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About This Quiz
For hundreds of years, the men who have led the United States of America have been the center of attention of the entire world. But there are some things that they've done that few are aware of. That's what we want to test you on today. How much do you know about the men who have presided over the United States of America?
We're going to ask you things like who owned an alligator, who skinny-dipped in a certain river, who loved Harry Potter and comic books and who was a really good wrestler. We want to test if you know who had fifteen children, who married their teacher and which two men died on the same day. We'll also ask which past president stole something from Shakespeare's house!
As funny as these facts may sound, they really happened. But because it isn't common knowledge, we'll give you major props if you manage to get eleven answers correct. So if you're ready to prove to us that you know what these presidents did when they weren't busy running the country, get started on this quiz.Â
Which president has a tumor on display at a museum?
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland was a two-time U.S. president and the only to serve two non-consecutive terms in office (1885–1889 and 1893–1897). On display at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, is an epithelium (a small malignant tumor) which was taken from the roof of his mouth.
Ronald Reagan
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Which president died from consuming contaminated food?
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th U.S. president, a major army general and a hero of the Mexican-American war. He passed away on July 9, 1850, five days after consuming milk and cherries, the latter which was most likely contaminated.
Abraham Lincoln
Herbert Hoover
Dwight Eisenhower
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Which president smoked like a chimney?
Herbert Hoover
Harry Truman
Ronald Reagan
Ulysses Grant
Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, was an avid smoker who smoked at least 20 cigars a day. Shortly after his victory in the Battle of Shiloh, he was gifted by the citizens with over 10,000 cigars as a sign of gratitude. He passed away on July 23, 1885, due to throat cancer.
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Which president has proudly read every Harry Potter book?
Harry Truman
Richard Nixon
Barack Obama
Barack Obama was the United States' 44th president and the first African American to be elected to the U.S. presidency. He is a huge fan of comic books and collects the Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian comics. He is also a fan of the Harry Potter series, having read every single book.
Franklin Roosevelt
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Which President has a foreign city named after him?
Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
James Monroe was a Founding Father and the fifth U.S. president whose tenure spanned from 1817 to 1825. He was a supporter of the American Colonization Society which created homes for freed slaves in Liberia. Liberia's capital city, Monrovia, was named in his honor.
Jimmy Carter
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Which of these men was a model on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine?
William Taft
Dwight Eisenhower
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford was the 38th U.S. president who. Ford's wife Betty was a dancer, and in his 20s, Gerald was a fashion model having posed on the cover of Cosmopolitan.
Harry Truman
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Which of these men was a cheerleader?
John Adams
Franklin Pierce
John Tyler
George W. Bush
George W. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States for two terms from 2001 to 2009. During his high school years, he was a baseball player and the school's head cheerleader. He would frequently organize skits and enthusiastic pep talks for the school's weekly assembly.
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Whose father gave him an underwhelming recommendation for Harvard?
Richard Nixon
Franklin Pierce
John F Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States who was assassinated two years into his presidency. JFK's father, a Harvard alum, gave him an underwhelming recommendation for Harvard stating that "young Jack was careless and lacks application."
Jimmy Carter
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Who was nicknamed "Young Hickory"?
Franklin Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Richard Nixon
James K. Polk
James K. Polk was the eleventh U.S. president who, prior to his tenure, served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the Governor of Tennessee. He was nicknamed "Young Hickory" and is one of six presidents to be named James.
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Which president married the girl he was the guardian of?
John Tyler
Bill Clinton
Jimmy Carter
Grover Cleveland
Grove Cleveland was the 22nd and the 24th president of the United States having served two non-consecutive terms. He was once the legal guardian of his wife Frances Folsom, who was eleven years old at the time when her father, and Grover's law partner Oscar Folsom died.
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Which president used to get stuck in the bathtub?
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913. Due to his large stature, he earned the nickname "Big Bill" and was rumored to get stuck in the White House bathtub. He is also the last president with facial hair to date.
Barack Obama
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Which man married his teacher?
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the thirteenth president of the United States. His first wife Abigail Powers, was his teacher when he was a 19-year-old student at the New Hope Academy in New York. As the First lady, she had the first running bath installed in the White House.
Barack Obama
Jimmy Carter
Herbert Hoover
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Who owned a parrot that could curse?
Bill Clinton
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was an American general and the seventh president of the United States. He had a pet parrot which was taught by him how to curse. The parrot had to be removed from a funeral service due to its constant swearing.
Ronald Reagan
Harry Truman
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Who was the only president to hold a doctorate?
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th U.S. president who served from 1913 to 1921. He is the highest educated president in U.S. history, being the only one to hold a doctorate (Political Science and History from Johns Hopkins University).
Franklin Roosevelt
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Who was Princeton University's first graduate student?
James Madison
James Madison was a Founding Father and the fourth U.S. president whose tenure spanned from 1809 to 1817. He was Princeton's first graduate student, completing his undergraduate in two years and then remaining there for an additional year.
Barack Obama
William McKinley
Abraham Lincoln
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Which president bought slaves, only to set them free?
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
James Buchanan was the fifteenth president of the United States who served from 1857–1861. A member of the Democratic Party, he would regularly buy slaves in Washington, D.C., then secretly free them in Pennsylvania.
Zachary Taylor
George Washington
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Who gambled the White House's china in a gambling match?
James Monroe
Herbert Hoover
George Washington
Warren Harding
Warren Harding was the 29th president or the United States from March 4, 1921, until he passed away on August 2, 1923, due to a heart attack. He was an avid gambler and during one poker game bet the White House china collection and lost it all in one hand.
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Which early president was a pretty good wrestler?
Dwight Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Barack Obama
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, frequented the wrestling ring throughout his younger years, during which he was defeated only once out of 300 matches. He is a member of the Wrestling Hall of Fame and a recipient of the honor of "Outstanding American."
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Which president was so comfortable in the bathroom that he allowed staffers in there with him?
Zachary Taylor
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson, also known LBJ, was the 36th U.S. president whose tenure spanned from 1963 to 1969. He was very comfortable in the bathroom, frequently asking White House staffers to follow him in the bathroom to continue conversations.
Jimmy Carter
Richard Nixon
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Who was the only president to be injured during the Civil War?
William McKinley
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes was the nineteenth president of the United States. During his younger years, he struggled with lyssophobia; the fear of going insane. He was the only president to be injured in the Civil War; a total of four times.
Bill Clinton
Abraham Lincoln
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Which president has the record for the longest speech?
Jimmy Carter
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was a military officer and the ninth president of the United States, who died of pneumonia thirty-one days into his tenure. He has the distinction of holding the record for the longest inauguration speech, which was 8,578 words long and lasted for an hour and forty minutes.
Herbert Hoover
Barack Obama
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Who allegedly went skinny-dipping in the Potomac River?
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States who, prior to his presidency, served as the eighth United States Secretary of State. During his tenure, he would go skinny-dipping in the Potomac River in the early morning.
Barack Obama
Grover Cleveland
Andrew Jackson
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Can you tell us which president was ambidextrous?
William Taft
Franklin Roosevelt
James A Garfield
James A. Garfield was the 20th U.S. president and was assassinated on September 19, 1881. He was ambidextrous and could write in Greek with one hand and Latin with the other at the same time.
Barack Obama
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Which president popularized the term "OK"?
Martin van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth U.S. president who was nicknamed "Old Kinderhook," due to being raised in Kinderhook, New York. After his presidency, he wrote a biography with no mention of his wife of twelve years.
Harry Truman
Abraham Lincoln
Zachary Taylor
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Which leader had more than eighty pairs of pants?
Abraham Lincoln
Richard Nixon
Dwight Eisenhower
Chester A Arthur
Chester A. Arthur was the 21st president of the United States who succeeded James A. Garfield upon the latter's assassination on September 19, 1881. He owned 80 pairs of pants and was known for his flawless attire, earning him the nickname "Elegant Arthur."
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Who allegedly ran over a woman with his horse?
William McKinley
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the fourteenth president of the United States and is ranked by scholars and historians as the worst and least memorable president. During his tenure, he was arrested for running a woman over with his horse. Charges against him were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Dwight Eisenhower
Herbert Hoover
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Which of these presidents stole from Shakespeare?
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States. In 1786, along with his close friend John Adams, he paid a visit to William Shakespeare's home in Stratford-upon-Avon during which they chipped off a piece of his chair as a souvenir.
Chester Arthur
Andrew Johnson
Grover Cleveland
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Which of these men was a liquor distributor?
Grover Cleveland
James Garfield
Ulysses Grant
George Washington
George Washington was a Founding Father and the 1st U.S. president. He was an established liquor distributor, having produced rye whiskey, peach brandy and apple brandy in his distillery at Mount Vernon.
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Which of these men was a tailor?
Harry Truman
William McKinley
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth U.S. president, was an apprenticed tailor during his youth. He was the only tailor to become president and, during his tenure, would only wear suits that he produced himself. He would also frequent tailor shops to say hi.
William Taft
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Who wore a red carnation as a symbol of good luck?
Ronald Reagan
Dwight Eisenhower
Franklin Pierce
William McKinley
William McKinley was the 25th U.S. president who was assassinated six months into his second term. He frequently wore a red carnation on his lapel as a good luck charm. While greeting a line of people, he gave the flower to a little girl and was shot only a few seconds later, succumbing to his injuries after eight days.
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Which of these men was scared of electricity?
John Adams
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd U.S. president and the first to have electricity installed in the White House. Due to his fear of being electrocuted, he, along with his wife, refused to touch the light switches and consequently, left the lights on all night long.
Barack Obama
John Tyler
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Which man had a pet alligator?
Abraham Lincoln
William Taft
William McKinley
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover was a businessman, engineer, and politician who served as the 31st president of the United States. The family was the owner of two pet alligators, which sometimes made its way into the White House.
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Which president had the weird habit of rubbing vaseline on his head?
William Taft
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge was the 30th U.S. president and is ranked by mainstream scholars as a below-average president. He had a really strange morning ritual which involved someone rubbing vaseline on his head while he ate breakfast in bed.
Franklin Roosevelt
Dwight Eisenhower
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Which president shares the same death date with Thomas Jefferson?
Richard Nixon
John Adams
John Adams was a Founding Father, first Vice president and second president of the United States. He was a very close friend and correspondent of Thomas Jefferson with whom he shared a friendly rivalry. He passed away on July 4, 1826, unaware that his friend died a few hours earlier.
Franklin Roosevelt
William Taft
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Which of these presidents had about fifteen children?
Richard Nixon
Franklin Roosevelt
John Tyler
John Tyler, the tenth U.S. president, was the father of fifteen children; eight with his first wife Letitia Christian who died of a stroke in the White House, and seven with his second wife, Julia Gardiner. Two of his grandsons, fathered by his son Lyon Gardiner Tyler, are still alive today.
George H. W. Bush
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