Question 1

True or false: After leaving the presidency, Roosevelt served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Accepted Answer

False. He never served on the Court. He did run for president again in 1912 as a third-party candidate, but never held a judicial office.

Question 2

True or false: Roosevelt’s famous quote 'Speak softly and carry a big stick' comes from an African proverb.

Accepted Answer

False. It was actually a West African proverb he adapted. He first used it in a 1901 speech, but its exact African origin is debated and not definitively traced.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

False. That was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Teddy was a rough rider, but he left office in 1909, years before practical powered flight took off.

Question 4

True or false: He was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize while serving as president.

Accepted Answer

True. Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War. He remains the only president to win it while in office.

Question 5

True or false: Roosevelt once survived an assassination attempt where the bullet was slowed by his speech and glasses case.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1912, a would-be assassin shot him in the chest. The bullet passed through his 50-page speech and steel glasses case, lodging in his rib.

Question 6

True or false: Roosevelt had a pet badger named Josiah at the White House.

Accepted Answer

True. Yes! His children kept a menagerie, including a badger named Josiah, a pony, snakes, and even a one-legged rooster.

Question 7

True or false: Roosevelt once boxed regularly in the White House and accidentally blinded his sparring partner.

Accepted Answer

False. He did box in the White House, but he lost sight in one eye during a sparring match with a military aide, not a partner. The aide did not go blind.

Question 8

True or false: Roosevelt was the first president to ride in a submarine and an automobile while in office.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1905, he submerged in the USS Plunger, and he famously rode in a steam-powered car. Both were presidential firsts.

Theodore Roosevelt Trivia Questions