Presidents

Elementary/Middle

#1-12

(6 points) My first election to the presidency was very controversial. The original vote ended in a tie, which had to be broken in the House of Representatives. My opponent, Aaron Burr, then became my vice-president.

(4 points) The Marine Band first played for a presidential inaugura-tion for me and has played at every inauguration since. I was a strong advocate for the Band since I was an accomplished musician myself. At first, I was upset with James Monroe and Robert Living-ston when they returned from a mission I had sent them on.

(2 points) I designed and constructed my house, which is still popular with visitors to this day.

#1 1-12

(6 points) My middle name is the same as my mother’s maiden name. I had a difficult childhood. Sickly as a child, I was diagnosed with gallstones when I was 17. They were surgically removed at a time when there was no anesthesia. Ouch! My health did improve after the operation.

(4 points) When I was 11, our family moved to the other side of the Smokies. I am considered the first “Dark Horse” to win the presidency. Gas lighting replaced candles while I lived in the White House. I am the only president who was Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(2 points) Some say I didn’t have strong justifica-tion for starting the war with Mexico. One of the popular sayings during my presidency was “54° 40’ or fight!” This referred to the border of the Oregon Territory that separated it from Canada.

#2 1-12

(6 points) I was born south of the Mason-Dixon line. Before becoming president, I served in the House of Representatives and also as Secretary of State for my predecessor. Later, my Secretary of State succeeded me as president.

(4 points) I am known as the “Father of the Constitution.” I was the chief author of a series of articles called The Federalist Papers that argued for ratification of the Constitution.

(2 points) I am less celebrated than my wife Dolly, who courageously saved the portrait of Washington when the British burned the White House.

#3 1-12

(6 points) The “Trail of Tears” began while I was president. This involved the relocation of Native Americans from their homelands to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. The first-ever assassination attempt on a president was made against me in my second term. Richard Lawrence attacked me with a pair of pistols, but both misfired.

(2 points) While president, I was in constant pain from old war wounds and other ailments. My first vice-president resigned over the issue of tariffs. My second vice-president became my successor.

(4 points) My wife Rachel died of a heart attack shortly after I was elected president. I blamed her death on the insults our enemies hurled at her regarding her first marriage. I am known for my “Kitchen Cabinet,” a small group of friends who advised me apart from my regular cabinet.

#4 1-12

(6 points) I was chosen as a representative to the First Continental Congress and later a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Horatio Greenburgh’s huge marble statue presents me as an old Roman, stripped to the waist, with a toga draped over my knees, balancing a sword, and sitting on a Roman chair. It was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda in 1841 to a storm of protest.

(2 points) My final message to the nation after eight years said: “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world…” Alexander Hamilton, who was my first Secretary of the Treasury, helped me write the message.

(4 points) I appointed John Jay as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I later sent him to England to negotiate a treaty that bears his name. However, a large portion of the public didn’t like the treaty, and my popularity dropped.

#5 1-12

(6 points) I was one of the peace commissioners who signed the Treaty of Ghent ending the war with Great Britain. A Demo-cratic-Republican early in my political career, I ended life as a Whig. Congress passed the Tariff of Abominations while I was president.

(4 points) Henry Clay was my Secretary of State. My political opponents claimed this was his reward for supporting me for president. I had been the Secre-tary of State for my predecessor. In this position, I helped draft a policy concerning the Western Hemi-sphere that the United States still follows to this day.

(2 points) I am the only president to serve in the House of Rep-resentatives after leaving the White House. In fact, I died in the House when I suffered a stroke. My British wife died four years later and was laid to rest next to me in my hometown of Quincy.

#6 1-12

1-12#7

(6 Points) I was small but sturdy; I was slightly shorter than 5 foot 6 inches. I was a good speaker. I became a lawyer at the age of 20. I began my political career in my state senate. Next, I became the state attorney general. Then I was elected to the U.S. Senate.

(4 Points) I was known as the “Little Magician.” I became Andrew Jackson’s secretary of state. I later became vice-president. I eventually became president by defeating William Henry Harrison for the office.

(2 Points) I opposed the annexation of Texas because it threatened to increase the debate over slavery and deepen the national divisions.

(4 points) My background was in the military before I entered politics. My nickname came from a river in Indiana where a battle was fought. One of the positions I held before becoming president was Secretary of the Northwest Territory, which in those days covered what is now considered the Midwest.

(6 points) During the campaign for the presidency, my party flooded the country with silly campaign songs and held noisy rallies everywhere. They gave out campaign papers like the Hard Cider Press and numerous items with a log-cabin theme: handkerchiefs, sunbonnets, buttons, teacups, plates, and songbooks. Too bad I wasn’t born in a log cabin.

(2 points) My Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, wrote an inaugural address for me. However, I decided to use a much longer one I wrote myself. If I had used his, my presidency might have turned out much better.

#8 1-12

1-12#9

(6 Points) I entered the College of William and Mary in 1774, but left to serve in the American Revolutionary Army. I later studied law with Thomas Jefferson. I waselected to the Virginia House of Delegatesand served as a Delegate to the Conti-nental Congress. I opposed the Constitu-tion because it lacked a bill of rights.

(4 Points) I was elected president twice. My term in office was called the Era of Good Feelings. I supported the anti-slavery position that led to the Missouri Compromise.

(2 Points) My most significant contribution was a Doctrine that bears my name, which opposed European intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

1-12#10

(6 Points) I once was elected as a Confede-rate States congressman, but I died before my term began. I was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia. My coffin was draped with a Confederate flag.

(4 Points) I married Letitia Christian in 1813. I was President of the United States as a member of the Whig Party.

(2 Points) Daniel Webster was my Secretary of State. I once served as Vice President of the U.S. for only 31 days. My nickname was “His Accidency.”

1-12Extra #1

(6 Points) I never voted for myself as president. I was always too busy soldiering to be in one place long enough to qualify as a voter. My first vote was cast when I was 62 years old. I fought in the War of 1812, in the Indian wars against the Sauk and Fox tribes under chief Black Hawk and the Seminoles, and against the Mexicans.

(4 Points) My wife Margaret Smith refused to appear at any public functions. She was 60 years old when I became president. Our youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth, acted in her place.

(2 Points) Henry Clay for the fifth time ran for the Whig Party nomination. He failed. I was born before my two predecessors in the White House.

1-12Extra #2

(6 Points) I was orphaned at the age of 12 and was raised according to my mother’s will by George Eskridge, a lawyer. I had no children of my own and thus, no direct descendants.

(4 Points) In 1749, I accepted my first appointment as a surveyor of Culpepper County, Virginia. I was a good student, but math was always my best skill.

(2 Points) At the age of 26, I married Martha Dandridge Custis; she was 27 years old and a widow with two children.

Answers1.#3 Thomas Jefferson2.#11 James K. Polk3.#4 James Madison4.#7 Andrew Jackson5.#1 George Washington6.#6 John Quincy Adams7.#8 Martin Van Buren8.#9 William Henry Harrison9.#5 James Monroe10.#10 John Tyler11.#12 Zachary Taylor12.#1 George Washington