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About This Quiz
Are you a history buff? If you know a lot about the history of the United States and the presidents, you might easily recognize these quotes. Challenge yourself and let's find out!
Which president said: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
In 1987, Ronald Regan delivered a speech in West Berlin. In the speech, he called for Mikhail Gorbachev to remove the wall that separated East and West Berlin.
Jimmy Carter
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Which president said: "There is nothing stable but Heaven and the Constitution."
Millard Fillmore
James Buchanan
James Buchanan served from 1857-1861. Prior to becoming president, he served as a senator and Secretary of State.
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
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Which president said: "The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing."
William McKinley
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Theodore Roosevelt
In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest president ever, after the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 and was a distant cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president.
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Which president said: "Don't write so that you can be understood; write so that you can't be misunderstood."
Warren Harding
Woodrow Wilson
Benjamin Harrison
William Howard Taft
Prior to becoming the 27th President, WIlliam Howard Taft served as the U.S. Secretary of War, from 1904-1908. He also went on to be the Chief Justice of the United States after his term. He served in this role for 9 years, from 1921-1930.
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Which president said: "For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground."
Richard Nixon
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th president, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Prior to serving as JFK's Vice President, Johnson served as a U.S. Representative and Senator.
Herbert Hoover
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Which president said: "Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease."
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter served as the 39th president, from 1977-1981. Prior to his term, he served as a member of the Georgia senate before moving on to becoming governor of the state.
George H.W. Bush
Richard Nixon
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Which president said: "But I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free."
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison held the shortest presidential term in U.S. history. Thirty-two days after he took office, he died of complications from pneumonia. He was succeeded by John Tyler.
John Tyler
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Which president said: "I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process."
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison served as the 23rd president of the United States, from 1889-1893. Prior to his term, he served as a US Senator for Indiana.
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
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Which president said: "The business of America is business."
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Prior to becoming the 30th president, serving from 1923-1929, Coolidge first served as the Governor of Massachusetts, from 1919-1921. He also served as vice president, from 1921-1923.
Herbert Hoover
Woodrow Wilson
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Which president said: "A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits."
Richard Nixon
After serving as vice president from1953-1961 for Dwight D. Eisenhower and losing to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election, he ran in 1968 and won the presidency. Facing possible impeachment, due to the Watergate Scandal, Nixon resigned in August 1974.
Gerald Ford
Harry S. Truman
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Which president said: "In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest."
William McKinley
Prior to his term, William McKinley served as a U.S. Representative and also as the Governor of Ohio. During his term as 25th president, he led the country to victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898. In September 1901, McKinley died from injuries sustained during an attempted assassination.
Grover Cleveland
William Howard Taft
Chester A. Arthur
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Which president said: "America is best described by one word, freedom."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Prior to his term, Eisenhower served as a WWII Commander. During Eisenhower's presidency, from 1953-1961, he was responsible for the Interstate Highway System, as well as making the space race a priority.
Woodrow Wilson
WIlliam Howard Taft
James A. Garfield
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Which president said: "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
John Adams
James Madison
James Monroe
George Washington
George Washington was first known as a Commander in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became the first president of the United States in April 1789.
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Which president said: "God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world."
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Franklin Pierce
Millard Fillmore
After the death of Zachary Taylor in office, Millard Fillmore became the last president to ever be associated with the Whig party. He served in office from 1850-1853.
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Which president said: "My failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent."
James Buchanan
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Prior to his term, Ulysees Grant was a General of the Union Army during the Civil War. After serving as Commanding General of the Army, he became president in 1869, until 1877.
Rutherford B. Hayes
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Which president said: "I don't know much about Americanism, but it's a damn good word with which to carry an election."
William Howard Taft
Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding only served as president for two years, due to his heart-disease-related death. His term is known for the Teapot Dome scandal.
Herbert Hoover
James A. Garfield
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Which president said: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Abraham Lincoln
Known as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, Abraham Lincoln is also known for these opening words of the Gettysberg Address. He led the Union to victory in the Civil War and abolished slavery.
James Buchanan
Franklin Pierce
Andrew Johnson
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Which president said: "I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am not fit to be President."
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Prior to his term as president, Jackson served as a U.S. Representative and a Senator. He is depicted on the $20 bill.
Martin Van Buren
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Which president said: "Some people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know I am an American. America is the only idealistic nation in the world."
William Howard Taft
Herbert Hoover
Woodrow Wilson
Prior to becoming president, Woodrow Wilson served as the Governor of New Jersey for two years. His presidency is known for the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918.
Harry S. Truman
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Which president said: "Read my lips. No new taxes."
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
George H.W. Bush served as the 41st president of the United States, from 1989-1993. Prior to his term, he served as the vice president under Reagan for 8 years. He is the father of the 43rd president, George W. Bush.
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
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Which president said: "America -- a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose."
James K. Polk
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover served as the 31st president of the U.S. His presidency began during the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and Great Depression, which he tried to combat with the Hoover Dam.
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
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Which president said: "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Harry S. Truman
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy became the 35th president in 1961 and quite possibly has the most-quoted Inaugural Address. His presidency is known for the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He was assassinated in November 1963.
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Which president said: "The only thing to fear is fear itself."
Harry S. Truman
John F. Kennedy
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt served as President of the United States for 12 years and his presidency is known for the New Deal, which helped the country recover after the Great Depression. Although he won his fourth term in 1944, he died shortly after, in March 1945, from a stroke.
Thomas Jefferson
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Which president said: "You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it."
William Howard Taft
Warren G. Harding
John Adams
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman took office following the death of FDR in 1945. Truman was the president who saw the end of World War II. He approved the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Which president said: "Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you."
John Adams
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson became the 3rd President of the United States in 1801, but he is commonly known for his work done before his term. He is known for penning the Declaration of Independence and as a Founding Father.
James Monroe
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Which president said: "We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it."
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
In 2009, Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American President of the United States. Prior to his term, he was a member of the Illinois Senate, then a United States Senator.
George W. Bush
Gerald Ford
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Which president said: "Truth is the glue that holds governments together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go."
Franklin Pierce
William Henry Harrison
Gerald Ford
Prior to his presidential term, from 1974-1977, Gerald Ford served as a U.S. Representative for 24 years before becoming Chairman of the House Republican Conference in 1963, House Minority Leader in 1965, and vice president in 1973. After the resignation of Nixon, he became president.
John Tyler
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Which president said: ""There is nothing wrong in America that can't be fixed with what is right in America."
George W. Bush
James Madison
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton served his presidential term from 1993 to 2001. Prior to this, he was the Attorney General in Arkansas and Governor.
James Monroe
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Which president said: "A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition."
James Madison
John Adams
As one of the Founding Fathers, John Adams became the second President of the United States in 1797. He worked closely with his cousin, Samuel Adams, prior to the American Revolutionary War.
John Tyler
James Monroe
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Which president said: "It is now true that this is God's Country, if equal rights—a fair start and an equal chance in the race of life are everywhere secured to all."
Rutherford B. Hayes
Prior to his presidency, Rutherford B. Hayes was a U.S. Representative for Ohio and served two terms as their Governor. He became president in 1877 after losing the popular vote to Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, which led to the Compromise of 1877.
James A. Garfield
Andrew Johnson
Grover Cleveland
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Which president said: "A man is known by the company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out."
Franklin Pierce
John Tyler
Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is the only president in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms. In 1884 and 1892, he won the popular vote and the presidency, while in 1888, he also won the popular vote but lost to Benjamin Harrison.
Millard Fillmore
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Which president said: "With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses."
Millard Fillmore
Zachary Taylor
James K. Polk
Prior to becoming president, James K. Polk served as a U.S. Representative for Tennessee for 14 years, then Speaker of the House. He then went on to become Governor of Tennessee.
Franklin Pierce
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Which president said: "Good ballplayers make good citizens."
Bill Clinton
Zachary Taylor
Barack Obama
Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur was the Vice President of the United States for a few short months until he became the 21st President, following the assassination of James A. Garfield.
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Which president said: "We will bring the terrorists to justice; or we will bring justice to the terrorists. Either way, justice will be done."
Barack Obama
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
George W. Bush served as the 43rd president, from 2001-2009. Prior to his term, he was the Governor of Texas, from 1995-2000. He is the son of George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
George H.W. Bush
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Which president said: "The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."
James Madison
Another Founding Father, James Madison became the 4th President of the United States in 1809. He is considered the "Father of the Constitution" for his work on the Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights.
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren
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