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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What metaphor does Kennedy use to describe the relationship between the elected official and the electorate?
(a) A lawyer-client relationship.
(b) A coach-team relationship.
(c) A father-child relationship.
(d) A doctor-patient relationship.

2. What occurred during a duel that gave Benton a reputation as something of a thug?
(a) He threw down his gun and beat the man with his fists.
(b) He killed a U. S. District Attorney.
(c) He rigged the other pistol so it wouldn't fire.
(d) He had a sniper actually shoot the opponent.

3. What leader who was at odds with Adams' father did John Quincey find himself agreeing with quite often?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) George Washington.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) Alexander Hamilton.

4. How did Webster view the Compromise of 1850 in terms of his anti-slavery convictions?
(a) He viewed it as a short-term compromise.
(b) He wanted to bring the prospect of Civil War to a head.
(c) He believed that compromise would eventually lead to abolition.
(d) He thought it would give him power to run for President.

5. Why was Webster not bothered by what many would consider as bribes?
(a) He accepted money and gifts but always did only what he thought was right.
(b) He felt he was entitled to extra benefits for his service to the Union.
(c) He never let that happen to him.
(d) The moral question of accepting money and gifts for Webster was not an issue for him.

6. How did one reporter categorize elected officials?
(a) That they were gluttons for mental punishment.
(b) That people thought everything they said was untrue.
(c) That people elected them on their looks.
(d) That they needed to be good public speakers.

7. How was Benton's behavior different when he was with his family from when he was involved in politics?
(a) He was easy on political opponents and harsh on his family.
(b) He hid his wife's mental illness from the public.
(c) He held his family by fear.
(d) He was always warm and gentle around his family.

8. What is the irony of Houston's defending the Northerner's rights to abolition?
(a) Houston owned slaves himself.
(b) Houston disliked all Yankees.
(c) Houston was a slave to the Cherokee.
(d) Houston opposed slavery except in the South.

9. What earned Houston the name of traitor and pro-Abolitionist?
(a) His vote against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill.
(b) His vote against the Missouri compromise.
(c) His friendship with Senator Calhoun.
(d) His support of President Lincoln.

10. What act of inconsistency brought his Missouri constituents to brand him a traitor?
(a) His opposition to the Missouri Compromise.
(b) His voting with the Republicans.
(c) His willingness to allow the country to go to war.
(d) His opposition to annexting Texas.

11. Besides the Texas territory which Benton opposed, what other one did he support against his party's stand?
(a) California.
(b) Oregon.
(c) Montana.
(d) Alaska.

12. What view did Webster take that made him unpopular with abolitionists?
(a) He did not feel that being a part of a Union that allowed slavery in some territories a viable alternative.
(b) He refused to argue against salvery when he went to the Southern states.
(c) He would not address the subject of slavery because he though it would just go away.
(d) He was a strong supporter of the Union and believed compromise on slavery was more important than breaking up the nation.

13. In PROFILES IN COURAGE, what does John F. Kennedy fear the American public has forgotten?
(a) How to tell if a man is honest.
(b) Where to look for courage in a politician.
(c) The basic principles our country was founded on.
(d) What courage actually is.

14. John Quincey Adams' mother was fond of saying John had been groomed to do what?
(a) Become a Puritan minister.
(b) Write great books.
(c) Become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
(d) Uphold the American legal system.

15. What questionable arrangement kept Webster in the Senate when he was about to resign?
(a) Webster was offered a bfribe which he nearly accepted.
(b) Businesses who benefited from his help paid off his debts so he could remain in the senate.
(c) Webster lied under oath in a Senate hearing.
(d) Webster appointed his relatives to Senate jobs.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Kennedy identify as the second pressure that prevents courageous deeds by elected officials.

2. In spite of John Quincey Adams' clarity and political courage, what life-long need did he have?

3. What does Kennedy say was a liability about Webster's immense popularity with both sides of the political spectrum?

4. What was rumored to be the cause of Houston's breakdown and resigning as Governor of Tennessee?

5. Who said that courage is grace under pressure?

(see the answer keys)

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