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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Isaacson claim that Averell Harriman and his Wall Street contemporaries believed to be the best guarantee for American security?
(a) Increased defense spending to force the Soviet Union to enter an unsustainable arms race.
(b) The establishment of democratic and representative governments everywhere.
(c) Withdrawing from international affairs and focusing on building up American markets.
(d) Providing financial support to allies that were targets for Soviet expansionism.

2. 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 struggle between totalitarianism and democracy."
(b) "...a test of free will against coercion."
(c) "...an unbridgeable ideological chasm."
(d) "...a contest between freedom and slavery."

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

4. What does Isaacson suggest to be the result of George Kennan's "Long Telegram"?
(a) It formulated the containment theory which was embraced by Washington.
(b) It made Kennan persona non grata to his superiors within the State Department.
(c) It caused a harmful foreign policy debate within the Truman Administration that led to international paralysis.
(d) It caused his old friend, Dean Acheson to advise him to discuss his ideas with him before he put things on paper.

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

6. What does Isaacson report that President Truman did to decide America's response to the Soviet Union's possession of nuclear weapons?
(a) 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.
(b) He appointed a three-man national security committee.
(c) He polled his cabinet and based his response on its concensus.
(d) He sent out the "Wise Men" to conduct town hall meetings to explain the danger facing the country from Soviet nuclear weapons.

7. How did George Kennan contribute to Acheson's effort to win support for Greece and Turkey, according to Isaacson?
(a) Kennan took a film crew to make a documentary of the desparation of Greece and Turkey.
(b) Kennan lent the cause credibility by showing how doing so would be an application of his popular document of containment.
(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.

8. What concern does Isaacson claim motivated Under Secretary of State Dean Acheson to encourage America's financial support for Greece?
(a) A possible takeover of Greece by communists as a result of a civil war.
(b) That an economic collapse in Greece would lead to a general economic collapse throughout Europe.
(c) That an economic collapse in Greece would expose the weakness of America's "dollar diplomacy."
(d) That an economic collapse in Greece would be widely seen as a failure of market systems.

9. What does Isaacson report that Clark Clifford wrote in a campaign memo to use the Soviet Crisis to help President Truman's re-election campaign for 1948?
(a) "In times of crisis, the American citizen tends to back up his President."
(b) "Never waste a good crisis."
(c) "Great wars define great leaders."
(d) "This gives us the opportunity to make voters fear a change at this time."

10. Who did President Eisenhower choose for his Ambassador to Russia, according to Isaacson?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) Chip Bohlen.
(c) Averell Harriman.
(d) George Kennan.

11. Who does Isaacson report that President Johnson wanted to serve as Ambassador to Vietnam in 1964?
(a) John McCloy.
(b) Dean Rusk.
(c) George Ball.
(d) McGeorge Bundy

12. How did the U.S. Government consider North Korea's invasion of South Korea, according to Isaacson?
(a) As a warning sign to world war.
(b) As the beginning of a life or death struggle against international communism.
(c) As a sign that the age of interventionism was over.
(d) As a sign that the U.S. had no other choice but to be involved with all the governments of the world to turn back the communist threat.

13. What does Isaacson record that Mao claimed to be the source of Chinese soldiers in North Korean combat units?
(a) Mao claimed that they were Russians equipped by China.
(b) Mao claimed they were Chinese volunteers who were protecting Chinese hydroelectric plants along the Yalu River.
(c) Mao claimed that they were communist sympathizers from throughout Asia seeking to ignite the international revolution.
(d) Mao claimed that China was not involved, that there were no Chinese soldiers in Korea.

14. What were the three questions President Truman wrote regarding America's confrontation with Soviet aggression?
(a) "What is our move when Russia moves? Should we move first? Who pulls the trigger?"
(b) "Can the communists really support such a spread of empire? Does communism have any real chance of surviving in our system? How much is this going to cost the government?"
(c) "Will Russia move first? Who pulls the trigger? Then where do we go?"
(d) "Can we afford to confront the Soviets? Will the voters support us? Can the country survive more wars?"

15. 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 Lovett was considered untrustworthy based upon his relationship with Alger Hiss.
(d) Because the Eisenhower Administration planned to cut spending on conventional forces and rely totally on nuclear weapons for defense.

Short Answer 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?

2. Why does Isaacson claim MacArthur's plans were blocked?

3. What does Isaacson write of what became of the "Six Wise Men" after Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1952?

4. Who does Isaacson report that President Truman chose to administer the European Recovery Plan (The Marshall Plan) in Europe?

5. Who was asked to approach President-Elect Kennedy's choice for Secretary of State to offer him the position, according to Isaacson?

(see the answer keys)

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