Question 1 of 20FirstsEasy
US presidents quiz
Think you know your commanders in chief? This US presidents quiz covers record-breakers, surprising firsts, vice presidents and the story behind Mount Rushmore, so it's a fun presidents quiz for history buffs and families alike.
A free quiz from Megan Moran, author of The Great American Quiz Book.
Question 2 of 20Presidents and moneyEasy
Which president's portrait appears on the US one-cent coin, the penny?
Question 3 of 20RecordsMedium
Who was the youngest person ever to become president, taking office at age 42?
Question 4 of 20Before the White HouseEasy
Which future president was the Supreme Allied Commander who led the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944?
Question 5 of 20Vice presidentsMedium
Which vice president killed former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804?
Question 6 of 20Vice presidentsHard
Who was the first US vice president to resign from office?
Question 7 of 20RecordsMedium
Which president served the shortest time in office, dying just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841?
Question 8 of 20Before the White HouseEasy
Which president had a long career as a Hollywood film actor before going into politics?
Question 9 of 20Presidents in historyMedium
Which president's government bought the vast Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 for $15 million?
Question 10 of 20FirstsHard
Which president signed the 1872 law that created Yellowstone, the first US national park?
Question 11 of 20Mount RushmoreMedium
Which sculptor designed Mount Rushmore and led the carving of its giant presidential faces?
Question 12 of 20RecordsEasy
Who is the only US president to have resigned from office?
Question 13 of 20Vice presidentsMedium
Which vice president was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One in Dallas in 1963, after President John F. Kennedy was killed?
Question 14 of 20RecordsHard
Which president is the only one who never married?
Question 15 of 20Presidents in historyMedium
Who was president when British troops burned the White House in August 1814, during the War of 1812?
Question 16 of 20Before the White HouseEasy
Before entering politics, Jimmy Carter ran his family's farming business in Plains, Georgia. Which crop was it famous for?
Question 17 of 20After the White HouseMedium
Which former president later became chief justice of the United States, the only person to hold both offices?
Question 18 of 20FirstsHard
Which president is the only one ever to hold a US patent for an invention?
Question 19 of 20FirstsMedium
Who was the first son of a former president to become president himself?
Question 20 of 20Vice presidentsHard
In 1988, who became the first sitting vice president elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836?
Answer all 20 to see your score.
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Show all the answers, with the facts behind them
- Who was the first president of the United States? George WashingtonHe took the oath on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, which was then the nation's capital.
- Which president's portrait appears on the US one-cent coin, the penny? Abraham LincolnReleased in 1909 to mark 100 years since his birth, it was the first regularly circulating US coin to show a real person.
- Who was the youngest person ever to become president, taking office at age 42? Theodore RooseveltHe stepped up in 1901 after William McKinley's assassination. John F. Kennedy, elected at 43, remains the youngest person ever voted into the office.
- Which future president was the Supreme Allied Commander who led the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944? Dwight D. EisenhowerIn 1953 he renamed the presidential retreat in Maryland, which FDR had called Shangri-La, Camp David, after his father and his grandson.
- Which vice president killed former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804? Aaron BurrThe duel took place at dawn on July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey, while he was still serving as vice president.
- Who was the first US vice president to resign from office? John C. CalhounHe stepped down in December 1832 to take a US Senate seat for South Carolina. Only one other vice president has ever resigned.
- Which president served the shortest time in office, dying just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841? William Henry HarrisonIronically, his inaugural address, at about 8,400 words, is still the longest in American history.
- Which president had a long career as a Hollywood film actor before going into politics? Ronald ReaganHe also served twice as president of the Screen Actors Guild, from 1947 to 1952 and again from 1959 to 1960.
- Which president's government bought the vast Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 for $15 million? Thomas JeffersonThe deal covered about 828,000 square miles and nearly doubled the size of the United States.
- Which president signed the 1872 law that created Yellowstone, the first US national park? Ulysses S. GrantSigned on March 1, 1872, the act set the land aside as a public park, and Yellowstone is widely seen as the world's first national park.
- Which sculptor designed Mount Rushmore and led the carving of its giant presidential faces? Gutzon BorglumHe died in March 1941, months before work ended, and his son Lincoln Borglum finished the memorial and became its first superintendent.
- Who is the only US president to have resigned from office? Richard NixonHis successor, Gerald Ford, became the only person to serve as president without being elected president or vice president.
- Which vice president was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One in Dallas in 1963, after President John F. Kennedy was killed? Lyndon B. JohnsonFederal Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath, the first time a woman swore in a president, and it remains the only swearing-in held on a plane.
- Which president is the only one who never married? James BuchananHis orphaned niece, Harriet Lane, whom he had raised, served as the official White House hostess during his term.
- Who was president when British troops burned the White House in August 1814, during the War of 1812? James MadisonHe and his wife, Dolley, moved into the nearby Octagon House, where in February 1815 he ratified the Treaty of Ghent ending the war.
- Before entering politics, Jimmy Carter ran his family's farming business in Plains, Georgia. Which crop was it famous for? PeanutsCarter was also the first president born in a hospital, and he lived to age 100, longer than any other president.
- Which former president later became chief justice of the United States, the only person to hold both offices? William Howard TaftPresident Warren G. Harding appointed him in 1921, eight years after he left the White House, and he served on the Supreme Court until 1930.
- Which president is the only one ever to hold a US patent for an invention? Abraham LincolnPatent No. 6,469, granted in 1849, described inflatable chambers designed to lift boats over shoals and other obstructions in a river.
- Who was the first son of a former president to become president himself? John Quincy AdamsHis father, John Adams, died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the same day as Thomas Jefferson.
- In 1988, who became the first sitting vice president elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836? George H. W. BushIn World War II he was a Navy pilot, commissioned at 18, and was shot down near the Pacific island of Chichi Jima in 1944.
