(6 pts.) There was an eight-year gap between my service as vice-president and the start of my presidency. During this gap, I unsuccessfully ran for president and for the governorship of my native state.
(4 pts.) As a youth, I showed interest in public speaking and drama and took piano and violin lessons. After graduating from a college in my native state, I won a scholarship to a law school in a faraway state. I returned to my native state to practice law. Although my religion made me eligible for conscientious objector status, I enlisted in the Navy during World War II.
(2 pts.) I wrote nine books after my retirement from politics. The last one, Beyond Peace, was finished just before my death. Five current or former presidents attended my funeral.
(6 pts.) I was a member of the “Skull and Bones,” an elite secret society at my college. During my term in the White House, the first meeting of Russian and Chinese leaders in 30 years took place.
(4 pts.) Aides nicknamed me “The Mexican Jumping Bean” and my wife, “The Silver Fox.” Four years after we left the White House, our dog Millie, an English springer spaniel, died at our summer home in Kennebunkport.
(2 pts.) I was elected president after serving as vice president for eight years under my predecessor.
(6 pts.) During my first year as president, NBC and CBS raced film across the ocean from England to see which network would be the first to televise footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s inauguration. I proposed the “Atoms for Peace” program to the United Nations. This plan called for the peaceful use of atomic energy in developing countries. Eventually the International Atomic Energy Agency was created.
(4 pts.) Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union, died during my first year in office. The new Russian leaders agreed to a treaty creating an independent Austria. However, the so-called “Cold War” continued. This term was created by the Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles.
(2 pts.) I was born, went to college, and died in different states. I was from a different political party than both my predecessor and successor.
(6 pts.) As a boy, I was called “Specs.” I had a brother called “Moon” by my parents, Nell and Jack. My son covered my summit meeting with the Russian leader in Geneva for a national magazine.
(4 pts.) During my first term in the White House, U.S. health officials chose the term “AIDS” for a new disease. I once said, “There’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”
(2 pts.) I quoted actor Clint Eastwood’s character “Dirty Harry,” daring Congress to pass a bill I threatened to veto: “Go ahead, make my day.” The Iran-Contra scandal cast a shadow over my eighth year in the White House.
(6 pts.) As a boy, I organized jazz bands. During my first campaign for president, I played my sax on The Arsenio Hall Show.
(4 pts.) I started my presidency by making a big mistake. I appointed my wife as head of a task form on reform of the health care system. I did get Congress to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, gun-purchasing legislation under the Brady Bill, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
(2 pts.) My second inauguration was the first one to be broadcast over the Internet.
(6 pts.) Television cameras were allowed in the Lincoln and Monroe rooms for first time as my wife gave a live tour of the White House that was shown simultaneously on CBS, NBC, and ABC. My wife was the youngest First Lady since the 1880’s.
(4 pts.) I was born and attended college in the North. I also attended school in a foreign country.
(2 pts.) Two of my brothers and I have served in the U.S. Senate. In December 1996, the Washington Redskins played their last game in the stadium named for one of those brothers.
Click here to return to the Presidents materials page.
