William Howard Taft by BarkerC

Champion(s):

FryedBetaKappa
Don't read this.


Runner(s)-Up:

GoodmanDL
A genius is someone like Norman Einstein...


Quiz Description

Given clues, name the following about Big Bill himself, the 27th President of the United States, the Chief, William Howard Taft.

Full Results:

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1 FryedBetaKappa 429 98 15
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2 GoodmanDL 385 95 15
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3 ChernicoffS 367 92 15
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4 IngramB 364 89 15
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5 HallR 361 86 15
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6 minarik15 352 82 15
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6 RichmondJ 352 82 15
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8 PeskinK 337 77 15
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9 GrahamJ 313 75 15
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10 gregariouschinchilla 302 72 15
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11 BeningoS 295 69 00
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12 Vintsanity 287 64 15
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12 Tarn 287 64 15
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14 ConnorA 269 60 00
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15 WatsonG 258 57 15
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16 Sharpj 254 54 15
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17 GoldsteinB 245 51 00
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18 BeanA 230 47 15
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18 RobinJRichards 230 47 00
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20 CarterBurke 224 42 00
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21 Commodore 221 39 15
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22 MoyseyC 219 36 15
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23 GambinoG 207 33 15
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24 RalliP 194 30 00
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25 ChrisRosenberg 192 27 15
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26 tdalesan 189 25 15
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27 AdamK 167 20 00
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27 HightB 167 20 00
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29 SpoeriJ 153 16 15
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30 SorensonG 144 13 15
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31 CarlisJ 138 10 15
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32 IrwinK 132 5 15
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32 randalleng 132 5 00
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34 RuizJ 45 1 00
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Questions:

A recurrent theme in Taft's childhood is that he was not seen as the smartest, but was smart enough to work hard to succeed. This was exemplified by his undergraduate career at what Ivy League school,, where he was the school's intramural heavyweight wrestling champion?

Click to Reveal Answer
Yale (College)

In an era when few lawyers attended law school, Taft chose to do so in this city, his hometown, where he both attended classes and read law in his father's office.

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Cincinnati

In 1890, Benjamin Harrison appointed a 32-year old Taft to this legal position, the third highest ranking position in the Justice Department, and responsible for representing the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Solicitor General

In 1904, though offered a seat on the Supreme Court by President Roosevelt, Taft remained committed to his service as the first civilian Governor-General of this then-U.S. territory.

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The Philippines

As a compromise to allow him continued supervision of {Answer to #4}, Roosevelt appointed Taft to this now-defunct cabinet position in 1904.

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Secretary of War

Taft easily won the 1908 Presidential election as Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. What Democratic candidate, on his third run at the White House, did Taft defeat?

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William Jennings Bryan

There were many ways in which Taft "broke" with Roosevelt as a predecessor, but the fight between Secretary of Interior Richard Ballinger and this first Chief of the U.S. Forestry Service, one of Roosevelt's leaders on conservation. Taft would eventually fire him in 1910 for repeated public criticisms of the President.

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Gifford Pinchot

In 1909, Taft was nearly assassinated during a summit meeting in El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juárez, Mexico when he became the first U.S. President to meet with a Mexican President, this man, then in his third term as Mexican President which had begun in 1884.

Click to Reveal Answer
Porfirio Díaz

Because of the challenge presented by Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, coupled with popularity of Woodrow Wilson, the 1912 general election did not go well for Taft, garnering him just 8 electoral votes, the worst showing by an incumbent U.S. President. Name EITHER of the two states Taft won in 1912.

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Vermont OR Utah

Taft appointed to the Supreme Court both his predecessor and successor as Chief Justice of the United States. Name EITHER of those jurists.

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Edward Douglass White OR Charles Evans Hughes

In a vicious cycle, it's believed that Taft's issues with weight control were partially related to this obstructive form of this disorder, in which a physical block to a person's air intake causes interruptions in their breathing, which causes them to not get proper rest, which in turn causes weight gain, which in turn exacerbates the condition.

Click to Reveal Answer
sleep apnea

It is well known that Taft is one of only two U.S. Presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery, along with John F. Kennedy. Lesser known is that he is one of only four Chief Justices buried there. Name any TWO of the other three, all of whom served as Chief in the latter portion of the 20th century.

Click to Reveal Answer
Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger, and William Rehnquist