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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which president does Isaacson report Dean Acheson served as Assistant Secretary of State?
(a) John F. Kennedy.
(b) Franklin Roosevelt.
(c) Dwight Eisenhower.
(d) Harry Truman.

2. How did John McCloy come into contact with Averell Harriman and Robert Lovett?
(a) Through the law firm where John McCloy was employed.
(b) While he was directing a law office in Paris.
(c) As a student at Harvard Law School.
(d) As an advisor with the War Department.

3. What does Isaacson claim to the Lovett's and Harriman's most important innovation to the industry for which they were prepared by Judge Lovett?
(a) Using ticker tape to relay changes in stock prices.
(b) Establishing radio relay stations to deliver messages to ambassadors in foreign lands.
(c) Using airplanes to quickly relay messages to ambassadors in foreign lands.
(d) Developing streamlined diesel locomotives pulling sleek aluminum coaches.

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

5. What does Isaacson claim the Secretary of War called Lovett and McCloy?
(a) "The Heavenly Twins."
(b) "The Dynamic Duo."
(c) "Two of a kind."
(d) "The Minnesota Twins."

6. Who was the State Department's Liaison with the White House during the transfer of power from Roosevelt to Truman?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) Charles Bohlen.
(c) John McCloy.
(d) George Kennan.

7. What does Isaacson report to be a weakness Bohlen exhibited in the execution of his profession?
(a) His social proclivities caused embarrasments for other Administration officials.
(b) His poor manners offended the keepers of protocol.
(c) He was often too risky with investor's funds.
(d) His penmanship was poor and he never learned to type.

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

9. 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) Trying to prevent the Soviet Union from taking German industrial equipment and charging reparations against Germany.
(c) Blocking the Soviet Union from attempting to set terms of peace with Japan.
(d) Slowing the influence of Soviet communism over the Maoist movement in China.

10. Where did John McCloy attend College according to Isaacson?
(a) Harvard.
(b) Yale.
(c) Amherst.
(d) Oxford.

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

12. What Assistant Secretary of War does Isaacson cite as fearing American isolationism after WWII?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) Averell Harriman.
(c) John McCloy.
(d) Robert Lovett.

13. Isaacson reports which "Wise Man" worked to implement Franklin Roosevelt's Lend Lease program?
(a) George Kennan.
(b) Henry Stimson.
(c) John McCloy.
(d) Dean Acheson.

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

15. What does Isaacson claim the six men profiled in The Wise Men represent?
(a) New Democrats.
(b) Moderate Republicans.
(c) Ivy League colleges.
(d) The American Establishment.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the Supreme Court Justice for whom Dean Acheson clerked?

2. Which of the "Wise Men" does Isaacson report to have served in active service during WWI?

3. What does Isaacson suggest started becoming a concern to the six "Wise Men" shortly after WWII began?

4. What was the ratio of students who passed the training for Kennan's chosen field to those who took the course, according to Isaacson?

5. How did George Kennan develop his connection to Russia according to Isaacson?

(see the answer keys)

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