Local Presidents Questions 2015-16

1. Local Presidents Questions2015-16 Junior/Senior Divisions #1-24

2. 11-21 #1 (6 points) I entered into the Treaty of Washington with Britain, which set rules of maritime neutrality and submitted the Alabama claims to arbitration. A year later, Britain paid the United States $15.5 mil-lion for the Confederate ship that Britain built. The Great Chicago Fire occurred during my presidency, killing 200 to 300 people and destroying 17,500 buildings worth about $200 million. (4 points)James Fisk and Jay Gould (pictured) attempted to corner the U.S. gold supply by plotting with my brother-in-law. I blocked them, causing a crash in the price of gold and financially ruining many investors. (2 points) Before my presidency, I drank heavily, which led me to resign from the Army at one point. Luckily for the Union, I rejoined the military.

3. 1-11 #2 (6 points) I was a wine snob. Yes, I brought my love of French wine back to America. I had two vineyards at my home which I used to experiment with. Acknowledged as a great wine expert of early America, I sought to promote wine as an alternative to whiskey and cider. I stated, “We could in the United States make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly of the same kinds, but doubtless as good.” (4 points) I started school in my home when I was five. I learned reading, writing, math, and Latin. I went to the College of William and Mary when I was 17 years old. One of the buildings there is named for me. Then I lived and studied with a lawyer in order to become one. I believed, “An edu-cated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” (2 points) The day before the end of my second term as governor, I was forced to flee my home (located near Charlottesville), only narrowly escaping capture by the British cavalry. My political enemies later pointed to this inglorious incident as evidence of cowardice, but I say, “one man with courage is a majority.”

4. #3 10-20 (6 points) My ancestors came to America with the Puritans in the early 1620s. I attended Bowdoin College, where I made friends with a budding writer named Nathaniel Haw-thorne. I became a lawyer and was elected to the state legislature two years after my father Benjamin (pictured) became governor. We were both fervent supporters of Andrew Jackson. (4 points) This quote reflects my general view of politics. “If the Federal Govern-ment will confine itself to the exercise of powers clearly granted by the Constitution, it can hardly happen that its action upon any question should endanger the institu-tions of the States or interfere with their right to manage matters strictly domestic according to the will of their own people.” That philosophy helped me get elected president because Southerners supported me as well as Northerners. (2 points) The most divisive issue of my presidency was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It allowed white citizens in a territory to decide the question of slavery. The law sounded the death knell for the Whig Party and gravely weakened the Democratic Party. It also ended my presidency after only one term.

5. 14-24 #4 (6 points) I refused to promote the previous administration’sNicaragua canal treaty and generally was less of an expansion-ist in foreign relations. My Secretary of State,Thomas F. Bayard, negotiated withthe United Kingdom over fishing rights in the waters off Canada, and struck a conciliatory note, despite the opposition ofNew England’s Republican Senators. I also with-drew from Senate consideration the Berlin Conference treaty which guaranteed an open door for U.S. interests inthe Congo. (4 points)Here are two quotes from me. “What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?” “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by men and women in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence.” My wife Frances made no public statement of her views on that question. (2 points) Before becoming president, I held the offices of sheriff, mayor, and governor. Because I weighed over 250 pounds, I was known to my friends as “Big Steve.”

6. 1-11 #5 (6 points) “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” She was angry with me because I had left home to serve my country instead of staying to take care of her. Later, she refused to attend my inauguration as president. (4 points) I stated, “A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammu-nition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own govern-ment.” In my Farewell Address, I warned the nation to steer clear of permanent alliances with any part of the foreign world. (2 points) My successor served as my vice president. My first secretary of state also became president. I am buried on my estate, which attracts visitors from around the world.

7. 8-18 #6 (6 points) I am one of the most quoted presidents. For example, I said this in a speech at Kalamazoo MI four years before I was elected president: “Don’t inter-fere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles.” (4 points) During an address in New York early in the year I first won the presi-dency, I said this: “John Brown’s effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insur-rection. It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in which the slaves refused to participate.” While living in the White House, I wrote this to Horace Greeley: “I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it.” (2 points) In 2012, Dr. Charles A. Leale’s notes of his treatment of me were found buried in the National Archives. He was sitting about 40’ away from me and my wife at Ford’s Theater.

8. 2-12 #7 (6 points) I was not friendly with George Washington. I had a fall-ing out when Washington fired me as his Ambassador to France after I criticized the Jay Treaty. I also wasn’t fond of Alexander Hamilton (pictured), Washington’s close associate. (4 points) I was a classmate with Aaron Burr at Princeton. I gradua-ted one year before Burr. We were rivals in debating societies at Princeton. I served briefly in my state’s militia and then entered politics at a young age. I was also the youngest delegate at the 1780 Continental Congress in Philadelphia. I said, “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” (2 points)As Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of state, I helped to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. As president, I served two terms. I stated, “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people.”

9. 5-15 #8 (6 points) Although born in the North, I subscribed to the political theories of Thomas Jefferson, who had favored states’ rights over a strong federal govern-ment. I said, “The national will is the supreme law of the Republic, and on all subjects within the limits of his constitutional powers should be faithfully obeyed by the public servant.” I served two terms in my state’s Senate and also held the position of state attorney general. (4 points) My wife Hannah died in 1819. I never remarried. However, my son Abraham married a cousin of Dolley Madi-son named Angelica Singleton. After their honeymoon, Ange-lica (pictured) served as White House hostess. (2 points) I stood about 5 feet 6 inches tall. One of my nicknames was “The Little Magician,” though my enemies also referred to me as “the Fox” for my sly political maneuvers.

10. 7-17 #9 (6 points) I was born in a log cabin (pictured). My father died when I was three, leaving our family in poverty. So in my entire political career, I became an advocate for the poor. One of my quotes is: “Slavery exists. It is black in the South, and white in the North.” (4 points) I was a strong anti-abolitionist and a promoter of states’ right. However, I was also an unqualified supporter of the Union. Those beliefs led to my nomination for vice-president. I sewed my own suits throughout my life. (2 points) The occupants of the White House before and after me were from the opposite party. I did not have a vice president.

11. 1-11 #10 (6 points) After I signed the Declaration of Independence, the British drafted a list of pardonable Americans should the document be retracted. I was not on that list. So if the British had won the Revolutionary War, I would have been hanged. I had a very lonely inauguration because none of my family members were present. (4 points) During my presidency, a war be-tween the French and British was causingpolitical difficulties for the United States. Isent three commissioners to France, in-cluding John Marshall, but the French re-fused to negotiate unless the United Statesagreed to pay what amounted to a bribe. When this became public knowledge, thenation broke out in favor of war. However, I did not call for a declaration of war, despite some naval hostilities. I said, “Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.” (2 points) After my presidency, I lived quietly with Abigail on our family farm in Quincy, where I continued to correspond with my friend Thomas Jefferson. I stated, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not.”

12. 10-20 #11 (6 points) This picture of my inauguration is the earliest known photo of a presidential inaugura-tion. In my address, I said this: “… the will of the majority shall govern, to the settlement of the question of domestic slavery in the Territories. Congress is neither ‘to legislate slavery into any Territory or State nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way …’ Congress also prescribed that the Territory of Kansas shall be admitted as a state ‘with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe …’” (4 points) President Jackson appointed me envoy to Russia. When I returned, I won a U.S. Senate seat. I believed that the Constitution upheld the right of Southerners to own slaves and saw it as America’s duty to protect slavery in the South. I served President Polk as Secretary of State. (2 points) I was the last president who was born in the 18th century.

13. #12 3-12 (6 points) I received an erratic education. At age 13, I joined a local militia and served as a courier during the Revolutionary War. My mother died of cholera and, at the age of 14, I was orphaned. (4 points) Although I led campaigns against the Creeks and Seminoles during my military career and signed the Indian Removal Act as president, I also adopted a pair of Native American infants during the Creek War. During my presidency, there was talk of secession. I said, “Disunion by force is treason.” William Lloyd Garrison formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society while I lived in the White House. (2 points) Unbeknownst to me, I married my wife before she had been legally divorced from her first husband. After she separated from her husband and, believing that she was granted a legal divorce, we married. The episode resurfaced in the nasty presidential campaign when my political oppo-nents spread the gossip about my wife’s alleged adultery.

14. END OF ROUND

15. #13 14-24 (6 points) Publisher Alexander K. McClure wrote of me, “No man ever entered the presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected.” I was in office when the United States became the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations in modern times with Korea. (4 points) I sought the construction of steam-powered steel cruisers, steel rams, and steel-clad gunboats and moved decisively to curb corruption and incompe-tency within the Navy. In addition, both the Naval War College and the Office of Naval Intelligence were created. For these achievements, I was called the “Father of the Steel Navy.” (2 points) I was the last president who died in the 19th century.

16. 6-16 #14 (6 points) I said, “Foreign powers do not seem to appreciate the true character of our government.” After being nominated for president, I earned the distinction of being known as the first dark horse candidate. My troublesome secretary of state was James Buchanan. (4 points) One of the men I defeated for the presidency was Henry Clay. I was the first president to have his photo taken while he was president. During my presidency, the phrase “Manifest Destiny” was first used. I believed that Westward Expansion, and occupation the North American continent, was a divine right of the American people. (2 points) My nickname was “Young Hickory.” I said, “Peace, plenty, and con-tentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world.” I am buried in a tomb on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.

17. 1-24 Answers • #18 Ulysses S. Grant • #3 Thomas Jefferson • #14 Franklin Pierce • #22/24 Grover Cleveland • #1 George Washington • #16 Abraham Lincoln • #4 James Madison • #8 Martin Van Buren • #17 Andrew Johnson • #2 John Adams • #15 James Buchanan • #7 Andrew JacksonExtras • #21 Chester A. Arthur • #11 James K. Polk