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Father鈥檚 Day Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Presidents鈥� Dads?
Every president had one. Some were wealthy. Some were poor. Some were soldiers, preachers, tavern keepers and even Hollywood moguls. How much do you know about the men who raised America鈥檚 presidents?
1. Which president had the wealthiest father?
A. George W. Bush
B. Franklin D. Roosevelt
C. John F. Kennedy
D. Donald Trump
Answer: C. Joseph P. Kennedy was one of the 20 wealthiest men in America in his prime. Banker, broker, movie mogul 鈥� but not, as he鈥檚 often called, a bootlegger. Rather than smuggling illegal booze, Kennedy used his political connections to secure exclusive U.S. distribution rights for major British spirits just as Prohibition was ending.
2. Which president was born after his father died?
A. James Garfield
B. Bill Clinton
C. Gerald Ford
D. Barack Obama
Answer: B. William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident three months before Bill Clinton was born. The future president was raised by Roger Clinton, whose surname he legally took as a teenager.
3. Which president鈥檚 father was the youngest when his future-president son was born?
A. Theodore Roosevelt鈥檚 father
B. Warren G. Harding鈥檚 father
C. John F. Kennedy鈥檚 father
D. Barack Obama鈥檚 father
Answer: B. George Tryon Harding was a young, 22-year-old farmer (and Civil War veteran) in Blooming Grove, Ohio, when his son 鈥� and future president 鈥� Warren G. was born. (Oddly, the G. doesn鈥檛 stand for George. It鈥檚 鈥淕amaliel.鈥� Go figure.)
4. Which president鈥檚 father was the oldest when his son was born?
A. John Tyler
B. Franklin D. Roosevelt
C. James Madison
D. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Answer: B. James Roosevelt was 53 years old when Franklin was born. James was a 52-year-old widower when he met 26-year-old Sara Delano 鈥� the same age as his son Rosey from his first marriage.
5. Which president was the last whose father fought in the American Revolution?
A. James Buchanan
B. Andrew Jackson
C. Franklin Pierce
D. Abraham Lincoln
Answer: C. Benjamin Pierce served in the Continental Army and fought at Bunker Hill. His son also served 鈥� as a brigadier general in the Mexican-American War before becoming president.
6. George Tryon Harding lived to see his son Warren G. Harding become president AND die in office. Only one other president was survived by his father. Who was he?
A. Abraham Lincoln
B. Franklin Roosevelt
C. John F. Kennedy
D. Ronald Reagan
Answer: C. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. suffered the fate of seeing four of his children die. Two of them (John and Robert) were killed by assassins.
7. Which presidential dad was a professional cheesemaker?
A. Jimmy Carter
B. Herbert Hoover
C. Calvin Coolidge
D. Richard Nixon
Answer: C. John Coolidge was a farmer, the most common career of presidents鈥� fathers. However, he was also a true 鈥渏ack of all trades鈥�: blacksmith, bricklayer, wheelwright and, yes, cheesemaker. He founded the Plymouth (Vermont) Cheese Factory in 1890.
8. This president鈥檚 father was a Baptist minister, though it appears to have had little effect on his son鈥檚 public behavior.
A. Chester A. Arthur
B. Andrew Jackson
C. Bill Clinton
D. Lyndon B. Johnson
Answer: A. Although William Arthur was a Baptist minister who preached abstinence, his son was a member of the corrupt GOP political machine that ran New York and a bon vivant known for his love of wine, women, whiskey and cigars.
J. Mark Powell is a former TV journalist. His nonfiction book 鈥淲itness to War: The Story of the Civil War Told by Those Who Lived It鈥� is available at . He wrote this for .
