Which American president grew up a Jehovah’s Witness? Who was America’s first Quaker president? Win an Amazon gift card if you know.
Win a $15 Amazon gift card if you’re the first person to answer ten questions about religion and the American presidency. The contest will be closed as soon as someone posts all ten answers correctly in the comments section. If no one gets all ten, then the person who posted the highest number of correct answers by noon tomorrow will win.
And, in a totally subjective post-contest contest, I’m also giving a $15 gift card for the responses that make me laugh the hardest. The deadline for that is noon tomorrow.
All of the info I used to compile this quiz comes from the new book The Presidents & Their Faith: From George Washington to Barack Obama by Darrin Grinder and Steve Shaw. I’ll have extended answers in tomorrow’s lunchtime post.
And . . . GO!
1) Which American president grew up a Jehovah’s Witness?
2) Which president started a Sunday evening hymn sing at the White House?
3) This president’s son was killed in a train accident two months before the inauguration. The president thought the death was God’s punishment for his failure to maintain a pure life, especially in politics.
4) Who was America’s first (and so far only) Roman Catholic president?
5) Which president attended church sometimes but did not kneel or take communion?
6) Who was America’s first Quaker president?
7) Which president attributed his ability to overcome alcoholism to his Christian faith?
8) After his predecessor died in office, this vice-president became president and got religion in a hurry, joining a church for the first time in his life. Who was he?
9) After this president died in office, Mormon leader Brigham Young reportedly said, “X is dead and gone to hell, and I am glad of it.”
10) While in office, this president and his wife would read the Bible together every night, often in Spanish.
ge.pop | May 8, 2012 | 12:37pm
1. I know Eisenhower has been credited as such, but I think by the time he was President, he was fairly non-denominational. Still, I’ll go with him.
2. That sounds exactly the sort of thing Hayes would have done, in-between forcing dinner guests to drink lemonade instead of wine.
3. Franklin Pierce, whose wife sadly went a bit insane over their son’s death and used to write letters to him and put them in a fireplace in the White House, believing the smoke from that particular chimney carried the words up to Heaven.
4. John Kennedy…although Andrew Johnson, who boasted he belonged to no one Christian church, often liked to attend Catholic mass while in the White House.
5. I’ve heard told that Washington declined communion, but the not-kneeling part is new to me, since so many paintings of him show him kneeling in prayer. Of course, I guess that’s why we have artistic license, yes?
6. Herbert Hoover would be that man.
7. George W. Bush.
8. I completely have to guess on this one, but the process of elimination leads me to Calvin Coolidge, who I know had never joined a church by the time of the 1920 election (which was a minor campaign issue).
9. Zachary Taylor.
10. I’m betting both of the Adams did, because that’s just how they rolled. But I also know that Jimmy Carter has done missionary work with Spanish speakers, so it would make the most sense to choose him.
kburgett | May 8, 2012 | 12:37pm
Anything for an Amazon gift card while I’m sticking to a grad school budget!
With thanks to Google and Wikipedia, here are my best guesses:
1) Dwight D. Eisenhower
2) William McKinley
3) Franklin Pierce
4) John F. Kennedy
5) George Washington
6) Herbert Hoover
7) George W. Bush
8) Andrew Johnson
9) Zachary Taylor
10) Jimmy Carter
aleatoricisms | May 8, 2012 | 12:44pm
1. Eisenhower
2. Pierce
3. Hayes
4. JFK
5. Washington
6. Hoover
7. George W. Bush
8. Coolidge
9. Zachary Taylor
10. Jimmy Carter
aleatoricisms | May 8, 2012 | 12:46pm
And, not only not being the first, I also cannot keep track of ten things, as I mixed up two and three. Brilliant.
Jana Riess | May 8, 2012 | 12:51pm
We have a winner! ge.pop, you have answered all 10 questions correctly (and also taught me something I don’t know—I’ve never heard the sad story about Mrs. Pierce and the chimney). Please email me by clicking on the link in my blogger’s profile, and I will set you up with your gift card.
Both kburgett and aleatoricisms got 8 out of 10 correct. So, no dice, but you can still try for the other gift card by making me laugh with utterly ridiculous answers. No limit to the number of tries, and we don’t have any laugh-in entries as of yet.
Full answers and explanation will be on the blog at lunchtime tomorrow.
Jana Riess | May 8, 2012 | 12:52pm
Aleatoricisms, I was wondering if you had just mixed up those two things. No worries! I will run other contests too.
markiepeterson | May 8, 2012 | 12:53pm
1) Eisenhower
2)Hayes
3) Pierce
4) JFK
5) Washington
6) Hoover
7) Bush (W)
8) Not being able to find this one - guessing Tyler
9) Taylor
10) Carter
All hail Google (I only knew 2 of these)
markiepeterson | May 8, 2012 | 12:55pm
Shoot - when I started typing, noone had posted. Took me way too long to finish.
Jana Riess | May 8, 2012 | 12:55pm
We would all be lost without Google. We’d have to read, like, books and stuff. But you did very well, markiepeterson, getting 9 out of 10 correctly. Gold star!
ali19bars | May 8, 2012 | 9:03pm
I’m a novice to blogging that is exactly why I look out for ali19bars to discover some thoughts about it. Then I saw Jana Riess - Flunking Sainthood and feel satisfied after reading it. It was such a substantial help. Thanks a lot!