Originally Posted by translationsnmru
You are confusing to different uses of this word. In your example, "Президент отвечал" means a repeated action: he answered more than one question. That's an example of normal imperfective use of this verb as it is normally used today, and it is not what the OP is asking about. In Basurero's examples, "отвечал" is used as a perfeсtive verb, and that, indeed, is an archaic use. Read some books written in 18th and early 19th century, you'll find tons of dialogues like this one:
— Вы уже пили чай? — спросила Агафья Александровна.
— Ещё нет, — отвечал Александр Николаевич.
"Отвечал" here actually means "ответил", and it was a normal use back then.