[MUSIC]
Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. As I said before the news, this week during our membership drive, we're having our latest quiz series. It's 100 years of 100 Things quiz series, questions drawn from our 100 years of 100 Things history series. Hope you've been appreciating the series. Today it's a hundred years of Democratic candidate candidates for president. Get two in a row right, you'll win a WNYC Stanley cup, the limited edition Centennial Stanley cup.
That's our new membership drive thank you gift as well. 212-433-WNYC if you want to get in line and try your hand, and our lines are full for the moment, so you can call that number when people finish up. We will start with Dale in New Rochelle on line one. Hi, Dale. Ready to play?
Dale: I am ready, Brian.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times. Can you name all four years?
Dale: Yes. That would be 1932 1936, 1940, and 1944.
Brian Lehrer: That's exactly right. One more for the Stanley cup. True or false, FDR's vice president, Harry Truman, went on to be elected president in his own right in 1948 and 1952?
Dale: That is false. Harry Truman was only elected in 1948.
Brian Lehrer: That is correct. Dale, hang on. We're going to take your address off the air and send you a Stanley Cup. Seamus in Brooklyn Heights on line two. Seamus, you ready to play?
Seamus: Absolutely.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower was elected in a landslide in 1952 over Democrat Adlai Stevenson. After that trouncing, who did the Democrats put up against Eisenhower in '56?
Seamus: Adlai Stevenson.
Brian Lehrer: Again, that's true. Let's try that again. That didn't work well the first time. Let's do it again. It didn't work at all that time. In 1960 for the Stanley Cup, JFK beat Richard Nixon. What job did Kennedy have going into the race?
Seamus: US senator for Massachusetts.
Brian Lehrer: Is correct. We have another winner. Seamus, hang on. We're going to take your info off the air. Let's see. Next caller is Janet in East Hampton. Janet, ready to play?
Janet: I am.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. We just established that in 1960, JFK beat Richard Nixon and his job was senator for Massachusetts going into that race. In 1964, Democrat Lyndon Johnson was elected in a landslide. What was his job going into that race?
Janet: Senate whip, Senate majority leader.
Brian Lehrer: That is wrong. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson was president of the United States because Kennedy had been assassinated in '63. Thank you for trying. David in Essex County in Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, David. Ready to play?
David: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: In 1972, the Democratic nominee, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, lost in a landslide to Richard Nixon. McGovern only won one state. Can you name the state?
David: Was it Michigan?
Brian Lehrer: It was not Michigan. Sorry, David. Thanks for trying. The state was Massachusetts. Didn't even win his home state, but he won Massachusetts plus DC, so that's the answer to how badly George McGovern was trounced in 1972. Let's go next to David in Riverdale. Hi, David. Ready to play?
David: I believe so.
Brian Lehrer: One living past Democratic president turned 100 years old this month, just like WNYC did this year. Can you name him and name all the years in which he was the Democratic nominee?
David: James Earl Carter, 1976 and 1980.
Brian Lehrer: That is correct. One more and you will win a Stanley cup. This song was the campaign theme song of a victorious Democratic presidential candidate. Can you name either the candidate or the song? Here we go.
[MUSIC - Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop]
Brian Lehrer: All right. Can you name either the candidate or the song?
David: Bill Clinton, and it's Fleetwood Mac, but I don't recall the title.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, they were singing the title, don't stop thinking about tomorrow, and yes, the candidate was Bill Clinton. Since I said either the candidate or the song, you got that one right, and you're going to win a WNYC centennial Stanley cup. Congratulations. All right. Let's see. Next is Bob in Westchester. Al Gore-- Hi, Bob, first of all. Ready to play?
Bob: Hello. Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 both lost their elections, but in another sense, they both won. In what way did Al Gore and Hillary Clinton win those contests?
Bob: They both won the popular vote.
Brian Lehrer: That is correct. For the Stanley cup, after the contested election in 2000 that the Democrat Al Gore thought he had actually won, if they counted all the votes, the election was decided in the US Supreme Court when the justices, five to four, stopped a recount of the vote in parts of Florida. True or false, Gore told his supporters that the system was rigged and to never recognize the legitimacy of George W. Bush as president?
Bob: That's false.
Brian Lehrer: That is false. You're going to win a WNYC Stanley cup that we will send you in the mail. For the historical record, Al Gore's concession speech in 2000 included this.
Al Gore: Now the US Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the electoral college, and tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.
Brian Lehrer: What a difference between 2000 and somebody who lost the 2020 election, right? I thought that was worth playing for the historical record if you haven't heard it in a while or if you never heard it at all. All right. We have one more question in this Democratic presidential nominees quiz, and it's a big one. Let's see. We have a $50,000 challenge going in the membership drive this hour. Let's see if anybody can take a 50-year challenge. All you need to do is get this one question right and you will win a WNYC centennial limited edition Stanley cup. We're going to try Paul in South Orange. Paul, you ready to play?
Paul: Hi. Good morning.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. This is probably going to be hard. Depends how much of a presidential election history geek you are. You only need to answer the one question to win because, here's the question, it's a 50-year challenge. Can you name every Democratic presidential nominee from the last 50 years? That's 1976 to the present. Think you can give it a shot?
Paul: Sure. Carter '76, Carter '80. '84 was Mondale.
Brian Lehrer: Correct.
Paul: Then Dukakis. Clinton. Clinton.
Brian Lehrer: Clinton. Clinton.
Paul: Where are we? Gore.
Brian Lehrer: Now you're up to 2000. Al Gore.
Paul: Okay. Gore. Then second term Bush was-- Oh, boy. Kerry.
Brian Lehrer: Kerry is right.
Paul: Obama, Obama, Clinton, and Trump. No, I'm sorry. Biden. Is that everybody?
Brian Lehrer: Amazing, Paul. That was incredible. I thought we were going to have to go through three, four, five callers to get somebody who could do it, but you won the 50-year challenge, so hang on-
Paul: Thank you.
Brian Lehrer: - and we are going to send you a WNYC Stanley cup. Thanks, everybody, for playing our quiz. We will have another quiz at the same time each day this week during our all the money in half the time fall membership drive.
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