Local Presidents Questions

1. Local Presidents Questions Junior/Senior Divisions #1-24

2. 10-20 #1 (6 points) My political career didn’t get off to a very promising start. At age 25, I finished eighth in the race for a seat in my state’s House of Representatives. Two years later, I ran as a Whig and won the first of four terms in that legislature. I became chairman of the finance committee and pushed measures to improve the state’s railroad and canal systems. (4 points) I actively supported the candidacy of Zachary Taylor. After his election, he offered me the position of governor of the Oregon territory but I declined the appointment. Instead, I retired from politics and resumed my legal career. At that point, the odds against my ever becoming president were astronomical. (2 points) After joining the Republican Party, I challenged the popular incumbent Stephen Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Although I lost the election, my performance in a series of memorable debates during the campaign catapulted me into national prominence and led to my nomination for president. One of my opponents for the White House was Douglas.

3. 2-12 #2 (6 points) Most of my early education came at home. At age 16, I went to college in another state and studied history, government, and law, graduating in only two years. I returned home in ill health, partly because of excessive studying. I joined the Committee of Safety, a local defense organization. Later, I was commissioned a colonel in the Orange County militia. (4 points)I was Secretary of State for eight years under my predecessor while my successor served as my Secretary of State. My primary opponent in my first election to the White House was Charles Pinckney (at the left). For reelection, I defeated DeWitt Clinton. (2 points) The biggest decision I made as president was asking Congress to declare war on Great Britain. English ships continually stopped American ships on the high seas, seizing cargoes and abducting sailors. The British also supported attacks by various Indian tribes in the Northwest. The subsequent war was not popular in all parts of the nation. The New England states even considered seceding from the Union because of it.

4. 1-11 #3 (6 points) One of my most pressing problems was trouble on the western front. With farmers illegally settling on native lands, I met with Seneca Chief Red Jacket and gave him a silver medal as a token of respect. (4 points) One of the most important issues facing the cabinet during my administration was public debt owed by the states. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton came up with a plan that proposed the federal government pay off the states’ debts. (2 points) Because of the crowding in the current capital of New York City, I chose a site on the Potomac River as the site for the new capital.

5. 14-24 #4 (6 points) I was born in the town of Caldwell. When I was twenty, I began using only my first initial in front of my middle name. A few years later, I dropped the initial. So I am known to history by my middle name. I attended the Clinton Liberal Institute. I loved debate and planned on attending nearby Hamilton College, but my father’s untimely death changed those plans. (4 points) I was known as the “Veto Governor” and then the “Veto President.” The only president who vetoed more bills than I did was Franklin Roosevelt, and he had four terms to do it in. None of my cabinet members are well known to history. Our concentration was on domestic affairs. So my Secretary of State Thomas Bayard didn’t have much to do. (2 points) In my first race for the presidency, I defeated James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate. For my second successful run, I defeated the incumbent president.

6. 1-11 #5 (6 points) As president, I had to contend with the Nullification Crisis. This arose because of the claims by some political leaders in South Carolina that a state could nullify federal laws that it found unconstitutional. The South Carolinians, led by Senator John C. Calhoun, who had been my first vice president, were upset with the tariff bill that Congress passed. (4 points) My older brother Robert and I were captured by the British during the Revolutionary War. When a British officer ordered me to shine his boots, I refused, insisting that I be treated as a prisoner of war. The officer then struck me on the head with his sword, gashing my hand that I threw up to defend myself. After this incident, we were taken to a prison camp in Camden until our mother secured our release. But we both had contracted smallpox, which killed my brother. Years later, still bearing the scar from the officer’s sword, I got my revenge on the British. (2 points) Even though we were from opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, my successor in the White House served in my unofficial “Kitchen Cabinet” and later as my Secretary of State.

7. 14-24 #6 (6 points) My Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, oversaw the negotiations of the Treaty of Washington that normalized relations with Great Britain and solved problems involving the northwestern border of the U.S. and the sinking of Union ships by British-built Confederate ships. Britain agreed to pay more than $15 million in damages for the sinking of American ships. (4 points)I defeated Horatio Seymour and Horace Greeley (pictured) for my two terms as president. Near the end of my presidency, Colorado joined the Union. (2 points) The Fifteenth Amendment granting freed slaves the right to vote became law while I lived in the White House. I also signed into law the bill that created the U.S. Department of Justice.

8. 1-11 #7 (6 points) I considered my distant cousin John Marshall my political enemy. Appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by my predecessor, he greatly increased the power of the court, which I didn’t like. In the famous case of Marbury v. Madison, Marshall ruled in the government’s favor but criticized the actions of me and my Secretary of State. (4 points) My wife Martha was a widow when I married her. She gave birth to six children, but only one lived past age seven, Martha whom we called “Patsy.” My wife died when I was 39 and I never remarried. Patsy served as White House hostess during my presidency. (2 points) Ohio was the only state to join the Union during my presidency. However, fifteen additional states were eventually formed from land the U.S. acquired while I was president.

9. 4-14 #8 (6 points) After graduating from Harvard, I became a lawyer. At age 26, I was appointed Minister to the Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. After serving in the U.S. Senate, I became Minister to Russia. (4 points) One of the men I defeated for the presidency, Henry Clay, served as my Secretary of State. I lost my bid for reelection, 178-83 in the Electoral College. (2 points) As Secretary of State, I formulated the doctrine that is named for my predecessor. The key statement in that doctrine is this: “… the American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”

10. 5-15 #9 (6 points) I volunteered for the militia in my native state in the North. I became a brigadier general during the Mexican War where I served under General Winfield Scott who, ironically, would later be my opponent for president. (4 points) President James Polk offered me the position of U.S. Attorney General but I declined. My Secretary of War during my four-year presidential term was Jefferson Davis. (2 points) I was considered a “Dark Horse” for the Democratic nomination for president. When none of the major candidates could gain a majority, I finally won on the 49th ballot. The most memorable event of my presidency was the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed settlers in those two territories to decide for themselves whether to outlaw slavery.

11. 3-13 #10 (6 points) I left the College of William & Mary to join the Third Infantry Division from my home state. I rose to the rank of Major and went through the rough winter at Valley Forge under General George Washington. I was proud of my military service. In fact, even as president, I preferred to be called “Colonel.” (4 points) I served as Secretary of State under my predecessor and my suc-cessor was Secretary of State for most of the eight years of my presidency. Unlike me, my Secretary of State was born north of the Mason-Dixon line. (2 points)While I lived in the White House, the “Missouri Compromise” took place. Missouri entered the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state. This kept the number of slave and free states equal.

12. 9-19 #11 (6 points) My first political office was in the House of Representatives of my state. I then served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. I rose to the position of Speaker of the House, making me the only president who ever held that office. I left the House to run for governor of my state but lost for the first of two times. (4 points) The Secretary of State during my entire time in the White House was James Buchanan. He led the negotiations on the Oregon Treaty which set the 49th parallel as the northern boundary of the United States. (2 points) I defeated Kentucky Senator Henry Clay in my only presidential election. The Whigs thought Clay could defeat me because I was not well known across the nation. I won the electoral vote without carrying my home state of Tennessee.

13. 14-24 #12 (6 points) I fought for the Union during the Civil War, rising to the rank of Major General. I was injured multiple times during the war. While I was still in the army, my supporters nominated me for the U.S. House of Representatives from Hamilton County. I won even though I never campaigned in person. (4 points) I am one of four straight Republican presidents. John Sherman served as my Secretary of the Treasury. He is much better known as the younger brother of the famous Union general William Tecumseh Sherman. (2 points) Democrats charged that votes had been miscounted in several Southern states so that my opponent should be the president. Congress set up a fifteen-member electoral commission to settle the issue. They voted in my favor 8-7. However, I had to agree that I would serve only one term as president.

14. 1-11 #13 (6 points) I headed the Board of War and Ordinance which oversaw the Continental Army. I helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris that brought an end to the Revolutionary War. I stayed in Europe where I arranged treaties of commerce with several nations. Finally, I became the first U.S. Minister to England. (4 points) Some of the famous events of my presi-dency were the XYZ Affair, the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Midnight Appointments. (2 points) I defeated Thomas Jefferson for the presidency. He then became my vice president according to the rules of the day. I moved into the brand new White House for the last four months of my term.

15. 11-21 #14 (6 points) Before becoming president, I served in the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives and the Senate. I am one of the few presidents who never got a chance to appoint anyone to the Supreme Court. Congress, controlled by the opposition party, actually reduced the number of seats on the court to prevent me from adding any new members. (4 points) I inherited my cabinet from my predecessor. I removed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office despite the fact that Congress had passed the Tenure of Office Act over my veto. The law took away the power of the president to remove any executive officer appointed by a past president without the consent of the Senate. This was one of the many battles I fought with Congress. (2 points) Congress tried to impeach me, but the vote failed 108-57. However, after I defied the Tenure of Office Act, the House mustered enough votes to make me stand trial. The Senate failed to convict me, falling one vote shy of the necessary two-thirds majority needed to remove me from office.

16. 1-24 Answers #16 Abraham Lincoln #4 James Madison #1 George Washington #22/24 Grover Cleveland #7 Andrew Jackson #18 Ulysses S. Grant #3 Thomas Jefferson #6 John Quincy Adams #14 Franklin Pierce #5 James Monroe #11 James K. Polk #19 Rutherford Hayes #2 John Adams #17 Andrew Johnson