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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Isaacson report eventually came of the idea of a "Western Union" military alliance?
(a) It became the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
(b) It became the European Union (EU).
(c) It became the United Nations (UN).
(d) It became the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

2. What does Isaacson claim to have become the consensus of the "Wise Men" concerning Vietnam in their advice to President Johnson?
(a) "The results in Vietnam will determine the course of the world well into the future."
(b) "This has become a quagmire and we need to leave."
(c) "There should be no question of making whatever combat force increases were required."
(d) "Our policy of containment will collapse if we fail in Vietnam."

3. What was the organization that eventually replaced the Office of Strategic Services, according to Isaacson?
(a) The Secret Service.
(b) The Central Intelligence Agency.
(c) The Office of Homeland Security.
(d) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.

4. Upon whom does Isaacson claim that Stimson relied to help him achieve his goal regarding the control of the atom bomb?
(a) Commerce Secretary Henry Wallace.
(b) State Department Liaison to the White House, John McCloy.
(c) Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.
(d) Dean Acheson as Under Secretary of State.

5. What was the only concession the Japanese requested for its surrender to end WWII, according to Isaacson?
(a) That Japanese Americans kept in detention camps be allowed to repatriate with their homeland.
(b) That Russia not be allowed to occupy the island.
(c) That Japan could keep its emperor.
(d) That their American occupiers limit their personal interaction with Japanese citizens.

6. Who does Isaacson claim that Dean Acheson, Robert Lovett, and John McCloy suggested for President-Elect Kennedy's Secretary of State?
(a) Bill Fulbright.
(b) David Bruce.
(c) Dean Rusk.
(d) Paul Nitze.

7. Who was asked to approach President-Elect Kennedy's choice for Secretary of State to offer him the position, according to Isaacson?
(a) Robert Lovett.
(b) Dean Acheson.
(c) Bobby Kennedy.
(d) David Bruce.

8. What does Isaacson report that President Truman did to decide America's response to the Soviet Union's possession of nuclear weapons?
(a) He appointed a three-man national security committee.
(b) He sent out the "Wise Men" to conduct town hall meetings to explain the danger facing the country from Soviet nuclear weapons.
(c) He polled his cabinet and based his response on its concensus.
(d) He courted the press to show the film of Russia's nuclear explosion to convince the public of the urgent need for increased military spending.

9. Who does Issacson report to have written a telegram that claimed fear that war could come, "with dramatic suddenness"?
(a) Former Secretary of War Henry Stimson.
(b) General Douglas MacArthur.
(c) George Kennan.
(d) General Lucius Clay, the Military Governor of Germany.

10. What does Isaacson claim to have been the primary purpose of the telegram to President Truman with the warning of Soviet aggression?
(a) To become the basis for a propaganda campaign that helped to condense power within the foreign policy elite.
(b) To give support for more military spending in the battle to confront communism.
(c) To assist military chiefs in Congressional testimony.
(d) To support a greater role for military actions against communist aggression.

11. Isaacson reported that the Soviet Union's actions in East Europe helped the Truman Administration achieve what two political goals?
(a) They helped to convince the general public that the communists were out for world domination and win trust for the wisdom of his foreign policy advisors.
(b) They helped gain support for the Marshall Plan and for more military spending.
(c) They helped concentrate power within the presidency and give general support for the foreign policy elite to act without scrutiny.
(d) They brought the country to understand the necessity of confronting communism and helped the Administration win support for its budget demands.

12. What does Isaacson suggest to be one of the largest factors in America's rise to prominence after WWII?
(a) America's ability to convert consumer production to war production.
(b) Britain's inability to support its empire.
(c) America's ability to be self-sufficient.
(d) America's size and population relative to most other countries.

13. How did George Kennan contribute to Acheson's effort to win support for Greece and Turkey, according to Isaacson?
(a) Kennan lent the cause credibility by showing how doing so would be an application of his popular document of containment.
(b) Kennan took a film crew to make a documentary of the desparation of Greece and Turkey.
(c) Kennan found a Russian exile to meet with congressmen to detail the plans of the Soviet government for overtaking all of Europe.
(d) Kennan wrote a speech that gave undeniable arguments in support for the cause.

14. What was the document that Isaacson claims to be the blueprint for national security policy through the 1960's?
(a) NSC-68.
(b) The Acheson memo.
(c) The "Long Telegram."
(d) The Pumpkin Papers.

15. Why does Isaacson claim MacArthur's plans were blocked?
(a) Because the Administration had a strict policy of keeping American soldiers within the boundaries of South Korea.
(b) Because the Administration feared communist aggression within the continental United States.
(c) Because the foreign policy elite feared losing influence if a military success ended the conflict in Korea.
(d) Because the bombing of the bridges might provoke the Chinese to take harsher actions.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Isaacson suggest Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union and Mao Tse Tung of China gave support to North Korea's invasion of South Korea?

2. Who does Isaacson report to be the last of the "Six Wise Men" whom President-Elect Kennedy called before he made his choice for Secretary of State?

3. Who does Isaacson claim blocked MacArthur's plans for slowing the flow of Chinese soldiers into the Korean War?

4. What event at the end of 1967 does Isaacson suggest influenced the Johnson Administration that America had to withdraw from Vietnam?

5. What does Isaacson record that Mao claimed to be the source of Chinese soldiers in North Korean combat units?

(see the answer keys)

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