US Presidents Jeopardy

A ready-made board on the US presidents, from Washington to today. Copy it free, put it on the projector, and let students buzz in from their phones.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

For the classroom

Copies all 30 clues into an editor of your own. Free, no account needed.

Every clue on this board

This page is public, so anyone can read the answers — copy the board and swap a few clues before game day.

Firsts and Famous Quotes

$200
This president said "Ask not what your country can do for you" in his 1961 inaugural address.
Who is John F. Kennedy?
$400
This president told Americans in his first inaugural address, in 1933, that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Who is Franklin D. Roosevelt?
$600
This second president was the first to live in the White House, moving in during November 1800.
Who is John Adams?
$800
In 1906 this president became the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping end the Russo-Japanese War.
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?
$1,000
Born in Kinderhook, New York, in 1782, this eighth president was the first born a US citizen rather than a British subject.
Who is Martin Van Buren?

Commanders in Chief

$200
This president made the decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Who is Harry S. Truman?
$400
Before his presidency, this general commanded the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
Who is Dwight D. Eisenhower?
$600
This president asked Congress to declare war on Mexico in 1846.
Who is James K. Polk?
$800
This fourth president was commander in chief when British troops burned Washington during the War of 1812.
Who is James Madison?
$1,000
In 1917 this president asked Congress for war against Germany, saying the world must be made safe for democracy.
Who is Woodrow Wilson?

Elections and Amendments

$200
Under the Constitution, this body of electors, not the national popular vote, formally chooses the president.
What is the Electoral College?
$400
Ratified in 1951, this amendment limits a president to being elected twice.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
$600
A candidate needs this many of the 538 electoral votes to win the presidency outright.
What is 270?
$800
Ratified in 1967, this amendment sets out what happens when a president dies, resigns or is unable to serve.
What is the 25th Amendment?
$1,000
Ratified in 1804 after the tied election of 1800, this amendment had electors vote separately for president and vice president.
What is the 12th Amendment?

Faces on the Money

$200
Abraham Lincoln's profile has appeared on this one-cent coin since 1909.
What is the penny?
$400
George Washington's profile appears on this 25-cent coin.
What is the quarter?
$600
Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello, appear on this five-cent coin.
What is the nickel?
$800
Andrew Jackson's portrait appears on the front of this bill.
What is the $20 bill?
$1,000
Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general, appears on this bill.
What is the $50 bill?

Assassinations and Scandals

$200
Facing likely impeachment over the Watergate scandal, this president resigned in August 1974.
Who is Richard Nixon?
$400
This actor shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in April 1865.
Who is John Wilkes Booth?
$600
This president was impeached by the House in 1998 and acquitted by the Senate in 1999.
Who is Bill Clinton?
$800
This president was shot at a Washington train station in July 1881 and died that September.
Who is James A. Garfield?
$1,000
The Teapot Dome bribery scandal over federal oil reserves stained the administration of this 1920s president.
Who is Warren G. Harding?

Presidential Nicknames

$200
A former Hollywood actor, this 40th president was called "the Great Communicator."
Who is Ronald Reagan?
$400
A hero of the Mexican-American War, this 12th president was nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready."
Who is Zachary Taylor?
$600
Often called the Bachelor President, this 15th president never married.
Who is James Buchanan?
$800
Critics called this president "His Accidency" after he became the first vice president to take over on a president's death, in 1841.
Who is John Tyler?
$1,000
This sixth president earned the nickname "Old Man Eloquent" for his speeches in the House after leaving the White House.
Who is John Quincy Adams?

Final Jeopardy — One-Term Presidents

This 19th president served only one term after promising to do so, and used it to end Reconstruction-era military occupation of the South.

Who is Rutherford B. Hayes?

How to run this board

Six categories split the presidency into the pieces a test actually asks about: firsts and famous quotes, wars and the commanders who fought them, the amendments and elections that reshaped the office, and the faces on the money.

Students tend to know the first few and the most recent handful cold and go blank in the middle, so expect the nineteenth-century clues to clear last regardless of how the room is grouped.

A useful rule for this board: require a first and last name for full credit, since "Roosevelt" and "Johnson" both name two presidents and half the arguments in a presidents game are about which one a team meant.

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