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How Much Do You Know About Presidential Campaign Slogans?

Take our political pop quiz and find out

Bill Hogan and Dena Bunis

En español

Published June 21, 2021

9 Questions

How Much Do You Know About Presidential Campaign Slogans?

[ {
  "question" : "Harry S. Truman's campaign slogan in 1948 was:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "\"I'm Just Wild About Harry\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Give 'Em Hell, Harry\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Pour It On 'Em, Harry\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The first was derived from a popular song written in 1921 by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake; the second echoed the spontaneous cries of delegates during Truman's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia; the third originated with his increasingly large and enthusiastic crowds in the run-up to the election.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Abraham Lincoln ran for reelection in 1864 with the slogan:",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "\"Vote Yourself a Farm\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Don't Swap Horses in the Middle of the Stream\"",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Union and Freedom\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Clear the Track for Honest Abe\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "In this especially nasty contest against Democrat George B. McClellan, Lincoln's campaign slogan aimed for the high ground, reminding voters that they shouldn't change leaders in the middle of a civil war.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Whose military nickname became part of his political battle cry?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Former Army Major Gen. Andrew \"Old Hickory\" Jackson, in 1824",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Former Army Major Gen. William Henry \"Old Tippecanoe\" Harrison, in 1840",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Former Army Major Gen. Zachary \"Old Rough and Ready\" Taylor, in 1848",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Former Army Brigadier Gen. Franklin \"Young Hickory of the Granite Hills\" Pierce, in 1852",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The slogan \"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too\" derives from the Whig candidate's leadership at a famous 1811 battle with Native Americans and the name of his running mate, John Tyler.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Which candidate's slogan did the Democrats parody with \"In Your Guts You Know He's Nuts\"?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Herbert Hoover, in 1932",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Barry Goldwater, in 1964",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Richard M. Nixon, in 1972",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Gerald Ford, in 1976",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Taking aim at his slogan, \"In Your Heart You Know He's Right,\" the Democrats lambasted Goldwater on many fronts, from his statements on the use of nuclear weapons to his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What slogan did Ronald Reagan use for his 1984 reelection campaign?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "America is a shining city on a hill",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "It’s morning again in America.",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "The era of big government is over.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Let’s make America great again.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "A one-minute commercial using the slogan is considered one of the most effective campaign spots ever.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What Republican candidate promised Americans \"A Full Dinner Pail\"?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Ulysses S. Grant, in 1872, holding out hope during the economic crisis known as the Long Depression",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "William McKinley, in 1900, touting recovery from the Panic of 1893",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Herbert Hoover, in 1928, celebrating the Roaring Twenties",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1932, promising deliverance from the Great Depression",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The United States had pulled out of a serious depression in McKinley's first term, and so Republicans built the president's reelection campaign around the nation's newfound prosperity, taking care to position their party as a friend of working-class Americans.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who promised Americans \"a return to normalcy\"?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Grover Cleveland, in 1892, four years after Benjamin Harrison turned him out of office.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Warren G. Harding, in 1920, in the aftermath of WWI",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, a year after he assumed the presidency following the sudden death of scandal-plagued Warren G. Harding",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Herbert Hoover, in 1932, with unemployment at 25 percent during the Great Depression",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Harding, who was given to grandiloquence, reintroduced the virtually obsolete word \"normalcy\" in a speech: \"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy.\"",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Which candidate was known for the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid”?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "George W. Bush, who was determined to cut federal spending",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jimmy Carter, in his battle against inflation",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bill Clinton, who wanted to battle back from a recession",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "George H.W. Bush, who pledged not to raise taxes",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Although this was not Clinton’s official slogan, his strategist James Carville is credited with coining the phrase that became synonymous with Clinton’s pledge to bring the country back from recession.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who used the slogan \"He Kept Us Out of War\"?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Andrew Jackson, in 1832, after brief combat with Native Americans and Sumatrans",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "James Buchanan, in 1860, as tensions between northern states and southern states escalated",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Woodrow Wilson, in 1916, as World War I consumed Europe",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Ronald Reagan, in 1984, almost four years after Iran released American hostages",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Meeting at their national convention in St. Louis, the proudly pacific Democrats renominated President Wilson on the first ballot and adopted this as their campaign slogan. Ironically, Wilson reversed course five months after his reelection and sent U.S. troops to France.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

Quiz Progress

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0 Incorrect