Presidents Behaving Badly
Before asking his Secretary of State to kneel with him in the Oval Office, this President said, "Henry, you are not an orthodox Jew and I am not an orthodox Quaker, but we need to pray."
Who was Richard Nixon?
When he asked the men he defeated for the Presidency to serve on his cabinet, he created a Team of Rivals to help him shepherd the United States through the Civil War.
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
President Ronald Reagan appointed this judge in 1981 and her nomination was approved unanimously.
Who was Sandra Day O'Connor?
Her husband may have been known for his size, but this woman was the first Lady to drive a car, supported women's suffrage, smoked cigarettes, and lobbied for workplace safety for federal employees.
Who was Helen "Nellie" Taft?
In a footrace between a donkey and an elephant, this runner would win.
What is a donkey? (40 mph)
(elephant is 15 mph)
His wife, Rachel, was sued by her first husband for adultery, though in her defense she thought they had been divorced. The settlement may have been paid off with portraits of this President using twenty dollar bills.
Who was Andrew Jackson?
His predecessor, who died in office, had nominated seven Supreme Court justices, so when a vacancy came available, he broke with tradition and nominated an Ohio Republican for the slot. It helped him find common ground with the Republicans in Congress.
Who was Harry S. Truman?
This President appointed the highest number of justices, eleven total, which makes sense as he was the first to do so.
Who was George Washington?
This first lady was a dancer with Martha Graham but is better known for founding a clinic dealing with addiction.
Who was Betty Ford?
Between a donkey and an elephant, this one can hear from farthest way.
What is an elephant? (10 miles)
(donkeys can hear other donkeys up to 3 km away, 1.86 miles)
He moved as swiftly as he did at Gettysburg when he found out government employees were pocketing money collected from whiskey taxes.
Who was Ulysses S. Grant?
What is the Civil Rights Act?
The first African-American justice. He also has an airport near Baltimore named for him.
Who was Thurgood Marshall, Jr.?
After earning a Master's Degree in Education from USC, this first lady, who had also been a second lady, taught school in Whittier, California.
Who was Pat Nixon?
This wild relative of a donkey has the most powerful kick of any animal on earth and often lives side-by-side with elephants.
What is a zebra?
His director of the newly former Veterans Affairs Bureau was so corrupt than when he was summoned to the Oval Office, this President attempted to choke him to death. Still, not as big a scandal as the Tea Pot Dome.
Who was Warren G. Harding?
The Great Compromise of 1787, proposed by the well-respected Roger Sherman of Connecticut, created this representational difference between the two houses of Congress.
What is proportional in the House of Representatives and equal in the Senate?
(any close explanation is acceptable)
Joseph Story was the youngest justice appointed, at age thirty-two. He is best known for writing the court decision on this case about a revolt aboard this slave ship, and was portrayed by an actual Supreme Court Judge, Harry Blackmun, in the Steven Spielberg movie of the same name.
What is Amistad?
This first lady first met her future husband interviewing him for a newspaper, two years before they married in Newport, RI.
Who was Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy?
Between a donkey vs. elephant, this one would do better on an SAT test.
What is an elephant?
Fathered an illegitimate child nine years before becoming Governor of New York, before serving two non-consecutive terms as President.
Who was Grover Cleveland?
In 1973 President Richard Nixon called for an overall change to the environmental policy of the country. He and Congress worked together to come up with this important act. Bald eagles, grizzly bears, and Channel Island night lizards among others are still around to celebrate this victory.
What is the Endangered Species Act?
The first chief justice on the Supreme Court, he had been an ambassador to Spain, a signatory on the Treaty of Paris, was an abolitionist, and wrote part of the Federalist Papers along with Hamilton and Madison.
Who was John Jay?
This first lady never gave an interview while living in the White House. Probably a good thing because she might have been asked to comment about her daughter's singing talent.
Who was Bess Truman?
This political cartoonist helped solidify the use of the Donkey and Elephant symbols of the Democrat and Republican parties.
Who was Thomas Nast?