Presidential Trivia Answers (Nov. 29 & 30)

(1) QUESTION: Which President issued a proclamation on New Year’s Day, calling for a Day of Thanksgiving?

ANSWER: George Washington. He was grateful that the Whiskey Rebellion had been successfully squashed. The seeds for that rebellion had been sown years earlier, in 1791, when Congress enacted an excise tax on whiskey. Unfortunately, the weight of that tax did not fall equally across the country and those on the frontier felt that they were bearing the brunt of it. By the summer of 1794, a full-blown insurrection was underway. Washington was relieved when it was over. He knew that the young nation could not survive if the law was to be treated so flippantly and disregarded so easily.

(2) QUESTION: Which Presidents made surprise trips to troops in or near war zones on Thanksgiving Day?

ANSWER: George H.W. Bush (Saudi Arabia); George W. Bush (Baghdad); Donald Trump (Afghanistan).

(3) QUESTION: One President refused to call for a day of Thanksgiving because he believed such matters should be handled by the states, not the federal government. Which President?

ANSWER: Thomas Jefferson. The Library of Congress explains: “Ironically, Jefferson had once declared a Thanksgiving while serving as governor of Virginia in 1779. . . . He later explained that he was willing to do so as governor, but not as president because he believed he could not endorse such a holiday without conflicting with the First Amendment. He also considered days of thanksgiving the responsibility of the states, not the federal government.”