# Anybody want to play 20 questions? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 8, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757 "2009-05-08T16:02:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/81 "2009-05-11T17:59:19Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Since this is question 20, I got to get specific. > > Is it John Nance Garner? 1. No. Game over - I win! 😃 Should I tell you the answer now, or shall I let everyone have one specific name guess? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/82 "2009-05-11T18:01:24Z")
Other potentials: James Sherman Adalai Stevenson I James Cox John Davis Joseph Taylor Robinson Charles Curtis John Bricker Alben Barkley ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/83 "2009-05-11T18:03:30Z")
You could PM me the answer! ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/84 "2009-05-11T18:08:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Game over - I win! 😃 Should I tell you the answer now, or shall I let everyone have one specific name guess? Either way. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/85 "2009-05-11T18:13:10Z")
Let’s see what **tdn, A Spoonful of Awesome** and **Mahaloth** want to do. Otherwise I’ll post the answer by, let’s say, 4pm EST today. I will tell you it’s not James M. Cox, although as an Ohioan I have a soft spot for him. The only Cox story I know, taken from Wiki: _While a reporter, Cox once went to a town where a massive railroad accident had occurred. Other reporters went directly to the scene of the accident, but Cox instead went to the town’s only telegraph office, where he hired the telegraph operator to begin transmitting the Bible to his newspaper, telling the operator he would be back. (Under the law of the day, once a message was begun, it could not be interrupted by others.) Cox went to the accident site, gathered all the information he needed, and wrote his article. He then returned to the telegraph office, which he found full of frustrated reporters waiting to make use of the telegraph. Cox handed his article to the telegraph operator and thus scooped all of the other reporters._ ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/86 "2009-05-11T18:26:05Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Other potentials: > > James Sherman > Adalai Stevenson I > James Cox > John Davis > Joseph Taylor Robinson > Charles Curtis > John Bricker > Alben Barkley Adlai Stevenson I does not fit the criteria established. He is not notable in the 20th century. I am not a student of American history but I think the rest of these names are very obscure. I have never heard of them. YMMV of course. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/87 "2009-05-11T18:46:31Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Adlai Stevenson I does not fit the criteria established. He is not notable in the 20th century. > > I am not a student of American history but I think the rest of these names are very obscure. I have never heard of them. YMMV of course. Yeah, as I went through Wiki trying to make the potentials list, I wondered which of them qualifies as “well known.” :dubious:😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/88 "2009-05-11T18:49:37Z")
I know American history pretty well, but I wouldn’t consider this guy terribly obscure. YMMV. When I reveal the name you can judge for yourself. He wasn’t the city council president in Blawnox, Pa. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/89 "2009-05-11T19:01:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Let’s see what **tdn, A Spoonful of Awesome** and **Mahaloth** want to do. I will take the “Give Up” option, please. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Spoonful_of_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/90 "2009-05-11T19:05:26Z")
I’ll have one “Give Up” as well. With extra Humility. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/91 "2009-05-11T19:15:44Z")
OK, spill it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/92 "2009-05-11T20:09:36Z")
It’s **Alben Barkley** , Harry Truman’s Vice President (1949-1953). I toured his small house and museum in Paducah, Ky. a few years back. Points of distinction: - Oldest VP ever - First to be called “Veep” - Only VP to get married while in office - First VP to be regularly included in meetings of the Cabinet and the National Security Council - Last VP to be denied his party’s nomination for President when he sought it - Died in the middle of a speech to college students As **Bearflag70** was the first to mention him as a possibility, would you like to start the next round? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/93 "2009-05-11T20:26:21Z")
If Bearflag does not want to, I will. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/94 "2009-05-11T20:32:04Z")
… and begin. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/95 "2009-05-11T20:34:06Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > … and begin. 1. Is this person still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/96 "2009-05-11T20:34:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > 1. Is this person still alive? 1. Yes ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/97 "2009-05-11T20:40:07Z")
1. Is this living person an American? ---
**Author:** ![A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Spoonful_of_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/98 "2009-05-11T20:40:38Z")
is this person a man? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/99 "2009-05-11T20:45:05Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > 1. Is this living person an American? 1. No ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757/100 "2009-05-11T20:46:41Z")
> [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](#): > > is this person a man? 1. Yes [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-want-to-play-20-questions/495757.md?page=6)