Will Truman

Will Truman is the Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. He is also on Twitter.

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  1. I was initially thinking ‘served as cabinet secretary’, but that’s not right (Hoover was elected, among other things). Still, I didn’t realize how rare that is, only twice since the Civil War (and Hoover was the last one)

  2. Two “close but not quite” answers:

    Three of the first ten presidents went directly from VP to presidency via election- John Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren. The only once to do this since then is George H.W. Bush. The “wasn’t even elected” part of clue ruins this answer.

    TWO of the first ten presidents, Jefferson and JQ Adams, were chosen by the House of Representatives because no candidate received the requisite Electoral College majority. Gerald Ford was arguably chosen by the House because they approved his appointment as VP.

    • Unsurprisingly I think Randy is on to something. I think it might be: served in the House but not in the Senate.

      • I thought of that, but Polk was president #11.

  4. I don’t know if this is the answer, but it might work:

    I was going to say: Had a Vice President whose most recent other elected office was Governor of New York. The Presidents would be Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Ford, with Clinton counting for both Jefferson and Madison.

    But then I realized that Teddy Roosevelt was Governor of New York just before being McKinley’s Veep, so that fails.

  5. Some of this depends on who we count as “not elected”. The purest example is Ford, who wasn’t elected to anything. But John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester Arthur were also not elected president. Tyler was the tenth president, so he’s included in the first part and excluded from the second anyway.

    • This would be indicative of a screwup on my part. I thought that Tyler was #12. So… four of the first ten, one of which is Tyler.

  6. Monroe, Van Buren, Tyler, and Andrew Johnson all served as governor and senator before their presidencies.

    • How about this: Madison, Jackson, W. H. Harrison, and Arthur all played the harmonica.

  7. Married widows? The ones I can think of are Washington, Jefferson, and Fillmore. Another possibility is the presidents who were widowers when they took office: Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren, and Arthur.

  8. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Tyler all served in legislatures that were not part of “The United States of America”

    • Wow. I hate it when someone comes up with a trivia question/answer that’s better than the one I was asking.

      • Monroe, too, was in the Continental Congress. He got around.

        • Madison was part of the Continental Congress too. But both Madison and Monroe entered politics in 1776 or later.

  9. Tuesday Hint: Arguably, one of the four doesn’t count (though, in a way, may be the most significantly applicable one of the four). Either way, one of the four is not like the others.

    • So, how is this one not like the others? Good golly, is it time for Passover again?

    • Wait, no, that’s not right… The number would be much bigger otherwise.

      Hmm.

      How about “Born in the United States”?

      …I suppose that doesn’t work, either. Though Chester Arthur has that whole “infamous not a natural born citizen” thing going.

  11. Now I’m picturing Mitt Romney singing “Born in the United States”.

  12. Wednesday Hint: The same applies to four Supreme Court Justices, including one of the originals and a giant in the history of the court, but none after the Civil War. Theoretically, though, there is no reason that it wouldn’t apply to the next president or Supreme Court justice.

  15. Had first names for last names: Madison, Monroe, Jackson, and Tyler. Madison wasn’t a first name at the time, but since then it’s become wildly popular. The four justices are Jay, Marshall, Todd, and Wayne.

    In other words, not a fishing clue.

      • Ah, but I know some kids whose first name is Carter. And the heroine from the exorcist was named Reagan. Come to think of it, Clinton is a common enough first name too.

  17. Born in counties named after British royalty?

  18. It’s not the Legion of Honor, it’s not being arrested for obscenity, it’s not hosting the Academy Awards… what else is there? Are you sure they didn’t play the harmonica?

  19. Thursday Morning Hint: George Washington was the borderline case. Thomas Jefferson was one of the non-borderline cases.

    • Fathered children out of wedlock? …But Grover Cleveland was elected.

      Changed religious denominations as adults?

      • To review: The last president to whom this applied was John Tyler. Thomas Jefferson applied and George Washington was the borderline case. The last president is James Monroe.

        Also, John Marshall and Jon Stewart.

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