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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does Chase want excluded from a position in Lincoln's cabinet?
(a) Anyone who has not served on the Supreme Court.
(b) Anyone who did not go to West Point.
(c) Anyone under the age of 60.
(d) Anyone from a slave-holding state.

2. What does Lincoln ask John Hay to research?
(a) The president's wartime powers.
(b) The etiquette for entertaining visiting heads of state.
(c) The budget for White House renovations.
(d) Thomas Jefferson's speeches.

3. Who is the noted Union officer shot dead in the invasion of Alexandria?
(a) Lieutenant Ashe.
(b) Col. Peabody.
(c) General Grant.
(d) Col. Ellsworth.

4. What order does Lincoln issue about Fort Sumter in Chapter 11?
(a) Re-supply it.
(b) Surrender it.
(c) Attack it.
(d) Burn it.

5. With whom does John Hay frequently spend time?
(a) Prostitutes.
(b) Lobbyists.
(c) Ministers.
(d) Abolitionists.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the river that David Herold crosses on his first mission as a rebel courier?

2. Who arrives on the train with Lincoln's secretaries?

3. How does Salmon P. Chase propose to pay for a war?

4. What does Lincoln think will be necessary in order to wage war?

5. What does William Seward harshly critique about Lincoln?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Salmon P. Chase and what is his role in Lincoln's White House?

2. What is the Albany Plan and how does it set the stage for political machinations throughout the novel?

3. How are the beginnings of a conspiracy against Lincoln introduced in Chapter 2?

4. With whom does John Hay become infatuated the day after Lincoln's inauguration?

5. What is the issue regarding Lincoln's Kentucky relatives during this time?

6. What perspectives do Chase and Seward hold as the war talk ramps up?

7. How can Lincoln's Inauguration Day be considered lackluster?

8. Who is Elizabeth Keckley and what is her role in the Lincoln White House?

9. What are Chase's thoughts on financing a war in Chapter 17?

10. How does Vidal open the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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