Who is that president?
Americans go to the polls November 8 to elect the 45th president. But how much do you know about the previous 44? Take our quiz to test your knowledge of father-son presidents, warrior presidents, surprise presidents and presidents whose cows kept the White House fridge stocked with milk.
Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency
Who was the first son of a president to become president himself?
George W. Bush
John Quincy Adams
Benjamin Harrison
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
This president fought in the Army, quit the Army, rejoined the Army, won a war and became a national hero. At 46, he became the youngest elected president in history. (Younger men later held the office.) He served two terms, lost his fortune and completed his memoirs just before his death. Who was he?
William Henry Harrison
Andrew Jackson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ulysses S. Grant
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Which president held informal radio conversations, known as fireside chats, to discuss policy proposals and current events with a national audience?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Barack Obama
Herbert Hoover
John F. Kennedy
Ken Steinhardt/AP
Because the president is elected through the electoral college, a candidate can reach the White House without winning the popular vote — that is, they can win the election without winning more votes than the other candidates. This has happened four times in history, and to four of the five presidents below. Which of these presidents came into office having actually won the popular vote?
John Quincy Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush
National Portrait Gallery via AP
George Washington was unopposed in his presidential campaigns, and twice won every vote in the electoral college. One other president came close to duplicating that feat, winning every electoral college vote but one during his reelection campaign. Who was he?
James Madison
James Monroe
Ronald Reagan
Abraham Lincoln
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Who was the first president to be born west of the Mississippi River?
Richard Nixon
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Abraham Lincoln
AP
When one vice president resigned, this congressman took his place. Then, when the president himself resigned, this congressman-turned-VP took office, becoming the first and only president of the United States who was not elected as either president or vice president. Who was he?
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
Andrew Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
AP
Which president had the shortest time in office, serving for 31 days before dying from what doctors said was pneumonia?
William McKinley
Chester Arthur
William Henry Harrison
Warren Harding
Matt McClain/The Washington Post
Under this president, cows named Mooly Wooly and Pauline Wayne grazed on the White House lawn, providing the first family with a steady stream of milk and butter. Who was he?
William Howard Taft
Bill Clinton
Theodore Roosevelt
Lyndon B. Johnson
AP
This president helped to popularize the term “okay,” which was used for the name of a political organization — the O.K. Club — that supported his unsuccessful reelection campaign in 1840. Who was he?
Andrew Jackson
John Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren
John Tyler