1.His name appears twice on the roll call of presidents because his two terms were not back-to-back. ___________________
2.Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble log cabin. Who was the first president born in a hospital? (Hint: He’s still alive, at age 95.) ___________________
3.This president liked to skinny-dip in the Potomac River early in the morning. While that may seem shocking to us, it wasn’t uncommon in his day. ___________________
4.He banned broccoli from his dinner plate. ___________________
5.He became president even though no one had voted for him. ___________________
6.A practical joker, he liked to ring the White House doorbell and then hide. ___________________
7.His fancy attire and rich lifestyle led to this nickname: The Dude President. ___________________
8.He is the only president to have been a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England. ___________________
9.In 1862, he politely turned down the offer of a gift of elephants from the king of Siam (now called Thailand). Imagine THAT on the White House lawn! ___________________
10.When the king and queen of Great Britain visited, he served them hot dogs. ___________________
11.He is the only man to have been a U.S. president and a chief justice of the United States. (He also was depicted as one of the “Racing Presidents” at Nationals’ baseball games in the 21st century.) ___________________
12.His teeth were not made of wood. ___________________
Answers
1.Grover Cleveland, our 22nd and 24th president. His first name was Stephen but he went by Grover, perhaps not liking the sound of “Stephen Cleveland.”
2.Jimmy Carter. His mother was a nurse there.
3.John Quincy Adams. If it was too cold outside, he’d skip the swim and go for a two-mile hike instead.
4.George H.W. Bush. He said he had hated broccoli “since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it.”
5.Gerald Ford. He became vice president after the resignation of Spiro Agnew in 1973 and was sworn in as president when Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.
6.Calvin Coolidge. “Do you know, I’ve never really grown up?” he told a friend.
7.Chester Arthur. He reportedly owned 80 pairs of pants.
8.Bill Clinton. He left the two-year program early and didn’t receive a degree.
9.Abraham Lincoln. Among his reasons, he noted that Washington’s climate wasn’t the best for elephants.
10.Franklin Roosevelt. When the queen asked how one eats a hot dog, the president replied: “Very simple. Push it into your mouth and keep pushing it until it is all gone.”
11.William H. Taft. His larger-than-life Nats mascot has retired, as so many older folks do, to Florida.
12.All of them! We told you this was a tricky quiz. (If you answered George Washington, give yourself a point, but if you said “all of them,” you win automatically.)