Test Your Knowledge of Presidential Campaign Slogans

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"An effective slogan will sum up a candidate's pitch to the country in a few words, and be powerful enough to cut through the endless onslaught of information in people's lives," says Business Insider. Yet, some of the most successful presidential campaign slogans have had little to do with any actual issues. Take our quiz on victorious presidential campaign slogans to find which ones worked.

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QUESTION 1 OF 10

Which 20th century Republican presidential candidate ran with the slogan “This time, vote like your whole world depended on it”?

Richard Nixon

In the 1968 election, Nixon relied on a campaign that responded to the turmoil of everything from the Vietnam War to multiple recent political assassinations, routing opponents Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern.

Herbert Hoover

Ronald Reagan

QUESTION 2 OF 10

Why did Franklin Pierce select the campaign slogan “We Polked You in ’44. We Shall Pierce You in ‘52” to get elected?

He was known for being a violent war hero, so the slogan related well to his image.

He was not well known, so aligning him with a previous president gave him clout.

It’s true that Pierce was a brigadier general in the Mexican-American War, but he was a “dark horse,” who needed introduction. Aligning himself with former president James K. Polk added luster to his candidacy.

Pierce was not in favor of the Compromise of 1850, and the party needed to draw attention away from that fact with a humorous slogan.

QUESTION 3 OF 10

The incumbent president usually has an advantage when running for re-election. Which president first relied on a slogan that encouraged Americans not to swap horses in midstream during his second race?

Woodrow Wilson

Abraham Lincoln

Running for a second term during the Civil War, Lincoln explained that he was “not so poor a horse” and that trading him for another could prove worse. The "not swapping horses" slogan was also used by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his fourth run for office.

George W. Bush

QUESTION 4 OF 10

Which president won election with the campaign slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again”?

Donald Trump

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ronald Reagan

Trump’s 2016 campaign leveraged a slogan “inspired” by Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign, which Reagan neglected to copyright. Trump applied for a MAGA trademark in 2012.

QUESTION 5 OF 10

What was ironic about Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 campaign slogan “He Kept Us Out of War”?

By the time Wilson took office, the United States had entered World War I.

He actually extended the length of the war.

Shortly after entering his second term, he asked Congress to declare war on Germany.

Despite leading the U.S. into World War I, Wilson afterward helped negotiate peace at the Treaty of Versailles, which the U.S. never officially ratified, and established the League of Nations, which the U.S. never joined.

QUESTION 6 OF 10

“I Like Ike” was Dwight Eisenhower’s 1952 campaign slogan. What slogan did he use when running for re-election in 1956?

“I Still Like Ike”

Some Ike paraphernalia played on his earlier campaign with statements such as “I Like Ike Even Better” and “I Still Like Ike.” Ike was Eisenhower's nickname.

“Iko Iko Eisenhower“

“I Love Ike“

QUESTION 7 OF 10

This president’s slogans of “Hope” and “Change We Can Believe In” earned A's from marketing experts.

Jimmy Carter

Barack Obama

These were winners in Obama's 2008 campaign. Unfortunately, his 2012 slogan “Forward” did not earn such high marks. However, the lower grade did not appear to affect his ability to win.

Harry S. Truman

QUESTION 8 OF 10

Which 19th-century president focused on slinging mud at his opponent with the unwieldy campaign slogan “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, the Continental Liar From the State of Maine”?

Grover Cleveland

Cleveland was referring to Blaine's alleged shady business dealings with the railroad industry. Blaine’s equally muddy slogan “Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa?” targeted at Cleveland's alleged fathering of a child out of wedlock a decade earlier.

James Garfield

Rutherford B. Hayes

QUESTION 9 OF 10

Who was the Whig candidate and war hero who ran without a platform and refused to actively campaign, although his supporters touted him in various ways as the people’s president?

Zachary Taylor

Despite not campaigning, Taylor still won the presidency. Imagine that today. An 1846 poster put out by supporters stated: “About party creeds let party zealots fight/He cant [sic] be wrong whose life is in the right.”

Millard Filmore

Andrew Jackson

QUESTION 10 OF 10

What was the meaning behind the 1840 presidential campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”?

Candidate William Henry Harrison had been victorious at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and John Tyler was his vice-presidential running mate in 1840.

In addition to his victory in the 1811 battle, Harrison won the White House. However, the office defeated him – he died on his 32nd day as president.

Candidate James K. Polk ran on the platform that he would vanquish incumbent John Tyler just as he had defeated Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Candidate Martin Van Buren used the slogan to damage the reputation of John Tyler, who had lost the Battle of Tippecanoe.

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Test Your Knowledge of Presidential Campaign Slogans

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