Local Presidents Questions

1. Local Presidents Questions MINOR/ Elementary Divisions #1-12

2. #1 (6 points) My parents were Irish immigrants. My father, a farmer, died at age 29, three weeks before I was born. My mother died of cholera when I was 14. My older brother Robert and I were captured by the British during the Revolutionary War. When a British officer ordered me to shine his shoes, I refused, and he slashed my face with his sword. Years later, I got even with the British. (4 points) A marriage scandal haunted my campaign. When I first married my wife, Rachel Donelson, we believed she was divorced from her first husband. However the divorce was not final. I married her again a few months after the divorce became final, but the National Republicans accused me of adultery. I was born and died in the South. (2 points) The Indian Removal Act passed during my first term gave me the power to remove Indians from the South to lands west of the Mississippi. During the next few years, I used federal troops to force the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Creek tribes off their lands.

3. #2 (6 points) A man with the odd first name of Meriwhether became famous during my time in the White House. I had clashes with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall. He had been appointed to the position on the last day of my predecessor’s term. (4 points)Several scandals marked my eight years in office. First, my vice presi-dent, Aaron Burr (on the left below), killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Then Burr and General James Wilkinson (pictured below right) were accused of plan-ning to set up a separate country in part of the Louisiana Purchase. (2 points) Have you ever visited my home on an 850’ peak just outside Char-lottesville in my native state? If you haven’t, you should some day. I designed it myself, and it contains a number of my inventions. It sat on my plantation where we grew tobacco and, later, wheat. I’m buried on the grounds.

4. #3 (6 points) My father Benjamin was a member of both the First and Second Con-tinental Congresses. He signed the Declaration of Independence. I learned under tutors at Berkeley Plantation and at the capital of my native state when my father was governor. I then attended Hampton-Sydney College. (4 points) I started to study medicine but returned home when my father died. I began a military career. I fought under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near Toledo, Ohio, against a group of Indian tribes. My bravery impressed General Wayne. (2 points) President John Adams appointed me to the position of secretary of the Northwest Territory, which covered what today is called the Midwest. Eventually, when I entered politics, I opposed the policies of President Andrew Jackson.

5. #4 (6 points) I had two sisters, Abigail and Susanna, and two younger brothers, Charles and Thomas. As happened to most families in those days, one of the children, Susanna, died as an infant. As a youngster, I read the Bible an hour a day in different languages. At age 11, I went with my father to France, where I studied at a private school in Paris with other American boys. (4 points) My wife Louisa is the only First Lady who was born outside the United States. Her father served as U.S. consul in Great Britain. We named our oldest son George Washington. (2 points) I was not a popular president for two reasons: (a) the controversial way that I became president, which caused people to say that I did not deserve to hold the highest office, and (b) the opposition of Congress to most of the proposals I presented to them. So I was beaten for reelection by the same man I defeated four years earlier.

6. #5 (6 points) I was one of three consecutive presidents who served eight years. The vice president for my first term was George Clinton (left), who had also been vice president under my predecessor. The vice president for my second term was Elbridge Gerry (right), who died in office. (4 points) As was true for George Wash-ington, my father was a prominent tobacco planter. He owned a large plantation named Montpelier. Since I was the oldest of his children, I inherited the estate when he died. (2 points) I am known as “the Father of the Constitution” and “the Father of the Bill of Rights.” As a member of the first House of Representatives, I argued strongly that Ten Amendments must be added to the Constitution to insure that individual freedoms would be protected.

7. #6 (6 points) I was never a good fit for my political party. I joined it because I opposed President Andrew Jackson, whom I considered dangerous. But I believed in states’ rights while my new party wanted an expansion of federal power. So when I became president, my entire Cabinet except for Secretary of State Daniel Webster resigned to protest my veto of a bill creating a national bank. (4 points)Many years after I left the White House, I won a seat in the Confede-rate House of Representatives. I didn’t serve long because I died right at the beginning of the second year of the Civil War. I was buried next to the grave of James Monroe. (2 points) Since I was president for less than four years and didn’t get along with Congress, all people remember about my life are my 15 children. The mother of the last seven was Julia Gardiner, whom I married while president. Our marriage caused a bit of a scandal because I was 30 years older than her.

8. #7 (6 points) I was home-schooled for much of my education. My schooling never went beyond what you’d call eighth grade today. My favorite subject was mathe-matics. I used my math background in my work as a surveyor and mapmaker. (4 points) I was born and died in the same state. I married a widow with two children. Sadly, I outlived both of my step-children, and my wife and I had no children of our own. I served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. Later, I presided over the Constitutional Convention. (2 points) I am the only president who was not a member of a political party.

9. #8 (6 points) The major event of my presidency was the war with Mexico. The war was part of my policy of “manifest destiny.” This meant that the United States was meant to spread across the entire North American continent. While I served as president, Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin joined the Union. (4 points) My top general in the Mexican War was the man who succeeded me in the White House. (The picture shows a statue of him.) He defeated the enemy forces at the Battle of Buena Vista. Even though I was popular, I chose not to run for reelection because of my health. (2 points) My role model as a young man was Andrew Jack-son. As a result, I was called “Young Hickory.” I became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. I am the only president who ever held that office.

10. #9 (6 points) One of the items that history books always mention from my presidency is the Alien and Sedition Acts. One of these laws increased the required period of residency for would-be citizens from five to fourteen years. Another gave the presi-dent the power to deport outsiders he deemed “dangerous.” (4 points) During my presidency, the American people were angered when they learned that three French agents had refused to negotiate with our representatives unless we paid a bribe to the French foreign minister, Talleyrand. I later referred to the three French agents as X, Y, and Z. (2 points) After the presidency, I returned to my farm in my native state in the North. In later years, I reconciled with my successor, who had been my friend before we became political opponents. We both died on a fitting day, the 4th of July.

11. #10 (6 points) Before becoming president, I served in the House of Burgesses of my native state and in the Continental Congress. I was governor of my native state. I was also minister to France, secretary of state, and vice president. (4 points) My wife Martha died at age 33 shortly after giving birth to our sixth child. Since I had no First Lady when I became president, I often asked the wife of my secretary of state to pre-side at White House dinners. My daughter Martha also filled the role of hostess. While I was president, only Ohio entered the Union. However, land I purchased included all or part of 15 future states. (2 points)I wrote these immortal words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happi-ness.”

12. #11 (6 points) I tried to downplay political affiliation in making my nominations for Federal positions. My goal was national unity and eliminating parties altogether from national politics. One unexpected result of my efforts was the death of the Federalist party. So my second term in office is referred to as the “Era of Good Feelings.” (4 points) I was born and died in two different states. Both the president before me and the one after me were from my political party. While I was president, the U.S. signed the Florida Purchase Treaty. I appointed General Andrew Jack-son as the first military governor of the new territory. (2 points) The only national scandal during my eight years in the White House didn’t involve me. None of the three major candi-dates in the election for my successor got a majority of the electoral votes. So the man who finished third in the election, Henry Clay, threw his support in the House of Representatives to the second place candidate. The man with the largest popular vote called this “a corrupt bargain.”

13. #12 (6 points) An economic depression caused me to lose my bid for reelection. Four years later, I was sure I would get my party’s nomination for president. But shortly before the convention, a letter I had written opposing the annexation of Texas was made public. At the convention, I got a majority of the votes for eight ballots but not the two-thirds needed for the nomination. So my name was withdrawn and the man who retook the White House for our party was nomi-nated in my place. (4 points) After the presidency, I returned to my estate called Lindenwald in my native town of Kinderhook. I was nominated for pres-ident eight years later by the Free Soil Party but won no electoral votes. However, I took enough votes away from the Democratic can-didate in New York to give that state and the election to the Federalist candidate. (2 points) I served as Secretary of State and Vice President under my predecessor. With his backing, I defeated William Henry Harrison to become president.

14. #13 (6 points) My father Richard was an officer in the American Revolution. He was rewarded with a grant of land near Louisville, Kentucky, where I grew up. I was living on a plantation near Baton Rouge when I was elected president. Even though I owned slaves, I believed that the people of the territories in the west should decide for themselves whether they wanted to allow slavery. (4 points) My election changed the party in control of the White House. When I took the oath of office, I was the second oldest man to become president to that point. I ran as a member of the Whig party, but I thought of myself as an independent. (2 points) During my 40-year military career, I fought in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and the Second Seminole War. I rose to the rank of General and led our armies in the Mexican War. My nickname was “Old Rough and Ready.” My son Richard served as my secretary during the Mexican War. He became a Lieutenant General in the Confederate army.

15. #14 (6 points) My secretary of War, John Eaton, created a scan-dal within my cabinet. Mrs. Peggy Timberlake ran the board-ing house where John Eaton stayed. When her husband was away, Eaton escorted her to many social functions. Eaton married Peggy as soon as she became a widow. Peggy Eaton was shunned by the wives of my cabinet. Because of this, I cut the number of cabinet meetings and instead met with my closest friends every night in the White House kitchen. These men became known as the “Kitchen Cabinet.” (4 points) My first vice president was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina (pictured). My second vice president became my suc-cessor in the White House. My predecessor refused to attend my inauguration. Some years later, he objected strongly when his alma mater, Harvard, presented me with an honorary degree. (2 points) From age 39, I carried a bullet in my body near my heart from a duel. While I was president, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence fired two guns at me, but both misfired. I chased him with my cane and made sure that he was apprehended.

16. Answers • #7 Andrew Jackson • #3 Thomas Jefferson • #9 William Henry Harrison • #6 John Quincy Adams • #4 James Madison • #10 John Tyler • #1 George Washington • #11 James Polk • #2 John Adams • #3 Thomas Jefferson • #5 James Monroe • #8 Martin Van Buren • #12 Zachary Taylor • #7 Andrew Jackson