Board 8 > Who would you say is the most obscure US President?

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Underleveled
07/16/20 7:37:17 PM
#1:


Who would you say is the most obscure US President?










Van Buren probably doesn't belong on the list but I included him over William Henry Harrison (being known as the dude who died after a month probably makes him more notable to the average American than any of the guys on this list) and Garfield (assassination pushes him above the others).

Coolidge is the most recent President on the list. I think everyone from Hoover through Trump is pretty well-cemented in discussion of 20th/21st century events, but in like 100 years or so once everyone who was alive during their presidencies are long dead I could see Ford and Carter falling into relative obscurity.

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Grimlyn
07/16/20 7:41:30 PM
#2:


van buren disqualified by seinfeld

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Snrkiko
07/16/20 7:45:21 PM
#3:


Coolidge has a semi-known joke about famously being a man of few words and a woman telling him "I made a bet that I could get you to say more than two words."

His response: "You lose."

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MartinFF7
07/16/20 7:51:40 PM
#4:


as a Canadian, "John Tyler" is the one president name in that list I didn't recognize, had to look him up.

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davidponte
07/16/20 7:59:09 PM
#5:


MartinFF7 posted...
as a Canadian, "all of them" is the one president name in that list I didn't recognize, had to look them up.


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mnkboy907
07/16/20 7:59:49 PM
#6:


I couldn't tell you a single thing about any of these guys. My schools kinda sucked in regards to US history. Like I learned plenty about the revolutionary war, a little bit about the industrial revolution and civil war, and then some stuff about the civil rights movements, but that's about it.

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Dr_Football
07/16/20 8:07:59 PM
#7:


Tippecanoe and Tyler Too


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Xeybozn
07/16/20 8:13:21 PM
#8:


Franklin Pierce is pretty much only known for being one of the worst presidents, but even there he's overshadowed by Buchanan. All the others at least have something unique, even if it's just having a silly name.
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WazzupGenius00
07/16/20 8:14:41 PM
#9:


I think its gotta be Pierce, Hayes, or Arthur. Fillmores name being so weird gives him some notoriety points

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LOLIAmAnAlt
07/16/20 8:14:44 PM
#10:


I recognize all of those names, but know the least about Franklin Pierce.

And in doing so, I realized that I just looked him up a few weeks ago (While looking at a list of all the presidents) and already forgot about him

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xp1337
07/16/20 8:14:58 PM
#11:


Yeah, my first inclination was Pierce.

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Suprak the Stud
07/16/20 8:20:37 PM
#12:


https://www.sporcle.com/games/g/presidents

The last one I got was Fillmore so I'll go with that!

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SeabassDebeste
07/16/20 8:33:53 PM
#13:


thought WHH, then dq'd him in my mind. next thought was arthur.

came here, and have to admit that while i recognize zachary taylor's name, i thought of him as "tippecanoe" instead of "old rough n ready"

totally didn't think of millard fillmore or benjamin harrison. fillmore has a memorable name, so it's gotta be harrison i think.
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Leonhart4
07/16/20 8:50:29 PM
#15:


I remember John Tyler for the factoid that he still has two living grandkids

I remember Millard Fillmore for the silly name and Mallard Fillmore

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MarkS222222222222222
07/16/20 9:01:51 PM
#16:


Polk is so obscure he didn't even make the poll

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X_Dante_X
07/16/20 9:05:02 PM
#17:


fifty four forty or fight

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xp1337
07/16/20 9:05:50 PM
#18:


MarkS222222222222222 posted...
Polk is so obscure he didn't even make the poll
Polk would be my bonus "way too obscure given what he actually did as President" pick but not for overall obscure.

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XIII_rocks
07/16/20 9:07:01 PM
#19:


First answer was Coolidge which essentially disqualifies him.

Tyler, Taylor or Fillmore

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LiquidOshawott
07/16/20 9:08:28 PM
#20:


Its probably Pierce because Fillmore is the de facto obscure choice

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NBIceman
07/16/20 9:09:05 PM
#21:


First instinct was Fillmore but because of the name yeah it's probably actually Pierce.

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Xeybozn
07/16/20 9:09:09 PM
#22:


MarkS222222222222222 posted...
Polk is so obscure he didn't even make the poll

Polk's decently well-known for fulfilling all of his campaign promises in his first term and then choosing not to run for reelection.
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NFUN
07/16/20 9:16:43 PM
#23:


Xeybozn posted...
Polk's decently well-known for fulfilling all of his campaign promises in his first term and then choosing not to run for reelection.
they might be giants has a fucking song called "James K. Polk"

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StealThisSheen
07/16/20 9:19:17 PM
#24:


Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game for Polk High.

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azuarc
07/16/20 9:38:54 PM
#25:


A lot of these guys had streets named for them in my home neighborhood. I grew up on Hayes Rd, which was crossed by Pierce and Polk. There's also Taft, Fillmore, and a few better-known presidents like Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Truman.

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changmas
07/17/20 12:54:20 AM
#26:


my thought process went Fillmore (too funny of a name) -> Rutherford b Hayes -> Benjamin Harrison. I really like Obscure presidential history and i can basically say nothing about Benjamin Harrison besides that he was the grandson of WHH

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NFUN
07/17/20 12:57:08 AM
#27:


changmas posted...
I really like Obscure presidential history and i can basically say nothing about Benjamin Harrison besides that he was the grandson of WHH
I think this is what keeps him from last

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CaptainOfCrush
07/17/20 1:06:17 AM
#28:


It's gotta be Pierce.

I either know something about all of the others, or their very names tie them to other, more memorable Presidents.

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foolm0r0n
07/17/20 1:25:54 AM
#29:


Never heard of either Harrison tbh

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Cavedweller2000
07/17/20 8:16:47 AM
#30:


Anybody who's seen Die Hard: With a Vengeance will have heard of Chester A. Arthur

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MZero
07/17/20 9:37:52 AM
#31:


Benjamin Harrison I believe was the first president to have his voice recorded

I went with Pierce

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ViolentAbacus
07/17/20 10:06:40 AM
#32:


I know Van Buren because of a TMBG song.

I have no idea anything on Millard Fillmoreand Franklin Pierce


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Inviso
07/17/20 10:11:19 AM
#33:


Benjamin Harrison is a generic name and he comes at a part of history when it becomes more difficult to straight-up remember presidents in order. I can get up to Hayes usually, but most of the early 20s are forgettable, and Harrison is right in there.

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bryans7
07/17/20 10:21:03 AM
#34:


Van Buren was the secret name of some big game but I'm forgetting which now, Fallout or Elder Scrolls or something. Either way I always remember him because of that one stupid fact.

I voted for Tyler but I wish I could change my answer to Pierce.

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Raka_Putra
07/17/20 10:22:16 AM
#35:


Voted for John Tyler. Dude's got the most generic name.

Also I knew Van Buren as a Dutch-born but after looking it up it was more like his parents were Dutch and he grew up surrounded with Dutch culture. Still, any 'van' name in an American president would set him apart just the same.

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swirIdude
07/17/20 10:29:50 AM
#36:


Franklin Pierce or Benjamin Harrison

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MZero
07/17/20 10:36:38 AM
#37:


oh yeah, and Van Buren Street was infamous in my home town as the place to find prostitutes so definitely not him

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Leonhart4
07/17/20 10:47:33 AM
#38:


It can't be Van Buren if you're a Seinfeld fan

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KingButz
07/17/20 3:15:08 PM
#39:


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pjbasis
07/17/20 3:48:34 PM
#40:


The only name I didn't recognize immediately was Harrison

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Alanna82
07/17/20 7:49:34 PM
#41:


To me Franklin Pierce isn't obscure because I have a puzzle of the presidents and he looks like one of the actors who played Dr who so I call him a time lord. (yeah, I know he was a bad president, but his life story was sad)

Voted Fillmore. Cant remember what he did at all.

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SeabassDebeste
07/17/20 7:54:06 PM
#42:


man pierce is super memorable to me, maybe just because he's got probably the coolest name of a president
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Paratroopa1
07/17/20 7:56:37 PM
#43:


With some knowledge of US history under my belt, I feel like Benjamin Harrison is probably the best answer - he's not only obscure but he doesn't really have any good reason to be not-obscure. The most notable thing Harrison probably did was add more states to the union than any other president in a naked power grab for the Republican party, thanks Benjamin Harrison, real swell of you to give us four senators from the Dakotas. Other than that, while he does hail from an era of US history that I think is pretty fucking interesting, you wouldn't really know of anything else that Harrison's done and he didn't preside over any prevailing historic events aside from an economic collapse that kind of got overshadowed by one that happened 30 years later. He's most well known for being in a Grover Cleveland sandwich. You don't want to be in a Grover Cleveland sandwich.

That run up of presidents before Lincoln may be obscure, but considering that was all pre-Civil War stuff it's actually really important and should probably be known.
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Paratroopa1
07/17/20 7:57:50 PM
#44:


Also Franklin Pierce is memorable to me because of the story where, shortly after he was elected to the presidency, his son died gruesomely in a train accident. I didn't say it was a fun story
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scarletspeed7
07/17/20 8:00:29 PM
#45:


David Rice Atchison is the only answer. President for a day thanks to Zachary Taylor's refusal to be inaugurated on a Sunday.

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trizob
07/17/20 8:21:56 PM
#46:


Paratroopa1 posted...
With some knowledge of US history under my belt, I feel like Benjamin Harrison is probably the best answer - he's not only obscure but he doesn't really have any good reason to be not-obscure.
I guess I always knew Benjamin Harrison best for being the grandson of William Henry Harrison. Otherwise, as you said, he hasn't really done much that was notable. I'm from New York, but a little over a year ago I went on a road trip through a bunch of Midwestern cities, mostly as part of an attempt to go to every major league ballpark, but also to see anything notable in any of these places. Anyway, by far the most boring city that I went to was Indianapolis. When searching for things to do I saw that there was the house Benjamin Harrison lived in when he was elected president, so I decided to check it out and see what was there. He was born in Ohio but his entire career as a politician was in Indiana (which I hadn't realized). In spite of spending a couple hours at the Benjamin Harrison house (which is probably much longer than most people have thought about Benjamin Harrison), I still can't tell you much of anything that he did as president.

That being said, I voted Chester A. Arthur, because at least Benjamin has the grandson thing going for him.

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scarletspeed7
07/17/20 8:24:14 PM
#47:


Snrkiko posted...
Coolidge has a semi-known joke about famously being a man of few words and a woman telling him "I made a bet that I could get you to say more than two words."

His response: "Fuck you."
FTFY

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LiquidOshawott
07/17/20 8:24:57 PM
#48:


Benjamin Harrison is just the guy who is sandwiched behind both clevelands

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Paratroopa1
07/17/20 8:28:31 PM
#49:


Chester A Arthur is obscure because he burned all of his bridges making political enemies out of both sides in the pursuit of actually serving the public interest instead of the corrupt system he came out of, and nobody wanted to write his legacy after that. One of the few presidents who doesn't completely suck
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LiquidOshawott
07/17/20 8:35:21 PM
#50:


Honestly I think Pendleton is so big that Arthur isnt obscure.


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HanOfTheNekos
07/18/20 4:07:42 AM
#51:


I did a report on Pierce in 2nd grade. Somehow. But yeah, I don't remember a bit about him except that he was the 14th president.

Could see Harrison as the answer, or Taylor. Definitely not Coolidge or Arthur. Not sure how Coolidge gets in the conversation at all.

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