SparkNotes: Ronald Reagan: Quiz

1. What state was Ronald Reagan born in?

(A) California

(B) Illinois

(C) Ohio

(D) Texas

2. What was Ronald Reagan's preferred nickname until the late 1930s?

(A) Ron

(B) Wilson

(C) Butch

(D) Dutch

3. From which college did Reagan graduate in 1932?

(A) Eureka College

(B) Yale University

(C) University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

(D) University of Notre Dame

4. What job did Reagan hold for seven summers between school terms?

(A) Lifeguard

(B) Shoe salesman

(C) Montgomery Wards clerk

(D) Window washer

5. Reagan became famous in the Midwest while working as a

(A) Television news anchor

(B) Chicago Tribune journalist

(C) Radio announcer

(D) Photographer

6. Reagan joined the US Army Reserves because

(A) He needed the extra money

(B) He wanted a career in the military

(C) He loved to ride horses

(D) All his friends had joined

7. In 1940, Ronald Reagan married actress

(A) Jane Wyman

(B) Marilyn Monroe

(C) Mae West

(D) Nancy Davis

8. Reagan actively sought the role of the Gipper in what movie about a legendary football coach?

(A) Knute Rockne - All American

(B) Brother Rat

(C) King's Row

(D) Bedtime for Bonzo

9. Reagan almost won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1941 film

(A) Knute Rockne - All American

(B) Brother Rat

(C) King's Row

(D) Bedtime for Bonzo

10. During World War II, Reagan served in the US Army as what?

(A) A spy

(B) A member of the famous 101st Airborne Division

(C) A steward

(D) An actor

11. During World War II, where did Reagan serve abroad?

(A) The Pacific

(B) France

(C) Germany and Austria

(D) He didn't serve abroad

12. In 1946, Reagan was elected president of what organization?

(A) Screen Actors Guild

(B) Conference of Studios Union

(C) MCA

(D) Actors Association of America

13. In 1952 Reagan married whom?

(A) Jane Wyman

(B) Marilyn Monroe

(C) Mae West

(D) Nancy Davis

14. In the 1940s and 1950s, Reagan feared that these people were trying to take over Hollywood

(A) Contras

(B) Communists

(C) Sandinistas

(D) KGB agents

15. In 1962 the US Justice Department investigated Reagan and his involvement with which television show?

(A) Death Valley Days

(B) Bedtime for Bonzo

(C) Hellcats of the Navy

(D) General Electric Theater

16. What was Reagan's FBI code name during the Red Scare of the 1950s?

(A) T-2

(B) T-10

(C) RR-666

(D) F-14

17. In the 1930s Reagan considered himself a member of which political party?

(A) The Republican Party

(B) The Democratic Party

(C) The Populist Party

(D) He had no political affiliation in the 1930s

18. By the 1960, Reagan considered himself a member of which political party?

(A) The Republican Party

(B) The Democratic Party

(C) The Populist Party

(D) The New Right Party

19. In 1966 Reagan ran for what office?

(A) US Senator from California

(B) US House Rep. from California

(C) Governor of California

(D) Mayor of Los Angeles

20. As Governor of California, Reagan sent National Guard units to this university to end a violent protest.

(A) UC Los Angeles

(B) UC Santa Barbara

(C) Stanford University

(D) UC Berkeley

21. In the late 1950s, Reagan campaigned on behalf of which ultra-conservative presidential candidate?

(A) Dwight D. Eisenhower

(B) Walter Mondale

(C) Barry Goldwater

(D) George Schultz

22. Ronald Reagan lost to which man in the 1976 Republican primary election?

(A) Gerald Ford

(B) Walter Mondale

(C) Barry Goldwater

(D) Jimmy Carter

23. Whom did Reagan defeat in the 1980 Presidential election?

(A) Gerald Ford

(B) Walter Mondale

(C) Barry Goldwater

(D) Jimmy Carter

24. Who did Reagan choose to be his running mate in the 1980 election?

(A) George Schultz

(B) George Bush Sr.

(C) George W. Bush

(D) Former President Gerald Ford

25. George Bush attacked Reagan's economic plans by referring to them with what title?

(A) Reganomics

(B) Supply-side economics

(C) Voodoo Economics

(D) The Laffer curve

26. Many of Reagan's foreign policy goals during his first term in office centered on "containing" the influence of what foreign power?

(A) China

(B) The Soviet Union

(C) Vietnam

(D) Nicaragua

27. Which world leader came to power in 1985 with the intention of easing tensions caused by the Cold War?

(A) Mikhail Gorbechev

(B) Ronald Reagan

(C) Deng Xiaoping

(D) Margaret Thatcher

28. What was the official name for Reagan's $1 trillion "Star Wars" program?

(A) National Missile Defense (NMD)

(B) Theater Missile Defense (TMD)

(C) Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

(D) Satellite Defense System (SDS)

29. Reagan's term, "window of vulnerability," referred to what?

(A) The moment in time when the Soviet Union could launch a nuclear preemptive first strike against the US

(B) The moment in time when the US could launch a nuclear preemptive first strike against the Soviet Union

(C) The moment in time when there would be more Communist countries in Latin America than democratic ones

(D) The moment in time when the growing Japanese economy would crush the American economy

30. Reagan authorized a bombing raid on which country after discovering that it funded anti-American terrorist movements?

(A) Nicaragua

(B) Iran

(C) Libya

(D) Grenada

31. The Reagan administration was accused of trading arms for hostages in what scandal?

(A) Iran-Contra scandal

(B) Libya-Grenada scandal

(C) Lebanon-PLO scandal

(D) Israel-Syria scandal

32. The US Army invaded which country in 1982 to fight Communist rebels?

(A) Lebanon

(B) Nicaragua

(C) Iran

(D) Grenada

33. Over 200 US Marines were killed in what country in 1982 by a terrorist suicide bomber?

(A) Lebanon

(B) Nicaragua

(C) Iran

(D) Grenada

34. What resolution, passed by Congress in 1981, prohibited Reagan and the US military from interfering in Nicaragua?

(A) The Platt Amendment

(B) The Brady Bill

(C) The Boland Amendment

(D) House-Senate Joint Resolution 235

35. Which US military officer was indicted and convicted for his role in the arms- for-hostages scandal during the last few years of Reagan's second term?

(A) Lt. Colonel North

(B) Admiral Perry

(C) General Westmoreland

(D) General Haig

36. Under Reagan's direction, the CIA trained 10,000 exiles from what country to overthrow their Communist oppressors?

(A) Nicaragua

(B) El Salvador

(C) Grenada

(D) Argentina

37. Ronald Reagan suffers from what disease?

(A) Parkinson's Disease

(B) Alzheimer's Disease

(C) Muscular Sclerosis

(D) Muscular Dystrophy

38. Critics and political pundits often referred to Nancy Reagan by what nickname?

(A) Queen Nancy

(B) Prancy Nancy

(C) Nancy I

(D) Madame President

39. To the President's dismay, the Reagan kids were involved in all of the following mishaps and scandals EXCEPT

(A) Losing a US Senate race

(B) Writing an expose novel about Ronald and Nancy Reagan

(C) Becoming involved in a murder trial

(D) Posing nude for Playboy Magazine

40. Why did White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan resign his position in the Reagan administration?

(A) He disliked the First Lady

(B) He disliked the President

(C) He disagreed with Reagan's policies regarding Nicaragua

(D) He disagreed with Reagan's initial intentions to increase the number of nuclear weapons in America

41. In 1984 President Reagan defeated which Democrat?

(A) Geraldine Ferraro

(B) Jimmy Carter

(C) John Anderson

(D) Walter Mondale

42. Who shot President Reagan on March 30, 1981 in an assassination attempt?

(A) John Hinckley

(B) John Anderson

(C) Sirhan Sirhan

(D) Charles Manson

43. Why did the man shoot Reagan in 1981?

(A) He opposed Reagan's intentions to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the US

(B) He disliked Reagan's policies regarding Nicaragua

(C) He disagreed with Reagan's supply-side economic plans for the country

(D) He wanted to impress Jodie Foster

44. Because of Reagan, this woman became the first woman to sit in on the US Supreme Court

(A) Sally Ride

(B) Sandra Day O'Connor

(C) Geraldine Ferraro

(D) Jane Wyman

45. President Reagan "busted" this union when 13,000 of its affiliates went on strike in August of 1981

(A) The United Automobile Workers' Union

(B) The Screen Actors' Guild

(C) The Air-Traffic Controllers Union

(D) The American Federation of Labor

46. President Reagan's economic plans for the nation were based on the supply-side economic theories developed by which economist?

(A) John Maynard Keynes

(B) Martin Feldstein

(C) Arthur Laffer

(D) Jeffrey Sachs

47. During his first term as President, Reagan fired what politically unreliable Secretary of the Interior?

(A) James Watt

(B) James Baker

(C) Caspar Weinberger

(D) George Schultz

48. Reagan can be described as

(A) The oldest man elected to be the President of the United States

(B) The only Republican in between 1960 and 1980 to be elected President of the US

(C) The only President born in Illinois

(D) The only President in the twentieth century who had not served in the military

49. After his voluntary baptism as a young boy, Reagan remained a member of what conservative church for the rest of his life?

(A) The Catholic Church

(B) The Presbyterian Church

(C) The Disciples of Christ

(D) The Church of Latter Day Saints

50. The Ronald Reagan airport in Washington D.C. was named in honor of what president?

(A) Theodore Roosevelt

(B) Woodrow Wilson

(C) Ulysses Grant

(D) Ronald Reagan