On Presidents’ Day Eve, a quiz to test your knowledge of the top job

Monday is a holiday, and most of you get the day off whether you support the current occupant of the White House or not.

Or for that matter, whether you have supported any in your lifetime.

Officially, the holiday is Presidents Day because it honors the nation’s first, George Washington, and its 16th, Abraham Lincoln.

Those of a certain age can remember when those were two separate holidays: Feb. 12, for Lincoln’s birthday, and Feb. 22, for Washington’s birthday. (The latter despite the fact that when Washington was born in 1732, the calendar said it was Feb. 11. There was a change that added 11 days to the calendar when George was about 20, but that’s a story for another day.)

But those two birthdays meant there were two federal holidays floating around in February, which when falling during the work week closed banks, stopped mail delivery and let kids out of school. In 1971, Congress passed a bill to make certain holidays fall on Monday, which guaranteed three-day weekends for Memorial Day, Labor Day and the third Monday in February with the two birthdays combined as Presidents Day.

If that’s not enough presidential trivia for you, here’s a quiz on things connected to the nation’s chief executive.

1. How many states have capital cities named after a president?

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5

2. Other than the $10 bill, what common U.S. currency note does not have a picture of a president on it?

A. $2

B. $20

C. $50

D. $100

3. Every school kid knows George Washington, the first president, fought in the American Revolution, but who was the last to fight in that war?

A. Thomas Jefferson

B. James Madison

C. John Quincy Adams

D. Andrew Jackson

4. Which of the following former presidents did not die on July 4?

A. Thomas Jefferson

B. John Adams

C. James Monroe

D. Calvin Coolidge

5. Who was the first president to occupy what is now known as the White House?

A. George Washington

B. John Adams

C. Thomas Jefferson

D. James Madison

6. The President’s House or President’s Mansion wasn’t known as the White House until it was restored after what occurred?

A. The British burned it during the War of 1812

B. The Great Fire of 1829

C. Confederate forces burned it in 1862

D. Teddy Roosevelt had it enlarged and renovated in 1904

7. How many former vice presidents were elected president without first taking that office after the death of a president?

A. 5

B. 6

C. 7

D. 8

8. If Donald Trump runs and wins the presidency in 2024, he’d be only the second person to have won a presidential election, lost his re-election, then won the next presidential election. Who was the first?

A. Ulysses Grant

B. Grover Cleveland

C. Theodore Roosevelt

D. Woodrow Wilson

9. The Constitution requires the House of Representatives to choose the president if no candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College. How many times has that happened?

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5

10. Who was tied with Thomas Jefferson for president in the Electoral College vote of 1800?

A. John Adams

B. Alexander Hamilton

C. Aaron Burr

D. Patrick Henry

11. How many presidents lost their bid for re-election after serving one full term?

A. 6

B. 8

C. 10

D. 12

12. Who is the only former president to serve later in the U.S. House of Representatives?

A. John Quincy Adams

B. John Tyler

C. Millard Fillmore

D. Rutherford Hayes

13. Who is the only former president to serve later on the U.S. Supreme Court?

A. Martin Van Buren

B. Benjamin Harrison

C. Calvin Coolidge

D. Howard Taft

14. Americans often have elected military figures to the top office. Who was the last president to serve in combat during a war?

A. John Kennedy

B. Jimmy Carter

C. George H.W. Bush

D. George W. Bush

15. FDR had the longest tenure as president. Who had the shortest?

A. William Henry Harrison

B. James Garfield

C. Zachary Taylor

D. Warren Harding

Answers

1. C. Madison, Wisconsin; Jackson, Mississippi; Jefferson City, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska.

2. D. The bill that’s “all about the Benjamins” has Benjamin Franklin, not Benjamin Harrison. There are some bills in existence larger than a C note, but none is currently being printed and they are rarely seen in circulation.

3. D. Andrew Jackson joined the militia at 13, was later captured by the British and spent time in a prisoner of war camp.

4. D. Coolidge was, however, born on July 4, 1872.

5. B. John and Abigail Adams moved into the mansion in November 1800, had to leave it a few months later after losing re-election.

6. A. The British burned the mansion in 1814 during the War of 1812. The gray sandstone was painted white in the reconstruction, which wasn’t finished until 1817.

7. B. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Joe Biden – although unlike the other four, Nixon and Biden did not get elected president right after being vice president.

8. B. Cleveland was elected in 1884, won the popular vote but not the Electoral College vote in 1888, was re-elected in 1892.

9. B. 1801, 1825, 1877, although in 1877 the House had to name a special committee to help decide the vote.

10. C. At a time when the Constitution required the person with the most elector votes to be president and the person with the second most to be vice president, Burr and Jefferson each got 73 electoral votes, throwing the decision to the House. The Constitution was later changed to separate the electoral votes for president and vice president.

11. C. John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William Taft, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Donald Trump.

12. A. After his defeat in 1828, John Quincy Adams was elected to the House in 1830 and served there until he died in 1848.

13. D. Taft reportedly wanted to be a Supreme Court justice more than president. After losing re-election in 1912, Taft was appointed chief justice by Warren Harding in 1921.

14. C. George H.W. Bush was a Navy pilot in World War II who flew 58 combat missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. George W. Bush was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard but was not deployed for combat. Carter was in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War but was not sent to Korea.

15. A. Harrison, who was 67 when elected, delivered a two-hour inaugural address in freezing rain, caught cold, developed pneumonia and died 31 days later.