B y  R I C H A R D  L E D E R E R

if Bill Clinton wins the coming election, he will become the first Democratic president elected to two full terms since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected to four consecutive terms. If Bob Dole wins the presidency, he will be the first American president to be a generation older (23 years in this case) than his predecessor.

At 72, Dole would also become the oldest man ever elected president, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was 69 when elected. Can you name the youngest man ever to serve as President of the United States?

If your answer is John Fitzgerald Kennedy, you're not quite correct. Kennedy was, at the age of 43, the youngest man ever to have been elected president, but Theodore Roosevelt became president at the age of 42, after the assasination of William McKinley. When Teddy's second term ended, he was still only 50 years old, making him the youngest ex-president.

As we approach a momentous election, I'll be offering you a number of provocative presidential quizzes, this one about mosts, onlys and firsts.

Who was the tallest president of the United States?
Pull down for answer Abraham Lincoln, at 6 feet 4 inches

Who was the shortest president?
Pull down for answer James Madison, at 5 feet 4inches

Who was the fattest president?
Pull down for answer William Howard Taft, at 6 feet and 352 pounds

Who was president for the shortest period of time?
Pull down for answer William Henry Harrison died on his 31st day in office

Who is the only president for whom one of the 50 states is named?
Pull down for answer George Washington

Who was the only president never to marry?
Pull down for answer James Buchanan. During his term in office, his niece Harriet Lane played the role of First Lady

Who was the only president to have been married in the White House?
Pull down for answer Grover Cleveland

Who was the only president to have been divorced?
Pull down for answer Ronald Reagan

Who was the only president to be survived by both his parents?
Pull down for answer John F. Kennedy

Who was the only president to serve as chief justice of the Supreme Court?
Pull down for answer William Howard Taft

Who was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms?
Pull down for answer Grover Cleveland, who was both our 22nd and 24th president

Who was the first president born a citizen of the United States?
Pull down for answer Martin Van Buren, our eighth president, was the first to be born a U.S. citizen and not a British subject. He was born in 1782, six years after the signing of the Constitution

Who was the first president to live in the White House?
Pull down for answer John Adams, who moved in on November 1, 1800. He occupied the Executive Mansion for only four months, having lived most of his term in Philadelphia

Who made the first presidential radio broadcast?
Pull down for answer Warren G. Harding, in June of 1922.

Who was the first president to appear on television?
Pull down for answer Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on April 30, 1939, at the opening ceremonies of the New York World's Fair. Herbert Hoover appeared on the nation's first TV broadcast in 1927, but as Secretary of Commerce, not as President

Now step into the voting booth for the Verbivore's Challenge for this issue. The winner receives a $25 gift certificate for Borders Books and Music.

1. What American president fathered the greatest number of children, and how many did he have?

2. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were father and son. William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison were grandfather and grandson. Name two sets of American presidents who were distant cousins.

3. Name a pair of American presidents who were father-in-law and son-in-law. Hint: One of them was not president of the United States.

Email your answers to verbivore@salon.batnet.com.

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The winner of last Verbivore was Richard R. Horton.

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Language expert Richard Lederer's latest book is "The Write Way: A Guide to Real-life Writing." He is also the author of such best-selling books as "Anguished English," "Crazy English," "The Miracle of Language" and "Literary Trivia." Richard comments on language for National Public Radio and other radio stations and is the Grammar Grappler for Writer's Digest. In his spare time, Richard makes approximately 200 speaking appearances a year, addressing fundraisers, corporations, academic groups and library associations. He can be reached at rlederer@tiac.net. Visit the newly-erected Verbivore web site at http://www.tiac.net/users/rlederer/index.htm