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Tuesday Trivia

Fun Time Open Thread: Presidents

I realized something the other day. I am old enough to run for president. I don’t particularly want to run for president, but I am technically eligible. 

Tonight we are going back to social studies class. What do you remember about presidential trivia?

  1. There are only three requirements in the Constitution about who can run for president. What are they?
  2. After the 22nd amendment, what is the longest amount of time a person may serve as president?
  3. Which president served the longest, and how long did he serve?
  4. Which president had the shortest term in office and how long did he serve?
  5. What political party did George Washington belong to?
  6. How many presidents have died in office?
  7. How many of those were assassinated?
  8. Have we had more Democratic presidents or Republican?
  9. How many presidents have been impeached?
  10. What IS impeachment, anyway?
president obama wearing a shirt and tie holding out a blue lightsaber like he is about to duel someone while a boy stands in the background laughing
The Force is strong with this one.

By [E]SaraB

Glass artisan by day, blogger by night (and sometimes vice versa). SaraB has three kids, three pets, one husband and a bizarre sense of humor. Her glass pendants can be found at www.etsy.com/shop/AngryOwlStudio if you're interested in checking it out.

16 replies on “Fun Time Open Thread: Presidents”

You know what I got out of my high school government class?

A free viewing of Shawshank Redemption.

Oh, and I helped half the class cheat on the final exam. When you’re allowed one piece of paper to use during the test and all your review materials can be photocopied down to 1/8th the size, owning a copier becomes a goldmine. :) I got all our review notes to fit on that damn piece of paper and then I made copies for all my friends. Brilliant.

Every year, an acquaintence of mine holds a huge, smashing Presidents’ Day Presidential Trivia Party. It is, no joke, the fucking party of the year. I was MVP of the winning team two years ago because in particular I pulled a few really, really random facts out in clutch situations.

Anyway, the trivia. I think everyone probably got them before me because I’m late, late, late, but I want to play anyway so I didn’t peek or cheat.

  1. at least 35 years old (by the time of taking office – you can be younger as long as you turn 35 by the time inauguration day rolls around), natural born US citizen, and resident of the US for at least 14 years prior to taken office.
  2. 10 years – two full terms of your own, plus no more than half of the term if you’re a VP (or elsewhere in the chain of command) taking over someone else’s term.
  3. FDR, who served about a month longer than 12 years (four terms)
  4. William Henry Harrison died after about a month, from pneumonia that he caught during his epically long and boring inaugural address because he refused to wear an overcoat even though it was cold and damp outside.
  5. Federalist
  6. 8 - WH Harrison, Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, FDR, and Kennedy
  7. 4, although technically Garfield died of blood poisoning from treatment and the wound itself probably wouldn’t have killed him had they had better medical technology at the time.
  8. Republican, although that’s not counting the old Democratic-Republicans, and it’s discounting the fact that the Republican presidents pre-FDR were pretty much Democrats and vice versa because at some point there was a massive, massive shift in what the names of the parties meant
  9. 2, but neither removed from office
  10. On the federal/presidential level, it’s when the House of Representatives votes that the President has committed a crime while in office. It doesn’t actually charge or convict him/her of that crime. It’s just a formal recognition that they think it happened, and the first step toward removing him/her from office.

I wikipedia-ed it – I just HAD to know:

1. Natural born US citizen/34/resident of the US 14 years

2. 10 years (i.e. 2 years of a previous president’s term + 2 terms (8yrs) )

3. FDR – March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945

4. William Henry Harrison – 32 days

5. Independent, though his policies leaned Federalist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_political_affiliation)

6. 8 presidents died in office

7. 4 were assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy

8. No, more republican (15 to 18)

9. 2 presidents were impeached: Andrew Johnson & Bill Clinton

10. Impeachment definition:  Impeachment does not necessarily result in removal from office; it is only a legal statement of charges, parallel to an indictment in criminal law. An official who is impeached faces a second legislative vote (whether by the same body or another), which determines conviction, or failure to convict, on the charges embodied by the impeachment. Most constitutions require a supermajority to convict. Although the subject of the charge is criminal action, it does not constitute a criminal trial; the only question under consideration is the removal of the individual from office, and the possibility of a subsequent vote preventing the removed official from ever again holding political office in the jurisdiction where he was removed. Impeachment with respect to political office should not be confused with witness impeachment.

 

 

  • There are only three requirements in the Constitution about who can run for president. What are they?
    35 years old.  US Born.  Had to live in the US for some rather long random amount of time so we don’t get some silly Brit as our President who makes us re-submit to King George.  (Damn Tories!)
  • After the 22nd amendment, what is the longest amount of time a person may serve as president?
    10 years.
  • Which president served the longest, and how long did he serve?
    FDR.  Something like 3.5 terms.
  • Which president had the shortest term in office and how long did he serve?
    The one who only served for a matter of months and died of a cold.
  • What political party did George Washington belong to?
    None.  He was just so awesome they made him the President.  Though I remember reading that he didn’t want to be.
  • How many presidents have died in office?
    A few?  At least 5.  Two of those being Lincoln and that one who died of a cold.
  • How many of those were assassinated?
    At least 3.  Apparently there was this curse where any President elected in a “20” term would die in office.  (Lincoln was elected in 1860, Kennedy was elected in 1960, there are others in between…)  This stopped with Reagan, because they tried to assassinate him and failed.  Now it doesn’t happen anymore.  Crazy!!!!  There’s more here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe
  • Have we had more Democratic presidents or Republican?
    Republican
  • How many presidents have been impeached?
    2
  • What IS impeachment, anyway?
    You get tried in front of Congress.

1. There are only three requirements in the Constitution about who can run for president. What are they?
Must be a US born citizen, must be at least 35 and no felonies? (Guessing on the last one.)

2.After the 22nd amendment, what is the longest amount of time a person may serve as president?
Two four-year terms. IIRC, however, a dude could serve longer if he was VP for a sitting prez who died. He, I think, can still be elected twice.

3. Which president served the longest, and how long did he serve?
FDR, three full terms and a partial.

4. Which president had the shortest term in office and how long did he serve?
Hoosier Benjamin Harrison, who died one month into his term.

5. What political party did George Washington belong to?
The Imma Colonial BAMF Party.

6. How many presidents have died in office?
6?

7. How many of those were assassinated?
3, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Garfield (?)

8. Have we had more Democratic presidents or Republican?
I have no idea.

9. How many presidents have been impeached?
It’s either none or just Clinton, Nixon resigned before we could impeach him.

10. What IS impeachment, anyway?
I’m not sure of the exact definition, but I know it DOESN’T mean straight up kicking someone out of office. Or I might be confusing that with censure.

Some I know, some I’m wildly guessing because I’m too lazy honorable to hit up wikipedia.
1. 35 years old, natural born citizen, in residence in U.S. for last 14 years
2. 10 years (or maybe 9 years 364 days; not sure precisely how they count it if the VP takes over)
3. FDR, 14 years?
4. McKinley, 2 months?
5. Whig?
6. 8
7. 6
8. Republican?
9. 2
10. A trial before Congress; doesn’t necessarily mean the president will actually be kicked out of office.

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