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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What exclusive club did Chip Bohlen join at Harvard according to Isaacson?
(a) The Porcellian.
(b) The Harvard Lampoon.
(c) Skull and Bones.
(d) Sphinx-Kalumet Club.

2. Where does Isaacson claim Averell Harriman was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?
(a) He was having a picnic with his wife at his Maryland farm.
(b) He was in a movie house wathcing Ninotchka.
(c) He was visiting Winston Churchill in his country home in Chequers.
(d) He was at his desk in the War Department.

3. Which of the "Wise Men" does Isaacson report to have served in active service during WWI?
(a) Chip Bohlen.
(b) Averell Harriman, George Kennan, and Dean Acheson.
(c) John McCloy and Robert Lovett.
(d) Robert Lovett.

4. Who encouraged the United States to rearm and come out of what Isaacson claims to be a period of isolationism following WWI?
(a) Henry Stimson.
(b) John McCloy.
(c) Averell Harriman.
(d) Dean Acheson.

5. According to Isaacson, who was the President of the United States who thought Russia could be an ally after WWII?
(a) Franklin Roosevelt.
(b) Harry Truman.
(c) Dwight Eisenhower.
(d) Adalai Stevenson.

6. What agreement does Isaacson record Roosevelt and Churchill made during their initial meeting after America's entry into WWII?
(a) The Atlantic Charter.
(b) The Non Aggression Pact.
(c) Lend Lease.
(d) NATO.

7. How does Isaacson report that Averell Harriman's support for the successful presidential candidacy of Franklin Roosevelt was rewarded in 1932?
(a) Roosevelt named him the Ambassador to Russia.
(b) Roosevelt named him the head of the Council on Foreign Relations.
(c) Roosevelt named him the Chief Administrative officer of the National Recovery Administration.
(d) Roosevelt named him Secretary of State.

8. What was one of the first challenges facing the Truman Administration in dealing with the Soviet Union after WWII, according to Isaacson?
(a) Dealing with Soviet front groups in the United States.
(b) Blocking the Soviet Union from attempting to set terms of peace with Japan.
(c) Trying to prevent the Soviet Union from taking German industrial equipment and charging reparations against Germany.
(d) Slowing the influence of Soviet communism over the Maoist movement in China.

9. What event early in WWII does Isaacson quote John McCloy as calling, "...regrettable in the clear light of perfect hindsight"?
(a) Naming Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific.
(b) Becoming an ally with the Soviet Union.
(c) The relocation of citizens of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast.
(d) Roosevelt's decision to prioritize the war in Europe rather than the Pacific.

10. According to Isaacson, what event took place between Harriman and the person with whom he was sharing responsibility that foreshadowed the role of the two countries they represented in their places in Western leadership?
(a) Harriman had a confrontational argument with Leon Trotsky regarding financial aid.
(b) Harriman and John McCloy developed Allied policy positions without referring to the Soviets.
(c) Harriman and Beaverbrook had an animated clash during which Harriman insisted that England and the U.S. would determine jointly the distribution of war resources, rather than England alone.
(d) Harriman and John Lovett developed plans for deciding who would get Allied war support without input from Britain.

11. What was Bohlen's first assignment after he completed training in his field, according to Issacson?
(a) He was posted in Prague.
(b) He was made partner with W.A. Harriman & Co.
(c) He was given a seat on the board of directors of the Union Pacific Railway.
(d) He was assigned Under Secretary of the National Recovery Administration.

12. What does Isaacson claim to be the most elite club at Yale?
(a) Scroll and Key.
(b) Skull and Bones.
(c) DKE.
(d) Ivy.

13. When did Averell Harriman join the most elite club at Yale according to Isaacson?
(a) 1912.
(b) 1914.
(c) 1917.
(d) 1911.

14. What does Isaacson report to be the legacy of Harvard's President Charles Elliot after his 40 year tenure ended in 1909?
(a) "Heresy has always been a Harvard institution."
(b) "To allow each man to think and do as he pleases."
(c) "Our undisciplinables are our proudest product."
(d) "Living well is the best revenge."

15. What does Isaacson claim to be the goal of the "Wise Men"?
(a) To scale government back to the limits of the Constitution.
(b) To rebuild Europe after WWII.
(c) To expand the authority of the Federal Reserve Bank over the monetary policy.
(d) To limit the spread of Soviet Communism.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Isaacson claim to be the reason that Harriman and Dean Acheson supported making post-war loans to the Soviets?

2. Under whom does Isaacson report Kennan studied for his chosen field?

3. What event does Isaacson suggest brought calls to come out of its isolationism following WWI?

4. What does Isaacson report to be the differences between the negotiating styles of Roosevelt and Truman?

5. What quality made Lovett and McCloy influential insiders, according to Isaacson?

(see the answer keys)

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