鈥淲e start off with鈥oh, exciting鈥擜 Few Moments with Millard Fillmore,鈥 Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings said during the March 14 broadcast.
The winningest contestant in the game show鈥檚 history might鈥檝e been cracking a joke at the 13th president鈥檚 expense, but for AU鈥檚 Michael Cohen, who鈥檚 two years into a decades-long project transcribing Fillmore鈥檚 correspondence, the Jeopardy! category was anything but a trivial pursuit.聽
In November, Cohen, editor of聽The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, received an email from a Jeopardy! writer who asked to pick his brain about the relationship between the two men, who only spent a combined four years in the White House.聽
鈥淗e asked me if there were any letters between them and if it鈥檚 known where and under what circumstances they first met,鈥 says Cohen, research professor in the Department of Government and faculty fellow with the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. 鈥淚 gave him quotes from their first letters that they exchanged, one of which ended up being the basis for the clue*.鈥
In 1848 Fillmore wrote to this man who had chosen him for VP, saying I know you never heard of me before the convention
Jennings thanked the Taylor Fillmore Correspondence Project 鈥渇or helping us research that,鈥 after contestant Matt Glassman buzzed in with the right question. The LA bar owner picked up $400鈥攏ot enough to win the day, but enough to make Cohen鈥檚.聽
A few moments with Millard Fillmore
$200: This West Coast state joined the Union during Fillmore's presidency聽What is California?
$400: In 1848 Fillmore wrote to this man who had chosen him for VP, saying I know you never heard of me before the convention*聽Who is Zachary聽Taylor?
$600:听Too-friendly-to-slavery Millard鈥檚 name is being take off things at UB, the U.聽at this city in New York where he was 1st chancellor聽What is Buffalo?
$800:听Shortly after taking office, Fillmore named this religious leader the governor of the Utah territory聽Who is Brigham Young?
$1000:聽One of Fillmore鈥檚 nicknames was 鈥渢he last of鈥 this political party鈥檚 presidents聽What is Whig?