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Hail to the chief: Take our presidential trivia quiz

Rick Massimo | rmassimo@wtop.com

February 15, 2021, 1:46 PM

EDITOR’S NOTE: WTOP first brought you this quiz in 2019.

Presidents Day is coming. How well do you know the less-important facts about the nation’s leaders? Take WTOP’s quiz — with any luck, it won’t take you all Presidents Day to finish it.

President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House on May 13, 2018 in Washington, D.C. — Which president signed the bill making Christmas Day a national holiday?

On this date in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, New York, at age 63. (AP Photo) — Ulysses S. Grant, in 1870. (AP Photo)

The White House in Washington as seen from the South Lawn, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: Everyone knows John F. Kennedy was the youngest president who was elected to the office: He was 43 when he was inaugurated in 1961. But who was the youngest president, period?
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

File - Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is seen in this undated file photo. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Friday Oct. 9, 2009. The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919. (AP Photo, File) — A: Theodore Roosevelt was 42 when he rose from vice president to president after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901.
BONUS TEDDY ROOSEVELT FUN FACT: He was the first president to win the Nobel Peace Prize, taking it in 1906. President Woodrow Wilson won it in 1919; President Barack Obama, in 2009. (President Jimmy Carter won it in 2002, after having left office.)
(AP Photo, File)

Snow covers the ground at the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) — Which president hated his official portrait so much that he burned it?

ilbusca/iStock — Teddy Roosevelt, according to the Library of Congress. He wasn’t alone in his assessment; one critic reportedly said of painter Theobald Chartran’s work, “One would think the President had posed to a second-rate photographer in a hurry to get through.” In fairness, Chartran said it was Roosevelt who was in a hurry to get through.

On this date in 1857, William Howard Taft - who served as President of the United States and as U.S. chief justice - was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, Taft is seen throwing out the first ball on opening day for baseball, to start the season for the Washington Senators in 1912. (AP Photo) — Q: Everyone knows President William Taft (about whom we’ll hear more later) began the tradition of throwing a first pitch on Opening Day. He did it in 1912; who were the only presidents since then not to do so?
(AP Photo)

Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn depart the Plains, Ga., polling place, Nov. 2, 1976. The candidate was the fifth person to vote in his precinct. The former governor will spend the day resting up for an evening in Atlanta where he will watch the returns. (AP Photo) — A: Jimmy Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, and Donald Trump (2017-2021).
BONUS JIMMY CARTER FUN FACT: Hard as it may be to fathom, Carter, born in 1924, was the first American president to have been born in a hospital.
(AP Photo)

The White House in Washington as seen on Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2017. President Donald Trump is set to meet with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss his agenda, as he enters his first official week in the White House and works to begin delivering on his ambitious campaign promises. Trump has said that he considers Monday, to be his first real day in office. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: George Washington’s two terms as president were by dint of unanimous Electoral College votes. Other than that, who won the biggest electoral landslide, percentage-wise?

Portrait of 5th United States President James Monroe. (1817-1825) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers) — A: President James Monroe in 1820, who skunked future president John Quincy Adams 231-1. The holdout was reportedly one elector who simply wanted to preserve George Washington’s record as the only president to pitch a shutout.
BONUS JAMES MONROE FUN FACT: He was the first president to have a child get married at the White House.
(Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

White House — Q: Which president hollered for a living in his pre-White House years?
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States. Elected in 1888, Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) — A: Benjamin Harrison, the only president to have been the grandson of a former president, had trouble getting set up in a law practice in Indianapolis in 1854, so he took a job as a court crier.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Frost is visible on the North Lawn of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in early morning light in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) — Q: Which incumbent president suffered the worst Electoral College loss?
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States is shown in an undated photo. (AP Photo) — A: Our good buddy President William Howard “First Pitch” Taft, in 1912. His Republican Party renomination split the party; former president Theodore Roosevelt, alleging Taft had stolen it, formed the Progressive Party, taking a lot of Taft’s followers; Taft only gave one campaign speech; Vice President James Sherman died six days before the election, and Taft was kept off the ballot in two states.
So, yeah — Woodrow Wilson won the presidency with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt got 88; Taft managed 8.
BONUS WILLIAM TAFT FUN FACTS: He was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1921. The heaviest president, at 332 pounds, he got stuck in the White House bathtub the first time he used it.
(AP Photo)

Wind and snow pelt the outside of the National Cathedral as Winter Storm Jonas moves in to D.C. (WTOP/Dana Gooley) — Q: Who is the only president buried in Washington, D.C.?

** FILE ** Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S. from 1913 to 1921. The Woodrow Wilson House, the only presidential museum in the nation's capital, will open an exhibit Saturday, June 3, 2006, in the home where Wilson spent his last few years. The show commemorates Wilson's 150th birthday. (AP Photo/Keystone/File) — A: President Woodrow Wilson, whose remains are in a sarcophagus in the National Cathedral (perhaps the previous picture was a hint of that).
(AP Photo/Keystone/File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, the sun rises behind the White House in Washington. In his third week in office, President Donald Trump’s young government remains a work in progress, with hundreds of empty desks in agency offices across Washington. While the president has criticized Democrats for the delays, he also shares at least part of the blame for moving more slowly than his predecessor to submit vetting information and paperwork for his nominations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was Trump’s eighth member of his administration to be confirmed; at this point eight years ago Obama had 23 officials confirmed, including department heads and deputies. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: Four presidents have died in office, though they weren’t assassinated. Who are they?

A: William Henry Harrison (1841), Zachary Taylor (1850), Warren G. Harding, pictured above (1923) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1945, with thanks to the many readers who pointed out that I missed this first time around). Medical records say Harding died of a heart attack and had high blood pressure, but there are rumors that he took his own life or was poisoned by his wife. His love letters – to women other than his wife – were released in 2014. Parental discretion is advised.
BONUS WARREN G. HARDING FUN FACT: He was the only president elected on his birthday – to be precise, Nov. 2, 1920, the day he turned 55.
BONUS ZACHARY TAYLOR FUN FACT: A career Army officer, he never voted until the election he ran in (1848) and didn’t resign from the Army until more than two months after he was elected (inaugurations happened in March in those days). The legend is that he almost blew off his presidential nomination; he got it in a letter that arrived postage due, and he never paid for postage-due letters. None of the main presidential history sources mention this, but it’s too good not to imagine.
BONUS BONUS WARREN G. HARDING FUN FACT: The G stood for Gamaliel.
(Courtesy of Topical Press Agency)

Morning fog is seen at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. President Barack Obama is in the final days of his presidency with an 11th hour push to tie up loose ends and put the finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: Who is the oldest man to assume the presidency?

Joe Biden — A: Joe Biden. He’s 78.

Donald Trump — Q: Donald Trump said he would donate the salary that comes with the office to charity (actually refusing the money is rather difficult, and may in fact not be possible). He wasn’t the first president to do this, though — who else has given away the pay?

Sen. John F. Kennedy keeps count with his fingers as he presses a point of view during a Philadelphia appearance on a news panel show Face the Nation on Oct. 30, 1960 in Philadelphia. Kennedy carried his democratic presidential campaign into Pennsylvania in quest of the states 32 electoral votes. (AP Photo/HG) — A: President Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) and President John Kennedy, pictured above (1961-1963).
(AP Photo/HG)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, the sun rises behind the White House in Washington. In his third week in office, President Donald Trump’s young government remains a work in progress, with hundreds of empty desks in agency offices across Washington. While the president has criticized Democrats for the delays, he also shares at least part of the blame for moving more slowly than his predecessor to submit vetting information and paperwork for his nominations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was Trump’s eighth member of his administration to be confirmed; at this point eight years ago Obama had 23 officials confirmed, including department heads and deputies. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: Who was the first president to get married in the White House?

U.S. President Grover Cleveland shown August 9, 1892, 22nd and 24th president, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897. (AP Photo) — A: President Grover Cleveland, in 1886. Presidents John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson got married while they were president, but not in the White House.
BONUS GROVER CLEVELAND FUN FACT: He’s the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms — 1885-1889 and 1893-1897.
BONUS PRESIDENTIAL MARRIAGE OR LACK THEREOF FUN FACT: President James Buchanan (1857-1861) was the only bachelor in the White House.
(AP Photo)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) — Q: Everyone knows four presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901) and John F. Kennedy (1963). But which presidents have survived assassination attempts?

President Andrew Jackson, the 7th president on the U.S. is shown in an undated portarait. (AP Photo) — A: President Andrew Jackson (above), in 1835; President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1912; President Franklin Roosevelt, in 1935; President Harry Truman, in 1950; President Gerald Ford (twice in a 17-day span), in 1975 and President Ronald Reagan, in 1981.
(AP Photo)

White House — Q: Which U.S. president’s former job included actually killing people?
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

PhotoQuest/Getty Images — A: There’s that man again! Grover Cleveland killed a guy. Two, actually.
One of Cleveland’s offices before the presidency was as sheriff of Erie County, New York, from 1871 to 1874. The White House Historical Association‘s history has it that he actually hanged two people himself rather than handing the job off to his deputy; he told The New York Times that that was the letter of the law, and that “he had no moral right to impose upon a subordinate the obnoxious and degrading tasks that attached to his office.”
(Getty Images)

The White House in Washington as seen from the South Lawn, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) — Q: Who was the first president to be photographed?
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(Philip Haas/Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) — A: President John Quincy Adams, in 1843. (Yes; that’s the photo.)
BONUS JOHN QUINCY ADAMS FUN FACT: He bounced back from his 1820 shellacking — sort of — managing to win the 1824 election while not winning the popular vote or the Electoral College vote – no one got a majority of electors, and the House of Representatives decided the election.
(Philip Haas/Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) — Q: Who was the first president born after the Constitution was ratified?

John Tyler, seen in this painting was the 10th President of the United States from April 6, 1841 - April 3, 1945. (AP Photo) — A: President John Tyler (1841-1845), born March 29, 1790.
(AP Photo)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) — Q: Everyone knows Lincoln was the tallest president, at 6-foot-4. Who was the shortest?

377869 04: Portrait of 4th United States President James Madison. (1809-1817) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers) — A: President James Madison (1809-1817); he was 5-foot-4.
(Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

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President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House on May 13, 2018 in Washington, D.C.

On this date in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, New York, at age 63. (AP Photo)

The White House in Washington as seen from the South Lawn, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

File - Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is seen in this undated file photo. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Friday Oct. 9, 2009. The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919. (AP Photo, File)

Snow covers the ground at the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

On this date in 1857, William Howard Taft - who served as President of the United States and as U.S. chief justice - was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, Taft is seen throwing out the first ball on opening day for baseball, to start the season for the Washington Senators in 1912. (AP Photo)

Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn depart the Plains, Ga., polling place, Nov. 2, 1976. The candidate was the fifth person to vote in his precinct. The former governor will spend the day resting up for an evening in Atlanta where he will watch the returns. (AP Photo)

The White House in Washington as seen on Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2017. President Donald Trump is set to meet with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss his agenda, as he enters his first official week in the White House and works to begin delivering on his ambitious campaign promises. Trump has said that he considers Monday, to be his first real day in office. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Portrait of 5th United States President James Monroe. (1817-1825) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States. Elected in 1888, Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Frost is visible on the North Lawn of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in early morning light in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States is shown in an undated photo. (AP Photo)

Wind and snow pelt the outside of the National Cathedral as Winter Storm Jonas moves in to D.C. (WTOP/Dana Gooley)

** FILE ** Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S. from 1913 to 1921. The Woodrow Wilson House, the only presidential museum in the nation's capital, will open an exhibit Saturday, June 3, 2006, in the home where Wilson spent his last few years. The show commemorates Wilson's 150th birthday. (AP Photo/Keystone/File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, the sun rises behind the White House in Washington. In his third week in office, President Donald Trump’s young government remains a work in progress, with hundreds of empty desks in agency offices across Washington. While the president has criticized Democrats for the delays, he also shares at least part of the blame for moving more slowly than his predecessor to submit vetting information and paperwork for his nominations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was Trump’s eighth member of his administration to be confirmed; at this point eight years ago Obama had 23 officials confirmed, including department heads and deputies. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Morning fog is seen at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. President Barack Obama is in the final days of his presidency with an 11th hour push to tie up loose ends and put the finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Sen. John F. Kennedy keeps count with his fingers as he presses a point of view during a Philadelphia appearance on a news panel show Face the Nation on Oct. 30, 1960 in Philadelphia. Kennedy carried his democratic presidential campaign into Pennsylvania in quest of the states 32 electoral votes. (AP Photo/HG)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, the sun rises behind the White House in Washington. In his third week in office, President Donald Trump’s young government remains a work in progress, with hundreds of empty desks in agency offices across Washington. While the president has criticized Democrats for the delays, he also shares at least part of the blame for moving more slowly than his predecessor to submit vetting information and paperwork for his nominations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was Trump’s eighth member of his administration to be confirmed; at this point eight years ago Obama had 23 officials confirmed, including department heads and deputies. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

U.S. President Grover Cleveland shown August 9, 1892, 22nd and 24th president, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897. (AP Photo)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

President Andrew Jackson, the 7th president on the U.S. is shown in an undated portarait. (AP Photo)

PhotoQuest/Getty Images

The White House in Washington as seen from the South Lawn, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(Philip Haas/Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

John Tyler, seen in this painting was the 10th President of the United States from April 6, 1841 - April 3, 1945. (AP Photo)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2017, file photo, day breaks over the White House in Washington. Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown Washington into a state of anxious uncertainty. Policy pronouncements sprout up from the White House in rapid succession. Some have far-reaching implications, most notably Trump’s temporary refugee and immigration ban, but others disappear without explanation, including planned executive actions on cybersecurity and the president’s demand for an investigation into unsubstantiated voter fraud. The day’s agenda can quickly be overtaken by presidential tweets, which often start flashing on smartphones just as the nation’s capital is waking up. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

377869 04: Portrait of 4th United States President James Madison. (1809-1817) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

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Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2012 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He went to George Washington University as an undergraduate and is regularly surprised at the changes to the city since that faraway time.

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