2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
Local Presidents Questions
Junior/Senior Divisions
#25-44
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#1
Range:
25-35
(6 points) My predecessor appointed me as his Secretary of
War. After becoming president, I formed my cabinet in some
degree to part from my predecessor’s progressivism. I named
an anti-progressive, Philander Chase Knox, as my Secretary of
State. Nevertheless, my Rule of Law background resulted in my
filing 80 antitrust suits during my administration compared to 54
such suits by my predecessor.
(4 points) One of my key policies was known as Dollar Diplomacy. I sent
marines to Nicaragua to help protect American business interests in that country.
As a young man, I played baseball and became the first president to throw out
the ceremonial first pitch of the season.
(2 points) I was the heaviest person ever to be president, weighing in at over 330
pounds. I lost much of that weight before I was appointed as the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court seven years after leaving the White House.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#2
Range:
32-42
(6 points) When I appointed California Governor Earl Warren as
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I thought I had appointed an
uncontroversial middle-of-the-road justice. To my surprise, Warren
led a civil rights revolution in the courts. He wrote the majority
opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education which overturned the
“separate but equal” doctrine. He stated that segregating white and
black students in public schools was unconstitutional.
(4 points) After the high cost of the Korean War, my Secretary of
State John Foster Dulles and I followed a policy of “massive
retaliation.” We believed the Soviets wouldn’t attack the United
States or our allies if they thought we would respond with nuclear
weapons. Therefore, I ordered cutbacks in army ground troops
and invested in nuclear war heads.
(2 points) I threatened to drop my running mate, Richard Nixon,
from the ticket when the New York Times reported Nixon had a
slush fund of campaign contributions that he used for personal
expenses. Nixon denied the allegations in his famous “Checkers”
speech on national television.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#3
Range:
25-35
(6 points) I was well aware of the role that women would soon play in politics
since I was the only president who taught at a women’s college. I taught
government at Bryn Mawr College outside Philadelphia. In less than three
years, I went from a citizen who had never held public office to President of
the United States.
(4 points) After returning from Europe, I had a stroke that left
me partly paralyzed. My second wife, Edith, took over many
routine duties and details of government. Edith also strongly
opposed allowing my Vice President Thomas R. Marshall to
assume my presidential powers.
(2 points) I was the last president born in a slaveholding household.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#4
Range:
30-40
(6 points) During my administration the country suffered
the worst inflation and unemployment rates since the
Great Depression. My solution was the “Whip Inflation
Now” campaign. WIN buttons were created. When the
program failed, I admitted it was probably too gimmicky.
I was born and died in two different states, neither one
in the South.
(4 points) When I became president, I promised to heal the
nation. My wife, Betty, took on this theme as she became an
outspoken advocate of women’s rights and the Equal Right
Amendment. While I served as Minority Leader of the House
of Representatives, Lyndon Johnson joked that I couldn’t walk
and chew gum at the same time, although that is a sanitized
ver-sion of what he actually said. He also accused me of
“playing too much football without a helmet.”
(2 points) People viewed me more as an honest caretaker than as a leader
since I had never been elected either president or vice president.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#5
Range:
31-41
(6 points) I chose my Vice President not because I liked him, but because I realized that I could not be elected without him. He helped me solidify the support of
traditional Southern Democrats. My Vice President confronted my brother
Robert, my Attorney General, in front of friends and officials. Halfway through my
presidency, there were rumors in Washington circles that I was planning on
dropping my vice president from the ticket for the upcoming presidential election.
(4 points) My glamorous wife is remembered for reorganizing
entertainment for White House social events and restoring the
interior of the presidential home. She was extremely popular in
America and throughout the world.
(2 points) I was the first Catholic to be elected president. My
presidency was cut short by the hands of Lee Harvey Oswald.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#6
Range:
34-44
(6 points) A new soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to
power during my presidency. Gorbachev introduced two new
programs to the Soviets: glasnost (openness) and perestroika
(reconstruction). Finally, in the middle of my second term, I
signed a treaty with Gorbachev, the Intermediate Range Nuclear
Force Agreement. We both agreed to reduce the number of
nuclear warheads in our arsenal.
(4 points) I viewed all government spending except the defense
budget as wasteful. I lowered taxes on the wealthy, cut deeply
into social programs and raised the defense budget. I believed if
the wealthy had more money to invest, prosperity would “trickle
down” to everyone. During the campaign for the Republican
nomination, my future Vice President called this plan “voodoo
economics”.
(2 points) My wife, Nancy, was criticized for spending almost two
million dollars redecorating the White House. Her expensive
taste seemed out of place when social programs for the poor
were being cut.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#7
Range:
27-37
(6 points) During my administration, the notorious gangster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to eleven
years in prison. The first Academy Awards
were presented, and the Star Spangled Banner
officially became the national anthem.
(4 points) When my wife Lou and I wanted to communicate
with each other and not have anyone understand what we were
saying, we would speak in Mandarin Chinese, something we
picked up during our stay in that country during the Boxer Rebellion. My election continued my party’s control of the White
House.
(2 points) Lou was once the national president of the Girl Scouts while I served as
Secretary of Commerce under two previous administrations. She was also the first
First Lady to receive honorary degrees before entering the White House.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#8
Range:
33-43
(6 points) My election marked the first time in twelve years that
Congress was controlled by the same party as the presidency. This
did not last long. Mid-term elections saw control of both the Senate
and the House change to the opposing party. Even the Speaker of
the House, Thomas Foley, lost, and Newt Gingrich (pictured)
became the new speaker with “Contract with America” promises.
(4 points) Controversy and scandal plagued my two terms. Affairs
with women, accusations of draft dodging, smoking marijuana, and
the Arkansas land deal known as Whitewater kept my popularity
on a roller-coaster ride.
(2 points) During my first term, I won two big trade victories
with Congress: the North American Free Trade Agreement
and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. I was not
as successful with health care. Even though my wife, Hillary,
chaired the commission, their proposal to guarantee all
Americans a minimum package of healthcare benefits was
rejected by Congress as too expensive.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#9
Range:
28-38
(6 points) It all started when a white police
officer arrested a black man for reckless driving.
When the patrolman drew his gun, a crowd of
blacks attacked him. Rioting in the black section
of Los Angeles known as Watts erupted. Damage
covering 500 square blocks cost over $40 million.
It was one of many riots that broke out across the
country during my last full year in the White
House.
(4 points) My two pet beagles, Him & Her, became controversial when I was photographed picking them up by their ears. I
refused to apologize stating, “It’s good for them.” That’s the
way we handle them in my home state in the South.
(2 points) My domestic program theme was “The Great Society.” Medicaid and Medicare were developed. I also won passage of serious environmental and consumer legislation as well
as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act to help African
Americans.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#10
Range:
34-44
(6 points) While famous for my leadership in foreign policy, I faced numerous
domestic crises during my presidency. Los Angeles was torn by days of rioting
following the acquittal of policemen who had been tried for beating an African
American man, Rodney King. A high point came when I appointed Manuel Lujan to
be the Secretary of the Interior, the first Hispanic to hold a cabinet level position.
(4 points) My presidency saw two high profile events at the end of the Cold War.
The first was in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese used tanks and
armored cars to suppress a developing pro-democracy movement. The second
was when the Berlin Wall fell after nearly 40 years.
(2 points) I lived long enough to see my son become president.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#11
Range:
32-42
(6 points) I had the lowest approval rating of any president in the
20th century with 22%. There was even a bill of impeachment
against me as several high officials in the White House and
Treasury Department were convicted of corruption. Of particular
concern to the public were my takeovers of the steel mills and
firing of General Douglas MacArthur for insubordination.
(4 points) In spite of the opposition of my own state department and Secretary of State George C. Marshall, I became the
first head of a major country to recognize the new state of
Israel. Congress passed the National Security act creating the
National Security Council, the CIA, and Department of Defense.
(2 points) Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for espionage
during the height of the Red Scare. They were later executed during the administration of my Republican successor. I lived to an older age than both my
predecessor and successor.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#12
Range:
25-35
(6 points) After four years of marriage, my wife Ida suffered a
breakdown following the death of our two infant daughters. She
never recovered and spent the rest of her life as a tormented
epileptic at the borders of sanity. Even my opponents were
amazed at my devotion to her.
(4 points) I appointed Russell Alger as my Secretary of War. He
was criticized for the inadequate preparation and inefficient
operation of the department during the Spanish-American War.
(2 points) Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot me twice in the
stomach on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York. I died eight days later from gangrene caused
by the bullet wounds.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#13
Range:
26-36
(6 points) During my presidency, Jeannette Rankin from
Montana became the first woman elected to the House of
Representatives. I set up the Federal Reserve banking
system during my presidency and worked hard to put
restrictions on child labor.
(4 points) During my term, the Federal Trade Commission was
established to regulate business conglomerations. My Secretary
of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo served as an “ex officio
member” on the first Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C.
(2 points) Following my attendance at the Paris Peace Conference, I began to campaign for Senate approval of the peace
treaty and the League of Nations Covenant. However, the
United States never did ratify the Treaty of Versailles nor join the
League of Nations. I was still awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
my peacemaking efforts.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
#14
Range:
34-44
(6 points) My second term as president was highlighted
by several free trade agreements. I also pushed the
Energy Policy Act and for offshore and domestic drilling.
I nominated Justices John Roberts (left) and Samuel
Alito to the Supreme Court and pushed for Social
Security and immigration reform.
(4 points) I selected Condoleezza Rice, the first African American woman as the Secretary of State. Rice championed my goal
to advance democratic reform and support basic rights throughout the Middle East.
(2 points) The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the
thwarted flight against the White House on September 11, in which nearly 3,000
Americans were killed, transformed me into a wartime president.
2013-14 AGLOA Local Presidents
Jr/Sr #25-44
Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
#27 William Taft
#34 Dwight Eisenhower
#28 Woodrow Wilson
#38 Gerald Ford
#35 John Kennedy
#40 Ronald Reagan
#31 Herbert Hoover
#42 Bill Clinton
#36 Lyndon Johnson
#41 George H. W. Bush
#33 Harry Truman
#25 William McKinley
#28 Woodrow Wilson
#43 George W. Bush
Range:
25-44