Q 01/05

What title goes to the Cabinet member kept at a secret location during the State of the Union in case of catastrophe?

A) President pro tempore

B) Designated survivor

C) Continuity officer

D) Standby successor

Answer · why

B) Designated survivor

Designated survivor is a Cold War custom from the 1950s, when planners feared a single nuclear strike could kill everyone in the line of succession at...

Q 02/05

Which president broke with his two predecessors in 1801 by sending Congress his yearly report in writing?

A) John Quincy Adams

B) James Madison

C) Thomas Jefferson

D) Andrew Jackson

Answer · why

C) Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson is often said to have found the speech too much like a king addressing Parliament, and his written habit lasted 112 years.

Q 03/05

What did Speaker Nancy Pelosi do with her copy of Donald Trump's speech as the 2020 State of the Union ended?

A) Tore it up

B) Handed it back

C) Left it unopened

D) Threw it away

Answer · why

A) Tore it up

Pelosi tore it up on camera as he finished, having watched him appear to snub her offered handshake when he arrived.

Q 04/05

Which phrase did George W. Bush use for Iran, Iraq and North Korea in his 2002 State of the Union address?

A) Evil empire

B) Rogue nations

C) Enemies of freedom

D) Axis of evil

Answer · why

D) Axis of evil

Axis of evil began in speechwriter David Frum's draft as axis of hatred, and North Korea was added to the list only later.

Q 05/05

Which 1986 disaster, on the morning of the planned speech, forced the first postponement of a State of the Union?

A) The Challenger explosion

B) The Chernobyl meltdown

C) The Mount St. Helens eruption

D) The Exxon Valdez spill

Answer · why

A) The Challenger explosion

The Challenger explosion turned that evening into a short Oval Office tribute to the lost crew, and the full speech waited a week.