Can You Guess Which President Said This?

HISTORY

By: J. Reinoehl

7 Min Quiz

About This Quiz

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your quiz can do you for you - ask what you can do for this quiz! The easy answer would be to take it! While it's hard to remember some president's names, others are recognized for their actions and their words! The Presidents of the United States have said some of the most well-known quotes to man. Can you pair the quote with its president?

America has a long, long history, but the beginning of the Presidents begins with George Washington in 1789. After the American Revolutionary War, the United States was essentially comprised of 13 singular states who governed mostly on their own under the Articles of Confederation. The late 1780s would bring about the Constitutional Convention and the unanimous election of George Washington.

While we're on our 45th president, there have only been 43 people to serve in office due to Grover Cleveland's nonconsecutive terms. From these 43 men, can you identify them from their quotes? Barack Obama might be easy to remember, but what about Zachary Taylor? Can you remember which 19th century President was counting "four score and seven years ago?"

If you can, you're ready for this quiz! Don't be afraid! As the 32nd president said, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself!"

Are you ready? Let's go!

Which U. S. President said, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”?

Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. Sometimes nicknamed “JFK,” he was assassinated November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “There is a homely old adage which runs: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far”?

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He was a strong advocate for increasing the National Park System and 230 million acres of public lands were established during his presidency.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog”?

Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. Upon his election, the Chicago Tribune prematurely predicted his defeat and ran the headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.”

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”?

Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. His election was the spark that caused the South to secede from the Union.

Advertisement

President Andrew Jackson said what?

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. Although Jackson is noted for developing the “spoils system” where friends were appointed to office, he was also the only U. S. President to pay off the national debt during his presidency. The other quotes were said by: (b) Reagan (c) Nixon and (d) George W. Bush.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (nicknamed FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States. He was the only President elected to four terms in office (he died at the beginning of his fourth).

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “I can’t deny I’m a better ex-President than I was a President”?

Carter was the 39th President of the United States. His Presidency was filled with economic troubles and saw a 14-month standoff with hostages in Iran that ended when he left office.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one”?

Washington was the first President of the United States. He was also the first general in history to win a revolutionary war and not seize control of the nation. Washington resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief December 23, 1783. Congress ruled the country until the first Presidential election was held 1788-1789.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation”?

Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. His Presidency occurred during World War I, and he was known for the idea of the League of Nations (a United Nations precursor).

Advertisement

President Richard Nixon said what?

Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. Although his presidency is most famous for the Watergate scandal, he also ended the Vietnam War and arranged for the release of POWs, improved relations with China, and enforced desegregation of Southern schools. The other quotes were said by: (a) Kennedy (b) Ford and (d) Coolidge.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt”?

Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the United States. He was President during the Great Depression and enacted a “hands-off” policy when it came to the economy.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency—even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting”?

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. He began his career as a sports commentator and then moved to acting before running for President.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery"?

Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States. He was the only United States President born on Independence Day (1872).

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred”?

Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States. As a founding father, he was most known for being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, but his presidency was also marked by the Louisiana Purchase, which almost doubled the size of the United States.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Washington, D. C., is twelve square miles bordered by reality?”

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States. He is probably best known for buying Alaska from the Russians for the United States.

Advertisement

President Zachary Taylor said what?

Taylor was elected as the 12th President of the United States. Chosen because of his lack of political background, the committee thought he would be easy to control, but he wasn’t. He died in office under mysterious circumstances and even a coroner’s exam could not put to rest the idea he was poisoned. The other quotes were said by: (a) Harrison (b) Lincoln and (d) Jackson.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Read my lips. No new taxes”?

Bush was the 41st President of the United States. The Berlin Wall that had divided Eastern and Western Europe since World War II was torn down during his presidency.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power”?

Harrison was the 9th President of the United States. He was the last President who was a British subject by birth. He died of pneumonia 31 days into his presidency.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable”?

Garfield was the 20th President of the United States. He was shot by a Washington lawyer who had been refused a consular post appointment and died from infection only 200 days after he was elected.

Advertisement

President Grant said what?

Grant was the 18th President of the United States and took office upon Lincoln’s assassination. He nearly missed being assassinated with Lincoln. The other quotes were said by: (a) Kennedy (b) Eisenhower and (d) Lincoln.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Don’t write so that you can be understood; write so that you can’t be misunderstood”?

Taft was the 27th President of the United States and was the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (the only person to serve in both those positions). Unfortunately, he also has the distinction of supporting the 16th Amendment, which legalized income tax.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both”?

Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States and a five-star general during World War II. He had an eventful presidency that included ending McCarthyism, signing the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and establishing the Interstate Highway System.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles, and it must be taken one step at a time”?

Johnson was the 36th President of the United States. Johnson was President during the Civil Rights Movement and pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, fulfilling a promise to finish what Kennedy had started.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “It is by a thorough knowledge of the whole subject that [people] are enabled to judge correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future”?

Monroe was the 5th President of the United States. He was the last President considered a “Founding Father.” Jefferson once said, “Monroe was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it.”

Advertisement

President Rutherford B. Hayes said what?

Within 10 years of Hayes’ statement (1886), corporations were given the rights of “natural persons” by the Supreme Court and protected by the Bill of Rights. Although the 14th Amendment nominally gave ex-slaves the right to vote, they did not acquire its full protection until the 1950s and women were not written in it until after the 1920s. The other quotes were said by: (b) Kennedy (c) Bush and (d) Eisenhower.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”?

Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States. He was the first President to set up an official White House website (whitehouse.gov), and had a generally eventful, if not controversial, presidency where many bills were passed including, NAFTA, Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell, increasing the death penalty (the Omnibus Crime Bill), and requiring background checks and waiting periods for purchasing guns.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory”?

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States. Fillmore (a Whig) was the last President who was neither Republican nor Democrat. He was successful in his bid to get California admitted as a free (as opposed to slave) state.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world”?

Bush was the 43rd President of the United States and son of President George H. W. Bush. He was President during the 9/11 terrorist attacks where nearly 3,000 people died.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it”?

Ford was the 38th President of the United States. He became vice-president under the 25th Amendment when Spiro Agnew resigned and then became president upon Nixon's resignation. As such, he was the first person to hold both positions without being elected to them.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Why can’t I just eat my waffle”?

Obama was the 44th President of the United States. During his presidency, he supported and signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (sometimes referred to as “Obamacare”), which was fought in the Supreme Court and declared legal as a tax bill.

Advertisement

President William McKinley Jr., said what?

William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States. He was reluctant to enter into the Spanish-American War over Cuba’s independence, but the American people were sympathetic to the Cuban cause. The other quotes were said by: (a) Reagan (c) Fillmore and (d) Theodore Roosevelt.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Some day, I will be remembered”?

Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He stalled the annexation of Hawaii and attempted to restore power to Queen Liliuokalani. Hawaii was not annexed until 1898 under McKinley.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “It’s always good to be underestimated”?

The current (45th) President of the United States is President Donald Trump. Most agree that President Trump’s campaign was filled with controversy, including some he stirred up himself. Continuing his pattern of being first to the fight, he filed to run for reelection in 2020 the same day he was inaugurated as President in 2017.

Advertisement

Which U. S. President said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”?

Adams was the 2nd President of the United States. He was the first President to move into the White House.

Advertisement

President James Madison said what?

Madison was the 4th President of the United States. He was the only president to lead troops in battle while president, and his wife, Dolly, saved many important things from the White House before the British burned it while he was away fighting. The other quotes were said by: (a) Jackson (b) Washington and (d) Lincoln.

Advertisement

Explore More Quizzes

About Zoo

Our goal at Zoo.com is to keep you entertained in this crazy life we all live.

We want you to look inward and explore new and interesting things about yourself. We want you to look outward and marvel at the world around you. We want you to laugh at past memories that helped shape the person you’ve become. We want to dream with you about all your future holds. Our hope is our quizzes and articles inspire you to do just that.

Life is a zoo! Embrace it on Zoo.com.