Via The New York Times (The online edition is gated, so I'll reproduce it here so our readers can test their knowledge.):
The office of vice president has been a springboard for some of the most important leaders in American history, including John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry S. Truman.But many of those who have filled the position have found themselves on the fast, or slow, track to obscurity — or worse. Franklin D. Roosevelt went through three vice presidents. Richard M. Nixon’s vice president was forced to resign (10 months before M. Nixon himself did). Thomas Jefferson’s was indicted for murder. Millard Fillmore and Andrew Johnson, who both made the leap from the vice presidency to the top slot, left their former jobs vacant. Below are 10 vice presidents and 10 presidents. Who goes with whom?
1. Garret A. Hobart
2. Adlai E. Stevenson
3. Henry A. Wallace
4. Hannibal Hamlin
5. Calvin Coolidge
6. Charles G. Dawes
7. William R. King
8. James S. Sherman
9. Alben W. Barkley
10. Elbridge GerryA. William H. Taft
B. Calvin Coolidge
C. Grover Cleveland
D. Abraham Lincoln
E. Harry S. Truman
F. Franklin D. Roosevelt
G. William McKinley
H. James Madison
I. Warren G. Harding
J. Franklin Pierce
Take the test and share your results...if you dare. I'll post the answers tomorrow afternoon.
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Any prizes if I'm right? Here are my guesses, from the best of my memory. Once upon a time, I had this memorized, I think ...
ReplyDelete1G (VP Hobart - McKinley)
2C (VP Stevenson [not the one who ran against Eisenhower]-Cleveland)
3F (VP Wallace-Roosevelt)
4D (VP Hamlin-Lincoln)
5I (VP Coolidge-Harding)
6B (VP Dawes-Coolidge)
7J (VP King-Pierce)
8A (VP Taft-Sherman)
9E (VP Barkley-Truman)
10H (VP Gerry-Madison)
I agree with Jack on 7 of the 10. The three I differ on are
ReplyDelete1J (VP Hobart -- Pierce)
7A (VP King -- Taft)
8G (VP Sherman -- McKinley)
But those were guesses and I think Jack may well be right.
It is interesting to speculate on how history would have been different with some changes in VP selections. For example, would history have changed if Lincoln had been assassinated a year earlier and Hamlin had become President or if Kennedy had chosen Stuart Symington (a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War) instead of Johnson. Of course in that scenario, Nixon might have won Texas and become President in 1961 instead of 1973.