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50 Presidential Trivia Questions for American History Buffs

Updated on Mar. 19, 2025

What do you know about the nation's commanders in chief? Take our presidential trivia quiz and find out!

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Presidential trivia you might not know

Who was the first president to have a telephone in the White House? Which one had a pet tiger? And which president is the only one to hold a patent? Since George Washington was sworn in as president of the United States in 1789—more than two centuries ago—a total of 46 different men have held this position, each with their own personalities, quirks, families and pets. But how much do you really know about presidential trivia?

Our quiz features not only the well-known facts but also interesting tidbits that even history trivia buffs might not know. So whether you want to brush up on your presidential knowledge or discover new facts about otherwise familiar figures, you’ve come to the right place.

Read on to learn the most interesting facts and trivia about the presidents.

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Ronald Reagan
Bettmann/Getty Images

Easy presidential trivia

1. Question: Which president appeared in 53 Hollywood movies?
Answer: Ronald Reagan

2. Question: Which president was a peanut farmer before running for office?
Answer: Jimmy Carter

3. Question: Who was the tallest president?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln, who stood at 6 feet, 4 inches

4. Question: Who was the only president to serve four terms?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

5. Question: Which president was shot at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo?
Answer: William McKinley

6. Question: Which president led the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War?
Answer: George Washington

7. Question: Which president starred in a reality TV show?
Answer: Donald Trump

8. Question: Which president was previously the governor of Texas?
Answer: George W. Bush

9. Question: Who was the youngest U.S. president to be elected?
Answer: John F. Kennedy, who was 43 years old when he took office (Teddy Roosevelt was 42, but he wasn’t elected—rather, the then-vice president took office after McKinley’s assassination)

10. Question: Which president served only one month in office?
Answer: William Henry Harrison, who then died of pneumonia

11. Question: Which president chose the location of the White House?
Answer: George Washington

Richard Nixon poses for still photographs after a televised address
Bettmann/Getty Images

Hard presidential trivia

12. Question: Which three presidents died on the Fourth of July?
Answer: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (both in 1826) and James Monroe (1831)

13. Question: Which president had a bowling alley built in the White House?
Answer: Richard Nixon

14. Question: Who was the only president to earn a patent?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln, who in 1849 patented a buoying device to lift ships over shoals, though it was never used

15. Question: Which president was a haberdasher (someone who sells men’s clothing and accessories) before taking office?
Answer: Harry Truman

16. Question: Which president served in Congress after his time in office?
Answer: John Quincy Adams

17. Question: Which president changed the name of the presidential mountain retreat Shangri-La to Camp David, after his grandson?
Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

18. Question: What president appeared on the $100,000 bill?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson

19. Question: How many presidents were born in Ohio?
Answer: Seven

20. Question: What was Warren G. Harding’s middle name?
Answer: Gamaliel

21. Question: Which president went to school with author Nathaniel Hawthorne?
Answer: Franklin Pierce

22. Question: In which month were the most presidents born?
Answer: October

23. Question: How many vice presidents have gone on to become president?
Answer: 15

24. Question: Which president was nicknamed Old Rough and Ready?
Answer: Zachary Taylor

25. Question: Who were the only two presidents to die in the White House?
Answer: William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor

26. Question: Which president disliked his official portrait so much that he had it burned?
Answer: Teddy Roosevelt

Barack Obama with his dog Bo
Pool/Getty Images

Presidential trivia about pets

27. Question: Which president had two tiger cubs as pets?
Answer: Martin Van Buren

28. Question: What were the names of the Obama family’s two dogs?
Answer: Bo and Sunny

29. Question: Which president had a German shepherd named Commander?
Answer: Joe Biden

30. Question: Which president had a pet opossum?
Answer: Herbert Hoover

31. Question: What animal did Calvin Coolidge’s family keep as a pet?
Answer: A raccoon

32. Question: Which president kept a flock of sheep that grazed on the White House lawn?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson

33. Question: What was the name of George H.W. Bush’s springer spaniel?
Answer: Millie

34. Question: Which president’s children had snakes, dogs, cats, a badger, birds, guinea pigs and a pony?
Answer: Teddy Roosevelt

35. Question: Which president received a herd of elephants as a gift?
Answer: James Buchanan

36. Question: Which president’s wife kept silkworms as pets?
Answer: John Quincy Adams

The White House, Washington DC
turtix/Shutterstock

Trivia about presidential firsts

37. Question: Who was the first president to have a telephone in the White House?
Answer: Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1879

38. Question: Who was the first president to work in the Oval Office?
Answer: William Howard Taft

39. Question: Who was the first of seven presidents born in a log cabin?
Answer: Andrew Jackson

40. Question: Who was the first president to host a White House Easter egg roll?
Answer: Rutherford B. Hayes, on April 22, 1878

41. Question: Who was the first president to use campaign buttons?
Answer: William McKinley

42. Question: Who was the first president to visit Canada?
Answer: Warren G. Harding, in June 1923

43. Question: Who was the first president to visit all 50 states?
Answer: Richard Nixon

44. Question: Who was the first president to be a Rhodes Scholar?
Answer: Bill Clinton

45. Question: Who was the first president to ride in an airplane?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

46. Question: Who was the first left-handed president?
Answer: James Garfield

47. Question: Who was the first president to visit another country while in office?
Answer: Teddy Roosevelt, who visited the Panama Canal in 1906

48. Question: Who was the first president born as a citizen of the United States?
Answer: Martin Van Buren

49. Question: Who was the first president to name a woman to his cabinet?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose Secretary of Labor was Frances Perkins

50. Question: Who was the first president born in a hospital?
Answer: Jimmy Carter, in 1924

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