buren
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison became famous for his role during the Battle of Tippecanoe, in which his forces faced off against a native confederation led by Tecumseh.
William Clinton
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Which president had the middle name Rudolph?
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
As a young man, Gerald Ford was an excellent football player. When his teammate Willis Ward faced prejudice for the color of his skin, Ford stood in solidarity with him, refusing to play.
Lyndon Johnson
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You Got:
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