Well, we are living in calendar year 2016, and it marks another leap year, another Summer Olympic Games come and gone, some thought of maybe another World Championship for the San Francisco Giants (they won the World Series in years 2010, 2012, and 2014 before they bowed out of the playoffs a few weeks ago), and in two weeks and two days, we will be going to the polls to vote for the next Chief Executive of these United States. For some, or many, or most, or (I’m guessing) ALL of us, the process will mercifully come to an end after enduring the propaganda, the mudslinging, the schoolyard spat-like confrontations, and the debates which could have been orchestrated, and staged, by descendants of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, and Clyde Beatty. And this coming January of 2017, America will swear in (before many start swearing at) the 45th President of the United States. And then, let more fun begin …

But who were the first 44 persons (actually only 43 bodies) who sat in the Oval Office and resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.? (and actually only 42 lived in the White House because one Chief Executive was president twice, non-consecutively, and one was president before presidents took up residence in the White House). Anyway, can you name them all, in order, without googling? Do you remember those cards spread across the top of the blackboards (YES, BLACKBOARDS) of your Elementary, Junior High and even High School Social Studies classrooms naming all of the presidents in order of their service to our country? (I was lucky as when I began teaching, I only had to hang 39 of those cards as I began teaching during our 39th President’s administration, but eventually I had to keep adding through our 43rd President because I retired in June of 2008 and our 44th President hadn’t been elected yet.) It might be time to jog those memories and ask you to get out a piece of paper and list all the Presidents of the United States (in order) before we add one more person to the list of Chief Executives. There are no clues or even questions for this one … it is a cut and dry quiz without looking below until you have completed the task. I am listing them below for you to self-correct and because there are only 44, and it will be easier to score with 50 questions (2 points for each correct answer) question numbers 45 to 48 will be to name the four presidents on Mount Rushmore (order is not important here) and question numbers 49 and 50 are to name the two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. (Again, order is not important here.)

I wish you all Good Luck on this latest test of American knowledge. At this time you can put your Post-Journal down, write your answers and then grab the newspaper back to check and see how you did on this latest “Voice from the Bullpen” quiz.

Answers:

1.) George Washington

2.) John Adams

3.) Thomas Jefferson

4.) James Madison

5.) James Monroe

6.) John Quincy Adams

7.) Andrew Jackson

8.) Martin Van Buren

9.) William Henry Harrison

10.) John Tyler

11.) James Polk

12.) Zachary Taylor,

13.) Millard Fillmore

14.) Franklin Pierce

15.) James Buchanan

16.) Abraham Lincoln

17.) Andrew Johnson

18.) Ulysses S. Grant

19.)Rutherford B. Hayes

20.) James Garfield

21.) Chester A. Arthur

22.) Grover Cleveland

23.) Benjamin Harrison

24.) Grover Cleveland

25.) William McKinley

26.)Theodore Roosevelt

27.) William H. Taft

28.) Woodrow Wilson

29.) Warren G. Harding

30.) Calvin Coolidge

31.) Herbert Hoover

32.) Franklin Delano Roosevelt

33.) Harry S. Truman

34.) Dwight David Eisenhower

35.) John F. Kennedy

36.) Lyndon B. Johnson

37.) Richard Nixon

38.) Gerald Ford

39.) Jimmy Carter

40.) Ronald Reagan

41.) George H. W. Bush

42.) William J. Clinton

43.) George W. Bush

44.) Barack Obama

45-48) (order not important) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

49-50) (order not important) John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft

And there you have it. Another crash course in information that hopefully will let you run a Jeopardy category, or win a bet, or fill in a few spaces on a Crossword Puzzle, or maybe even impress your children and/or grandchildren. Regardless, as citizens of this country, we should know this information, if only because these people, whether you likes them or not, were all the leaders of this nation at one time in the history of this country. Hope you all did well and let’s hope President No. 45 can help bridge some of the gaps in Washington, and bring this nation back together again (but judging from the campaigns and debates, it might be a safer bet that I will grow hair and my Browns will win the Super Bowl this year), and that all those elected officials who are running this nation can put their egos aside, toss their party partisanship in the circular file, and learn to get along with each other to do the country’s business the way it should be done. No matter who our next president is, it’s definitely been the most “interesting” (?) campaign I have seen in my lifetime.

All that being said, still, don’t forget to vote in next month!!