# Have you memorized all the POTUSes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425 "2022-03-21T12:18:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/21 "2022-03-21T21:55:47Z")
You got 22/55. Lord North, the Duke of Wellington, and Archibald Primrose (5th Lord Rosebery) were PMs but Lord Shelbourne, Lord Rochester, Haig, Bevan, & Fox were not. I memorised the list of US presidents back in the days when you could hardly walk into a British pub without encountering a quiz machine with cash prizes. This would be 1985 to 1995. The early models would repeat questions over time, and matters pertaining to the US came up frequently. In addition to presidents, US states and state capitals were popular subjects. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/22 "2022-03-22T01:20:16Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > Cheeky and tangential I know, but I’m curious to learn how many past British PMs are known to historically educated board members on the North American continent. As a Beatles fan, I know two thanks to “Taxman”: “Ahh ahh, Mister Wilson Ahh ahh, Mister Heath” I saw a picture of one of them recently— what horrendously unhealthy teeth! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/23 "2022-03-22T01:20:23Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > Cheeky and tangential I know, but I’m curious to learn how many past British PMs are known to historically educated board members on the North American continent. Off the top of my head without looking at other answers: Walpole, Pitt the Elder, Pitt the Younger, Lord Melbourne, Gladstone, Disraeli, Lloyd George, Chamberlain, Churchill, Attlee (sp?), Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson. Also, I guess, Balfour, but since I had to Google to make sure that one was right (and had only heard of him at all because of a random mention in a Nick Hornby novel), I’m not sure he counts. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/24 "2022-03-22T01:28:29Z")
Except for the mashup between Tyler and Buchanan, I do know all the presidents, although few of the VPs. I do know all the presidents and their VPs since I was born (which, staggeringly, covers 36% of US history). I know all the Canadian PMs since I moved here plus Diefenbaker and Pearson, but few others. And I never paid attention to British monarchs, although I do know that William became king in 1066. I have a decent memory, but not in @Northern_Piper’s class. I am amused that the mashup between Tyler (Tippacanoe and \_\_\_\_ too) and Buchanan seems to cause the most problems. But don’t forget “We Polked you in '44 and will Pierce you in '52” campaign slogan. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/25 "2022-03-22T01:31:56Z")
I am impressed. I have memorized the Gettysburg Address, but not much else from school years. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/26 "2022-03-22T01:50:53Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > This one goes up to W: _“But this one goes to 11…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/27 "2022-03-22T03:33:04Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Wow, I can do only all the ones of my lifetime. Me, too. George VI. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/28 "2022-03-22T04:01:14Z")
I was giving a presentation once to a group of lawyers on a matter relating to the Crown. Mrs Piper was in the audience and at the end challenged me to list all the monarchs on the spot. I didn’t want to show off but the other lawyers started daring me, so I listed them from William I to Liz II. People told me afterwards that they were more impressed than that, than by my original presentation. 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/29 "2022-03-22T04:36:36Z")
I’ve never been tasked with memorizing the presidents nor have I tried on my own. I used to live in Corvallis, OR, whose cross streets were named after the presidents in chronological order all the way up through Grover Cleveland. The only thing I managed to learn from that was Van Buren-\>Harrison-\>Tyler-\>Polk as those were the streets I most frequently traveled on. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/30 "2022-03-22T11:29:05Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Off the top of my head without looking at other answers: Walpole, Pitt the Elder, Pitt the Younger, Lord Melbourne, Gladstone, Disraeli, Lloyd George, Chamberlain, Churchill, Attlee (sp?), Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson. There seems to be a bit of a gap betwixt Churchill’s second term and Wilson. I remember Eden largely due to the whole Suez thing, and Macmillan for telling us we “never had it so good”. Alec Douglas-Home, however - wouldn’t have even noticed him at all if I hadn’t just checked to see if I’d forgotten someone. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/31 "2022-03-22T11:35:38Z")
Holy cow! I would need a trick method to help me memorize the trick method you use to memorize the presidents. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/32 "2022-03-22T11:48:42Z")
At my Catholic grade school, in 8th grade history class (1981), we were required to memorize the names of all the presidents, vice presidents, and their political parties, in chronological order. I think we were given a month’s notice. I barely studied for it. I just didn’t see the point. And (not surprisingly) I did _terrible_ on the test. The teacher made a snide comment when he handed me back the test. I don’t remember the grade I received. Probably a D. To this day I’m still a little pissed about it. Not because I did bad on the test. But because I was required to do it. I think memorization for the sake of memorization is a waste of time. I had that opinion in 8th grade, and I still have that opinion. Screw you, Mr. Rowlands. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/33 "2022-03-22T12:55:33Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > You got 22/55. > > Lord North, the Duke of Wellington, and Archibald Primrose (5th Lord Rosebery) were PMs but Lord Shelbourne, Lord Rochester, Haig, Bevan, & Fox were not. > > I memorised the list of US presidents back in the days when you could hardly walk into a British pub without encountering a quiz machine with cash prizes. This would be 1985 to 1995. The early models would repeat questions over time, and matters pertaining to the US came up frequently. In addition to presidents, US states and state capitals were popular subjects Ah, jeez, I’m embarrassed. I looked up the list, after I read your post, and dope-slapped myself. Not for overlooking Ramsay Macdonald, Edward Heath, or Henry Bannerman-Campbell, although I’d heard of all three of them; but I cannot _believe_ I forgot David Cameron! Architect of the Brexit disaster! Parodied in the opening titles of _Mock The Week_! How could I have remembered Gordon Brown and John Major, but forgotten the famous perpetrator of porcine penis pranks! I really am embarrassed about that, especially since I followed the whole Brexit controversy as it was unfolding. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/34 "2022-03-22T12:59:11Z")
It’s very simple – if you simply say the names of the presidents in their proper order, the sentence will easily come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/35 "2022-03-22T13:00:20Z")
Let me tell you something, Crafter\_Man, about why we teachers make students memorize stuff, and if you listen, maybe you’ll learn something for once: 1) it’s to get you used to following instructions, the more arbitrary the better. Comes in handy so we don’t have to listen to all this whining about “Why we gotta…?” Ya gotta because I say you gotta, okay? 2) it tells us which kids have that kind of ability and which ones don’t. Some kids can’t memorize the alphabet through the letter “D” and it’s useful to know so we can pay special attention to those poor kids 3) This particular exercise is foundational for learning history–of course, it makes no difference whether Tippecanoe followed Tyler or the other way around, except it gives you a general background on the issues in U.S. politics in the decade after Andrew Jackson, and reminds you about the importance of expansion in those early years and the rise of the frontier, and so on. To get to the point when issues arose, we think it’s helpful to have a few basic facts in your grasp, and POTUSes are pretty manageable basic facts 5)it’s a manageable task–hard for little kids but do-able, and it gives kids who do the work a sense of satisfaction at entering the grownup world a little bit. For lazy little work-averse little turds like you, it pleases our evil hearts to watch you squirm and listen to you bitch for days on end. Life is tough, and you need to get used to it. Sincerely, Mr. Rowlands. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/36 "2022-03-22T13:02:07Z")
And I hope no one takes me (Roger\_That) seriously there. Just teasing, in the voice of Mr. Rowlands, who has long since screwed off to that happy place for retired gradeschool teachers, I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/37 "2022-03-22T13:57:21Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > And I hope no one takes me (Roger\_That) seriously there. Just teasing Yea, you had me going there. 😁 > [@Roger\_That](#): > > …Mr. Rowlands, who has long since screwed off to that happy place for retired gradeschool teachers, I imagine Yep. (I had a link to his obit. Thought about it a bit more and removed it.) I don’t want to sound like I’m dancing on his grave (I’m not), but he really turned me off to liking history. He also picked on/bullied any boy who was not involved in sports. And since I wasn’t involved in sports, I was on the receiving end of it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/38 "2022-03-22T14:39:21Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > It’s very simple – if you simply say the names of the presidents in their proper order, the sentence will easily come to mind. Of all the methods, that does seem to be the one I would most likely have most success with. It’s not a lot of words to memorize – it’s delightfully silly and memorable, and if I can have “The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost memorized after twenty or so yours since originally memorizing it, I can easily memorize something like “when a joke made me a joker …” though I may have to refresh my memory of what presidents they go with. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/39 "2022-03-22T16:51:03Z")
Wait a sec! I need to know all the presidents in the proper order to remember the sentence that is supposed to help me memorize the presidents in the proper order?! 😳 ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425/40 "2022-03-22T17:30:05Z")
My joking hat was on. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-memorized-all-the-potuses/961425.md?page=3)