When an alligator lived in the White House—and nine more presidential pets
Check out Every U.S. President as a Puppet? Funny History Through Muppet-Like Images! Some are more on-point than others.
An online quiz: How many U.S. presidents, if any, had a double “o” (“oo”) in either their first or last name?
Here are some JEOPARDY clues from 20251106 to 20260102
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WITH YOUR OLD PAL GROVER $200: (Grover presents the clue.) You can say I am cute & very fuzzy, just like this rival who both beat Cleveland & lost to him; he was the last president to sport a full beard
… $400: (Grover presents the clue.) The star of Grover Cleveland’s 1892 campaign, the first successful one by an ex-president, was not the candidate or even his wife, but their cute & adorable one-year-old daughter, called “Baby” this name
… $600: (Grover presents the clue.) Aw, imagine being there on October 28, 1896, when President Cleveland spoke to dedicate the Statue of Liberty; first, the president had to wait until this, in red, white & blue, was pulled from Lady Liberty’s face
…$800: (Grover presents the clue.) Grover Cleveland is the only president born in the great state of New Jersey; his birthplace used to be a manse, which means that his father had this job in the lovely town of Caldwell
… $1000: (Grover presents the clue.) Grover Cleveland did not enter politics in Cleveland, but in this other Lake Erie city, and in one of his most quoted letters, he longs for a plate of herring & Swiss cheese from a favorite restaurant there
GO FOR “GOLD” $800: He’s the Phoenix native who ran for president against LBJ in 1964
I FEEL GOOD $1600: Era of Good Feelings, when this president sought to eliminate political parties
Former POTUS
THE EX-PRESIDENTS $200: In 1875, he became the 1st ex-prez to serve in the Senate, but unlike another pres. of the same name, didn’t become “master of” it
… $400: He served as a guest announcer for the first inning of the 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
… $600: He wrote the opinion for Myers v. U.S., saying a president could fire executive officers with or without Congress’ OK
… $800: At a 1965 ceremony, Harry Truman became the first beneficiary of this new federal program & applied for Part B
… $1000: He suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Reps., where he’d been serving, & passed away in the Capitol 2 days later
NONFICTION $1200: This classic by Woodward & Bernstein was published shortly before Richard Nixon resigned from office
ICONIC EYEWEAR $800: Wearing specs may have saved this ex-president’s life: in 1912, his metal eyeglass case slowed a would-be assassin’s bullet
AMERICANA $1600: Born more than 60 years after his grandfather’s death, the last grandchild of this 10th president passed away in 2025 at 96
The first
PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS $200: Reaching the mark in 2024, he was the first president to live to be 100
… $400: James Madison was the first president to ask Congress for a declaration of war, for this conflict
… $600 (Daily Double): Calvin Coolidge was the first & so far only president born on this date; 3 have died on it
… $800: For helping end the Russo-Japanese War, he was the first president & the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize
… $1000: He was the first president who had never been elected president or vice president
FROM THEIR NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY $1600: 1964: “Only one other president lived to be 90–John Adams, the second president”
I’M THINKING OF A JAMES… $800: Who was ranked as the worst president in U.S. history by U.S. News & World Report
WINNING IS DIFFICULT! $1200: …Even if you win the popular vote! But Samuel Tilden ended up 1 Electoral College vote short & this guy from Ohio became president
HISTORY “P”s & “Q”s $400: A boycott & strike in one, the 1894 strike of this company’s railroad workers got President Cleveland involved
CIVIL WAR ERA GEOGRAPHY $2000: Lincoln was nominated for president in 1860 in the Wigwam, a wooden structure at what’s now Lake & Wacker in this city
___ OF ____ $800: Whether prince or president, but often more permanent than prime minister, it’s a nation’s titular ruler
FIRESIDE CHATS $1600: After FDR, he was the only president to copy the informal chat approach of sitting by an actual fireplace–& in a cardigan, no less
THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL $200: “The President… shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high” this duo
A SALUTE TO VETERANS DAY $400: Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day until this president & veteran officially changed it in 1954
ANSWERS
QUIZ: four or five. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, all from the first half of the 20th century. HOWEVER, as some pedantic fellow noted, Wilson’s given first name was Thomas.
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WITH YOUR OLD PAL GROVER: Benjamin Harrison; Ruth; the French flag; minister; Buffalo, NY
GO FOR “GOLD”: Barry Goldwater, a/k/a AuH20
I FEEL GOOD: James Monroe
AMERICANA: John Tyler
THE EX-PRESIDENTS: Andrew Johnson; Ronald Reagan; William Howard Taft; Medicare; John Quincy Adams
NONFICTION: All The President’s Men
ICONIC EYEWEAR: Theodore Roosevelt
PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS: Jimmy Carter; The War of 1812; July 4; Theodore Roosevelt; Gerald Ford
FROM THEIR NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY: Herbert Hoover
I’M THINKING OF A JAMES…: Buchanan
WINNING IS DIFFICULT!: Rutherford B. Hayes
HISTORY “P”s & “Q”s: Pullman
CIVIL WAR ERA GEOGRAPHY: Chicago
___ OF ____: Head of state
FIRESIDE CHATS: Jimmy Carter
THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL: crimes and misdemeanors
A SALUTE TO VETERANS DAY: Dwight Eisenhower
JEC was the first President born in a hospital — an event that occurred on October 1, 1924. All five presidents born after Carter — Joe Biden (1942), FOTUS (1946), George W. Bush (1946), Bill Clinton (1946), and Barack Obama (1961) — were likewise born in hospitals. George H. W. Bush, who was born less than four months before Carter and assumed the presidency 12 years after Carter, was born at home in Milton, Massachusetts.
