Question 1

True or false: FDR served as governor of New York before becoming president.

Accepted Answer

True. He was Governor of New York from 1929 to 1932, which helped him secure the Democratic nomination.

Question 2

True or false: FDR banned alcohol during Prohibition as part of his New Deal.

Accepted Answer

False. Prohibition ended in 1933 with the 21st Amendment, which FDR supported. He actually enjoyed cocktails.

Question 3

True or false: FDR was the first president to appear on television.

Accepted Answer

True. He appeared at the 1939 New York World's Fair, making him the first U.S. president to be broadcast on TV.

Question 4

True or false: FDR was the first president to fly in an airplane while in office.

Accepted Answer

False. That was Franklin D. Roosevelt, actually—no, wait: Theodore Roosevelt flew in 1910, but FDR was the first sitting president to fly, in 1943.

Question 5

True or false: FDR's polio was caused by swimming in a polluted lake.

Accepted Answer

False. The cause of his polio is unknown; he contracted it in 1921 at age 39, likely from a virus, not swimming.

Question 6

True or false: FDR was elected president four times without ever losing a state.

Accepted Answer

False. He won 42 of 48 states in 1936 but lost several states in 1940 and 1944, like Maine and Indiana.

Question 7

True or false: FDR's New Deal included a program to plant trees across the Great Plains.

Accepted Answer

True. The Prairie States Forestry Project planted over 200 million trees to combat the Dust Bowl.

Question 8

True or false: FDR was related to 11 other U.S. presidents by blood or marriage.

Accepted Answer

True. He was a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt and related to others like Washington and Adams.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Trivia Questions