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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did George Norris decide to go against his constituents and vote according to his conscience?
(a) He felt that his constituents were being led by the alarmist press.
(b) It was his purpose to run for President in the next general election.
(c) He said that just voting as he was told required no patriotism, no education, and no courage.
(d) He was convinced that it was the only way for him to get publicity.

2. Which courageous Senator refused to support the expunging of some of Jackson's military activities?
(a) Sen. Oscar Underwood of Alabama.
(b) Sen. Humphrey Marshall of Kentucky.
(c) Sen. John Tyler of Virginia.
(d) Sen. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee.

3. What poet does Kennedy quote to express the bitterness of the South during reconstruction?
(a) Vachal Lindsay.
(b) Edgar Allen Poe.
(c) Walt Whitman.
(d) Longfellow.

4. Who was the Democratic majority leader in the Senate who later became Vice President?
(a) Alben Barkley.
(b) John Nance Garner.
(c) Richard Nixon.
(d) Jacob Javits.

5. Under what law was President Andrew Johnson tried in the Congress?
(a) The Articles of Impeachment.
(b) The Bill of Rights.
(c) The Civilian Code.
(d) The Articles of Confederation.

6. Who was the butcher of New Orleans who was the chief prosecutor in Johnson's impeachment trial?
(a) Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
(b) Gen. Robert E. Lee.
(c) Gen William Tecumseh Sherman.
(d) Gen. Benjamin F. Butler.

7. What does Kennedy identify as the personal tragedy and national greatness about Sen. Robert A. Taft?
(a) That he would always speak out in such a way that appeared to compromise his beliefs.
(b) That his father had been President but he had no such ambitions.
(c) That he aspired to be President but his uncompromising sense of right prevented that from happening.
(d) That he got his party's nomination three times but never won a Presidential election.

8. What position did Lamar take after the Civil War?
(a) The way to end the South's suffering was compromise and reconciliation with the North.
(b) That those who supported the Union should be tried as war criminals.
(c) That laws needed to be enacted to punish carpetbaggers.
(d) That people should save their confederate money.

9. Taft's words on freedom of thought, freedom from orthodox dogma, and the right to think for oneself are his definition of what?
(a) Conservatism.
(b) Liberalism.
(c) Unitarianism.
(d) Socialism.

10. What was Sen. Albert Beveridge's famous statement after he was defeated for speaking out against the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act?
(a) It is all right, twelve years of hard work, and a clean record; I am content.
(b) I can see now that I should have kept my mouth shut and my mind open.
(c) The people of Indiana will see the error of their ways one day in the future.
(d) Our country would be better off with an Indian tribe style government of blood and prejudice.

11. What famous speech did Lamar give in Congress?
(a) Give me liberty of give me death speech.
(b) The case for Confederacy speech.
(c) An eloquent eulogy for Charles Sumner.
(d) The Stars and Stripes speech.

12. Why did Norris oppose the Armed Ship Bill when his state seemed to favor it?
(a) He thought the bill would prevent the US from declaring war on Germany.
(b) He thought it should really be a declaration of war.
(c) Norris believed it was a ploy to get the US into WWI without going through congress.
(d) He wanted to gain fame as the man who defied President Wilson.

13. What does Kennedy suggest is the number of courageous Senators who have put their political lives on the line in order to speak honestly?
(a) He wrote down a list of over fifty.
(b) He said every Senator has that kind of honesty.
(c) The ones in his book are the only ones.
(d) There are too many to name.

14. Why did George Norris believe Big Business was urging the country into war?
(a) Because he feared the munitions profits was what was steamrolling the country into war.
(b) Because American business wanted to supply munitions to the Kaiser.
(c) Because Big Business supported Wilson only when he tried to stay neutral.
(d) Because the country was actually run by a few big businessmen.

15. What high office did Lamar hold at the end of his career?
(a) Secretary of the Interior.
(b) Vice-President of the United States.
(c) Justice of the Supreme Court.
(d) Head of the Democratic National Committee.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who called Taft's speech against the Nazi war crimes trials a classic example of his muddled and confused thinking?

2. How was Lamar similar to author Joel Harris?

3. Why was Norris' candidate for President unpopular in 1928?

4. Why did the six Republicans say they would not vote to convict President Johnson?

5. How did Lucius Lamar first run for Congress?

(see the answer keys)

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