Study Guide
Presidents Test: Lincoln through Taft (16-27)

Study Guide: Presidents Lincoln through Taft (16-27)

Abraham Lincoln (16)

  • first Republican president & first president to be assassinated (shot on Good Friday)
  • Civil War president (face on Mt. Rushmore)
  • He grew a beard because a little girl wrote him a letter telling him that he would look better.
  • used campaign slogan "Don't swap horses in middle of the stream" (re-election)

Andrew Johnson (17)

  • Democrat (former General) trained as a tailor / never spent a day in formal schooling
  • Impeached but found not guilty in the Senate, Lincoln's vice president.
  • Alaska purchased from Russia for 7.2 million dollars

Ulysses S. Grant (18)

  • Republican (former General), served two full terms
  • smoked ten to twenty cigars a day (eventually died of throat cancer)
  • Did not like the sight of blood, became physically ill.
  • His real name was originally Hiram Ulysses Grant.
  • Tone deaf: "I only know two tunes. One of them is Yankee Doodle & the other isn't."
  • He established Yellowstone as the nation's first national park
  • He was ticketed for speeding while driving a horse and buggy in Washington, DC. He had to pay a fine of $20.00 and walk back to the White House.
  • Tried to get the nomination for a 3rd term in 1880 & declared bankruptcy in 1884

Rutherford B. Hayes (19)

  • Republican (former General), term of office began with the end of Reconstruction
  • first telephone in the White House (his phone number was 1)
  • His election was known as "The Second Corrupt Bargain", Known as "His Fraudulency".
  • His wife was known as "Lemonade Lucy" because she banned alcohol, smoking, dancing, and card playing from the White House.

James Garfield (20)

  • Republican (less than 6 months), second president assassinated, ordained minister.
  • Only man to be a congressman, senator-elect, and a president-elect at the same time.

Chester A. Arthur (21)

  • Republican (less than 1 full term), Garfield's vice president.
  • president when the Pendleton Act was passed
  • owned more than 80 pairs of trousers and would often change clothes during the day
  • He was diagnosed with a fatal kidney disease but still ran for another term.
  • "I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business."

Grover Cleveland (22 & 24)

  • Democrat (2 terms), served two nonconsecutive terms
  • Only democrat elected president in the late 19th century
  • Campaign slogan attack: "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa, gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha"
  • He was drafted during the Civil War but chose to purchase a replacement, a legal option at the time. He paid $150 for a Polish immigrant to serve in his place.
  • He went sailing during July 1893 for what people thought was a fishing trip, but he was really having surgery for a strange growth in his mouth. Kept secret until 1917.
  • The candy bar "Baby Ruth" was named after his daughter Ruth
  • Acted as executioner while sheriff of Erie County, New York. He personally pulled the hanging trap on two convicted murderers.

Benjamin Harrison (23)

  • Republican (1 term) "the Centennial President", Known as the "Human Iceberg"
  • Grandson of President William Henry Harrison.
  • He was the first president to use electricity in the White House and often went to bed with all the electric lights on. Afraid to touch the switches had staff turn the off in the morning

William McKinley (25)

  • Republican (elected to two terms. Died early into 2nd term) 3rd president assassinated
  • President during the Spanish-American War.
  • Lost two young children in the 1870's. His wife became an invalid for the rest of her life.
  • His commanding officer in the Civil War was Rutherford B. Hayes.
  • The color "Yellow" banned at the White House (even yellow flowers in the garden pulled)
  • The largest mountain in North America was named in tribute to this man.

Theodore Roosevelt (26)

  • Republican (almost 2 full terms), McKinley's vice president, Rough Rider
  • Lead the charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.
  • youngest person to become president at the age of 42, "Walk softly & carry a big stick"
  • First president to call his residence in Washington, D.C. the "White House".
  • First president to fly, submerge in a submarine, or leave the country while in office.
  • First U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize, face on Mt. Rushmore
  • Set aside vast wilderness lands for conservation. These later became part of the country's national parks & nature reserves.
  • The "Teddy Bear" was named after President Theodore Roosevelt because he spared the life of a bear club during a hunting trip. (HATED being called Teddy. Known by initials - T.R.)

William Howard Taft (27)

  • Republican (1 full term), heaviest president, weighing 332 pounds at one point.
  • Got stuck in the White House bath tub, He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
  • only president to serve as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

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