John Bryson Poll

[alietr]

A story in today's Washington Post on Commerce Secretary John Bryson begins thusly:

Poor John Bryson! Be honest: How many of you could have coughed up the name of the commerce secretary last week, even if a Jeopardy Daily Double were on the line?

So, let's make it a poll and see how Jeopardy people would have done ...

[Miss Mellie]

Yes. But only because of Jeopardy. The Cabinet was one of the topics I crammed on the flight to LA.

[MarkBarrett]

Yes. But only because of Jeopardy. The Cabinet was one of the topics I crammed on the flight to LA.

I did almost the same thing in '05 with a paper I printed with names, photos and and job titles, but my studying was on the way to the airport. My brother and mom were not amused that I joked about using a red marker to "X" off the pictures as I learned them. I guess that's the kind of thing that agents don't want to find when searching luggage? I folded the paper and tucked it away in my garment bag upon check-in.

When I saw the John Bryson poll I had no idea who the guy was and thought it was something about an upcoming contestant.

[Austin Powers]

Knew Gary Locke was now ambassador to China, but had no idea who his replacement was at Commerce.

[alietr]

Knew Gary Locke was now ambassador to China, but had no idea who his replacement was at Commerce.

Man ... first you miss a couple of $2k questions, now you don't know a Cabinet Secretary? I'm beginning to think you're human after all, AP.

[Austin Powers]

Knew Gary Locke was now ambassador to China, but had no idea who his replacement was at Commerce.

Man ... first you miss a couple of $2k questions, now you don't know a Cabinet Secretary? I'm beginning to think you're human after all, AP.

Also missed Irving Berlin on Monday... definitely need a vacation...

[Magna]

Caveat: I probably could not have named him quickly enough for a regular J! clue, but after some thought I knew his name.

[econgator]

Hell, I didn't know that Locke had left.

[alietr]

I knew Locke was Ambassador to China, at least.

[dhkendall]

Forget him, I want to know what happened to Henry Wallace!

[alietr]

Bumping for more responses ...

[hbomb1947]

When I read an article about the Secretary's controversy a few days ago, the first time I saw his name in the article I was like, "Who? I NHO that guy. How did I miss him?"

[SwanShadow]

"What is the Department of Commerce?" was the correct response to the first FJ of my original run.

Fortunately for me, I did not have to name the secretary of said department.

[Woof]

This leads me to two ancillary questions: which of the cabinet positions is the least known? And which cabinet official is the one fewest people know the name of?

[Magna]

Of the current cabinet departments (rather than defunct ones or cabinet-level officers like UN ambassador) my guess would be HUD. It's rarely in the news compared with other departments.

[Volante]

Of the current cabinet departments (rather than defunct ones or cabinet-level officers like UN ambassador) my guess would be HUD. It's rarely in the news compared with other departments.

I was going to propose "the one I can't name..." then I looked up the list and I do know them all apparently.

I'm going to vote Veteran's Affairs though. My hypothesis is people would assume vets are already handled by Defense.

[Magna]

I'm going to vote Veteran's Affairs though. My hypothesis is people would assume vets are already handled by Defense.

Veterans and military families would mostly know this, though. Also, Veterans Affairs has been in the news a lot recently - with their medical care coming under scrutiny, and about the difficulties faced by returning veterans.

Also,

Spoiler: show

Eric Shinseki

[alietr]

I thought the answer is "whichever one they keep away from the Capitol during the State of the Union address".

[MDaunt]

Forget him, I want to know what happened to Henry Wallace!

TIL: Wallace died of Lou Gehrig's disease.

[Roadgeek Adam]

My vote for most forgotten would go Interior or Education (moreso the former.)