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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does Isaacson record to be the first Democrat candidate for president in 1952 after President Truman announced he would not seek re-election?
(a) Adlai Stevenson.
(b) Averell Harriman.
(c) John Foster Dulles.
(d) Dwight D. Eisenhower.

2. Why did President Eisenhower relieve Bob Lovett from the Defense Department, according to Isaacson?
(a) Because Lovett was a Democrat and Republicans demanded party loyalty while they had control of Congress.
(b) Because Lovett was found leaking policy decisions to his Democrat friends outside the administration.
(c) Because the Eisenhower Administration planned to cut spending on conventional forces and rely totally on nuclear weapons for defense.
(d) Because Lovett was considered untrustworthy based upon his relationship with Alger Hiss.

3. What does Isaacson write of what became of the "Six Wise Men" after Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1952?
(a) They became involved in movements to create a global economy.
(b) They sought to find roles in directing foreign policy with the new administration.
(c) They became active in Democrat Party politics so they could resume their positions of influence after Eisenhower was removed from office.
(d) They went into "exile" from Washington and served in the private sector.

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

5. What office did President-Elect Kennedy offer to the first of the "Six Wise Men" whose counsel he sought?
(a) Chief of Staff.
(b) Secretary of State.
(c) Ambassador to Russia.
(d) Ambassador to NATO.

6. Why was General MacArthur fired according to Isaacson?
(a) MacArthur made statements criticizing China's strength and suggesting Chiang Kai-shek could open a second front against China with an invasion on the mainland.
(b) Because MacArthur was seen as unable to lead with the changes in technology and the enemy at hand.
(c) Because MacArthur's belligerence had become a threat to world peace.
(d) Because MacArthur's popularity within the U.S. was a threat to the Administration's efforts to control the direction of the war in Korea.

7. What scientist suggested the United States should respond to the Soviet Union's possession of the A-bomb by producing more powerful bombs?
(a) George Ball.
(b) Robert Oppenheimer.
(c) David Lilienthal.
(d) Edward Teller.

8. To whom did President Kennedy look in an attempt to peacefully settle the conflicts in Laos?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) Averell Harriman.
(c) Robert Lovett.
(d) George Kennan.

9. After the atomic bombs had been detonated in Japan, what does Isaacson indicate to be the next challenge for the government in the post-war era?
(a) Finding work for all the veterans.
(b) Taking steps to control atomic weapons.
(c) Restoring Europe's economy.
(d) Preserving Germany's industrial capacity.

10. Who does Isaacson report that President Truman chose to administer the European Recovery Plan (The Marshall Plan) in Europe?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) Paul Hoffman.
(c) General Lucius Clay.
(d) Averell Harriman.

11. How did Isaacson claim Acheson described the division of the world between the United States and the Soviet Union during the crisis facing Greece and Turkey?
(a) "...a test of free will against coercion."
(b) "...an unbridgeable ideological chasm."
(c) "...a struggle between totalitarianism and democracy."
(d) "...a contest between freedom and slavery."

12. 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?
(a) They hoped that the U.S. would consider the conflict to be a local affair.
(b) They hoped that victory in Korea would begin the "Domino Theory" of communist world-wide revolution.
(c) They hoped to show the superiority of communism over democracy.
(d) They hoped that the U.S. would put itself in financial turmoil by singly funding what appeared to be a long war.

13. How does Isaacson claim the Truman Administration learned of the Soviet Union's possession of nuclear weapons in September, 1949?
(a) A Soviet exile involved in the development of the bomb informed the administration of its existence.
(b) Weather planes over the Pacific Ocean recorded high radioactive counts.
(c) Films of the Soviets' first test were delivered to Truman by informants.
(d) The House UnAmerican Activities Committee discovered evidence that members of the Roosevelt Administration helped to pass the plans for the bomb to the Soviets.

14. What does Isaacson cite as "...perhaps the most dramatic and significant (conversion) of any postwar American statesman"?
(a) The conversion of Averell Harriman from a market capitalist to seeing the value of socialism in some systems.
(b) The conversion of Dean Acheson to a hard-line stance on dealing with the Soviets.
(c) The conversion of Harry Truman from being a non-interventionist to being an internationalist.
(d) The conversion of John McCloy to being an internationalist to being an isolationist.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was the Johnson Administation's plan to settle the Vietnamese conflict rejected, according to Isaacson?

2. What does Isaacson report eventually came of the idea of a "Western Union" military alliance?

3. Which two of the "Six Wise Men" does Isaacson report were called to brief the Kennedy Administration on the two crises that faced them?

4. When did the Soviet Union begin its "clampdown" on Czechoslovakia, according to Isaacson?

5. What does Isaacson report to have been the reaction to communist tactics against the Marshall Plan?

(see the answer keys)

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