Presidential Trivia Answers (Nov. 3 & 4)

Thanks for playing!

(1) QUESTION: We’ve had three Presidents during the course of a single calendar year on two different occasions. What years? Who were the Presidents? HT to @ Jeff S. for suggesting the question.

ANSWER: 1841 and 1881. (a) In 1841, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler all served as President. Van Buren was wrapping up his prior term. Harrison was sworn in on March 3, but he fell ill and passed away shortly thereafter. His Vice President, Tyler, was sworn in on April 4. (b) In 1881, something similar happened when James Garfield was shot mere months after taking office. Thurs, Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield, and Chester Arthur were all President during the course of that calendar year.

(2) QUESTION: How many Presidents have we had with the same last name? Which one(s) were or were not related to each other? HT to @ Tom Z. for the question idea.

ANSWER: We’ve had several sets of Presidents with the same last name. Some were related, some were not. The list is below.

• John Adams – John Quincy Adams (father – son)

• William Henry Harrison – Benjamin Harrison (grandfather – grandson)

• Andrew Johnson – Lyndon B. Johnson (no relation)

• Teddy Roosevelt – Franklin D. Roosevelt (distant cousins)

• George Bush – George W. Bush (father – son)

(3) QUESTION: On five occasions, two or more future Presidents were born in the same calendar year.  Which Presidents?  Bonus points if you know which years.  HT to @ Walter W. for the question idea. Apologies: I said “four” occasions in the questions yesterday. It should have been “five.”

ANSWER: John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (1767); Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes (1822); Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (1913); and George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter (1924); Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump (1946).