Q 01/05

Which snack did Zachary Taylor reportedly gorge on at a July 4, 1850 celebration days before he died?

A) Oysters and champagne

B) Cherries and iced milk

C) Cucumbers and buttermilk

D) Peaches and brandy

Answer · why

B) Cherries and iced milk

Cherries and iced milk were his holiday snack, and within days a stomach illness killed him. Open sewers ran through the capital then, so tainted food...

Q 02/05

Which future Southern leader married Zachary Taylor's daughter Sarah against her father's wishes?

A) Braxton Bragg

B) Joseph E. Johnston

C) P. G. T. Beauregard

D) Jefferson Davis

Answer · why

D) Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis wed Sarah Knox Taylor in 1835, but she died of fever just three months later. The two men stayed estranged for years before reconcilin...

Q 03/05

Which horse of Zachary Taylor grazed on the White House lawn as visitors plucked hairs from his tail?

A) Old Whitey

B) Traveller

C) Little Sorrel

D) Cincinnati

Answer · why

A) Old Whitey

Old Whitey was the general's war horse in Mexico, where he was known to sit calmly in the saddle as bullets flew past. The horse later walked in his o...

Q 04/05

Why did Zachary Taylor take weeks to answer the letter telling him of his 1848 presidential nomination?

A) He was away at sea

B) He was fighting in Mexico

C) He refused unpaid mail

D) It went to the wrong town

Answer · why

C) He refused unpaid mail

He refused unpaid mail, having told his local postmaster not to deliver letters that carried postage fees. The convention's notice of his nomination w...

Q 05/05

For which poison were Zachary Taylor's remains tested after his body was exhumed in 1991?

A) Strychnine

B) Arsenic

C) Cyanide

D) Belladonna

Answer · why

B) Arsenic

Arsenic was the suspect, but the tests found levels hundreds of times too low to kill. The verdict stayed natural causes: a stomach illness, probably ...