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

50 Presidential Trivia Questions for American History Buffs


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

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

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

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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Sources:
- Constitution Center: “Presidential Fun Facts”
- National Geographic Kids: “Presidential Fun Facts”
- Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery: “Presidential Trivia for Election Time, part 1”
- The White House Historical Association: “What are some interesting facts about presidents and first ladies?”
- Library of Congress: “20 Questions: U.S. Presidential Trivia Quiz – Round 2”
- Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery: “Presidential Trivia for Election Time, part III”
- Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery: “Presidential Trivia for Election Time, part IV”