Question 1

Who was the only US president to serve more than two terms, being elected to the office four times?

Accepted Answer

Franklin D. Roosevelt. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president four times (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944), the only president to serve more than two terms.

Question 2

Which US president was the first to live in the White House?

Accepted Answer

John Adams. John Adams was the first president to live in the White House, moving in during November 1800.

Question 3

Which president served the shortest term, dying just 31 days after taking office?

Accepted Answer

William Henry Harrison. William Henry Harrison died of illness on April 4, 1841, only 31 days into his term, the shortest in US history.

Question 4

Which president issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?

Accepted Answer

Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring enslaved people in Confederate states to be free.

Question 5

Which president was counted as both the 22nd and 24th president, serving two non-consecutive terms in the 1880s and 1890s?

Accepted Answer

Grover Cleveland. Grover Cleveland served as the 22nd president (1885-1889) and again as the 24th (1893-1897).

Question 6

Which president was the first to resign from office?

Accepted Answer

Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, amid the Watergate scandal, the only US president ever to resign.

Question 7

Which president was the only one to also serve as Chief Justice of the United States?

Accepted Answer

William Howard Taft. William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1921, the only person to hold both offices.

Question 8

Which president made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803?

Accepted Answer

Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson oversaw the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, roughly doubling the size of the United States.

Question 9

Who was the first US president to be impeached by the House of Representatives?

Accepted Answer

Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House in 1868 but acquitted by the Senate by a single vote.

Question 10

Which president became the youngest to take office at age 42, after the assassination of William McKinley?

Accepted Answer

Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt became president at age 42 in 1901 after the assassination of William McKinley, the youngest to assume the office.

Question 11

In which 1881 gunfight did the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday face the Clanton-McLaury cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona?

Accepted Answer

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place on October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

Question 12

Which outlaw was shot and killed in 1882 by Robert Ford, a member of his own gang, in St. Joseph, Missouri?

Accepted Answer

Jesse James. Jesse James was killed on April 3, 1882, by gang member Robert Ford.

Question 13

Lawman and gunfighter James Butler Hickok was better known by what nickname?

Accepted Answer

Wild Bill. James Butler Hickok was popularly known as Wild Bill Hickok and was killed in Deadwood in 1876.

Question 14

Sheriff Pat Garrett shot and killed which outlaw at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1881?

Accepted Answer

Billy the Kid. Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner, New Mexico Territory, on July 14, 1881.

Question 15

What 1869 event in Promontory, Utah, completed the first transcontinental railroad across the United States?

Accepted Answer

The driving of the Golden Spike. The ceremonial Golden Spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads.

Question 16

The Pony Express mail service operated for only about how long before the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete?

Accepted Answer

About 18 months. The Pony Express ran from April 1860 to October 1861, roughly 18 months, ending when the transcontinental telegraph was completed.

Question 17

At the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, which U.S. Army officer and his command were defeated by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors?

Accepted Answer

George Armstrong Custer. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and much of the 7th Cavalry were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876.

Question 18

Which Apache leader led resistance against U.S. and Mexican forces before surrendering to General Nelson Miles in 1886?

Accepted Answer

Geronimo. The Apache leader Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles in September 1886, ending a long campaign of resistance.

Question 19

Outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid led which loosely organized gang of train and bank robbers?

Accepted Answer

The Wild Bunch. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were leaders of the Wild Bunch, which robbed trains and banks around 1900.

Question 20

Sharpshooter Annie Oakley rose to fame as a star performer in whose traveling Wild West show?

Accepted Answer

Buffalo Bill Cody. Annie Oakley became famous as a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show, which she joined in 1885.

American HistoryTrivia Questions & Answers

American History Quiz — 20 Questions

1. Who was the only US president to serve more than two terms, being elected to the office four times?

2. Which US president was the first to live in the White House?

3. Which president served the shortest term, dying just 31 days after taking office?

4. Which president issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?

5. Which president was counted as both the 22nd and 24th president, serving two non-consecutive terms in the 1880s and 1890s?

6. Which president was the first to resign from office?

7. Which president was the only one to also serve as Chief Justice of the United States?

8. Which president made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803?

9. Who was the first US president to be impeached by the House of Representatives?

10. Which president became the youngest to take office at age 42, after the assassination of William McKinley?

11. In which 1881 gunfight did the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday face the Clanton-McLaury cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona?

12. Which outlaw was shot and killed in 1882 by Robert Ford, a member of his own gang, in St. Joseph, Missouri?

13. Lawman and gunfighter James Butler Hickok was better known by what nickname?

14. Sheriff Pat Garrett shot and killed which outlaw at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1881?

15. What 1869 event in Promontory, Utah, completed the first transcontinental railroad across the United States?

16. The Pony Express mail service operated for only about how long before the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete?

17. At the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, which U.S. Army officer and his command were defeated by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors?

18. Which Apache leader led resistance against U.S. and Mexican forces before surrendering to General Nelson Miles in 1886?

19. Outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid led which loosely organized gang of train and bank robbers?

20. Sharpshooter Annie Oakley rose to fame as a star performer in whose traveling Wild West show?

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