Presidential Trivia

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Bringing Richard Henry Lee into this seems a bit unfair.

Which Presidents have also served as the senior officer of one of the Armed Forces?

Washington, Harrison, Grant, and Eisenhower.

By senior officer of one of the Armed Forces, I mean an officer whose only senior with respect to position is a civilian official.

Washington was Senior Officer of the United States Army from 1798 to 1799 in addition to being Commander-in-Chief during the Revolution.

Grant was Commanding General of the United States Army from 1863 to 1869.

Eisenhower was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1945 to 1948.

Those are the three easy ones.  Harrison was in charge of the Army of the Northwest, but he was subordinate to Henry Dearborn who was the Senior Officer of the United States Army at the time.

There are two others I have in mind, but they are a little trickier to get.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There are two others I have in mind, but they are a little trickier to get.

Andrew Jackson & Zachary Taylor

You got one, but the other.

Jackson was adjutant general of Tennessee, so he is one of them. but Zachary Taylor never met that distinction, he was Regular Army from the start and never became the senior-most officer.  From 1841 to 1861, the Commanding General of the United States Army was Winfield Scott.  Had he won the Presidency in 1852, he would have been another on the list, but he did not.

I'll give y'all a hint.  The fifth and final name on my list was senior officer after he was President.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I believe you're talking about Arthur St. Clair

Correct

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Don't know the Australian question, but to get this back on topic, which two White House residents have died from complications from exposure to the weather at a Presidential inauguration?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Don't know the Australian question, but to get this back on topic, which two White House residents have died from complications from exposure to the weather at a Presidential inauguration?

I know William Henry Harrison is one.  Now since you said residents, I assume the other one is not a President.

Does anyone know the other one?

I've looked and cannot find any children or pets; so, I'm guessing this wasn't a "relative" of the President. Please tell.

Abigail Powers Fillmore died from pneumonia contracted as a result of being at her husband's side at the snowy inauguration of his successor Franklin Pierce.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'll ask a question since J.J. forgot to:

Who was the first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game?

Taft?

This then living president was "seen" in the Star Trek, the Original Series.  Who was it?

Eisenhower?

Correct.  In the first pilot, "The Cage," which was later re-edited into "The Menagerie," Eisenhower's sketch appears on a view screen while Spock is searching the library computer.

I would have guessed he appeared in the World War II footage during "The City on the Edge of Forever" which I believe did show FDR (He was at least mentioned)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Just the Senate, or might this have been a joint session held in the Senate chamber, back when such a thing might have been physically possible?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

John Adams is the likely second then, as he tried to do things Presidentially in the same manner as Washington.  Was the purpose of their presence related to the advice and consent powers of the Senate?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Well, it definitely wasn't Wilson.  LBJ perhaps?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ford?  I'm thinking it's likely someone who had a considerable Congressional career.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Was it Clinton?  After all spouses are often at the sides of Senators- and Representatives-elect when they are sworn in.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I guess kind of easy but,

What president scored the lowest percentage of the popular vote, yet received the most votes?

Abraham Lincoln- 39.65% in 1860

He was the only president to be elected with less than 40% of the popular and a plurality of the popular vote.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Which Vice President was not sworn in in the US?

Rufus King, who was sworn in in Cuba (and may not have made it out of Cuba [certainly didn't make it to Washington] before he died).

Wrong! 

Half wrong   William Rufus King was sworn in in Cuba and died at home in Alabama.

It would have been nice had Rufus King made it the Vice Presidency in either of his two attempts.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm assuming that you're not angling for airports named indirectly for a president by being named for a city that was named for a President.

Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport - Springfield, Illinois
Gerald R. Ford International Airport - Grand Rapids, Michigan
John F. Kennedy International Airport - New York, New York
George Bush Intercontinental Airport - Houston, Texas
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - Arlington, Virginia


What do John Q, Adams, Van Buren, Polk, Pierce, Lincoln, Garfield, Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton have in common that no other President shares with them so far?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Additional hint.  George W. Bush may join this group.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Nothing to do with either relatives or the Senate.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It does indeed have to do with their ages, but it isn't as simple as how young they were when they were elected or left office.

Grant is the fourth youngest President, but isn't on this list.  Indeed, Grant left office at a younger age than John Q. Adams was when he began his single term, and John Q. is on the list.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It does indeed have to do with their ages, but it isn't as simple as how young they were when they were elected or left office.

Grant is the fourth youngest President, but isn't on this list.  Indeed, Grant left office at a younger age than John Q. Adams was when he began his single term, and John Q. is on the list.

The president that followed them was older.

Correct, and if W. is followed by Cheney or McCain, he'll join this list, while Obama will have a fairly good chance of joining the list if Bush doesn't.  Obama will be 47 if he takes the office this January, and Grant is the only President who took office before age 50 to not make the list.  John Q. Adams is the oldest president to be succeeded by an an older President, but W. (thanks to serving two terms to Q's one term) will take his place if he joins the list.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Sounded like Lincoln, as he was fond of such homespun language.  Putting McClellan in charge of the Army of the Potomac?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

His thought on the effectiveness of the Emancipation Proclamation politically if he didn't have a victory to announce it with.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Each had their personal library end up in the Library of Congress?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'll not bother looking it up, but LBJ would be my guess

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There is a certain characteristic that it was once common for Presidents to have, but which has declined considerably of late.  Thomas Jefferson was the first President with this characteristic, Franklin Pierce could have had it, but chose not to, Hoover the last one to have it, and of the potential successors to W., only Dick Cheney would have it.

So what is this characteristic?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Yes.  Give that man a cee-gar!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Thomas Jefferson should be among them for his Notes on the State of Virginia, published on 1784 in Paris.