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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What State Department official does Isaacson report to have been determined to bring the United States into a "Western Union" military alliance?
(a) John Hickerson.
(b) Donald Maclean.
(c) Theodore Achilles.
(d) Robert Lovett.

2. Who were two of the "Six Wise Men" that Isaacson reported had withdrawn their support for the war in Vietnam by the summer of 1967?
(a) John McCloy and Dean Acheson.
(b) Robert Lovett and Averell Harriman.
(c) George Kennan and Charles Bohlen.
(d) John McCloy and Robert Lovett.

3. What does Isaacson report to be the entry in the Enola Gay log book by co-pilot Robert Lewis after the explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima?
(a) "Target visually bombed with good results."
(b) "Is this all it's cracked up to be?"
(c) "My God. What have we done?"
(d) "This thing is over."

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 become the basis for a propaganda campaign that helped to condense power within the foreign policy elite.
(b) To support a greater role for military actions against communist aggression.
(c) To assist military chiefs in Congressional testimony.
(d) To give support for more military spending in the battle to confront communism.

5. 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 sent out the "Wise Men" to conduct town hall meetings to explain the danger facing the country from Soviet nuclear weapons.
(d) He polled his cabinet and based his response on its concensus.

6. How does Isaacson report that Clark Clifford understood the rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union had to be framed to make the general public support confronting the Communists?
(a) Clifford understood the rivalry had, "...to be framed as a potential threat to the freedom and security of every individual in the country."
(b) Clifford understood the rivalry had, "...to be framed as fearfully as possible to cajole the general public to put unquestioning support for the wisdom of its government."
(c) Clifford understood the rivalry had, "...to be framed as a personal cause of free American talent overcoming international slavery."
(d) Clifford understood the rivalry had, "...to be framed as a contest between the forces of darkness and light."

7. 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) "This gives us the opportunity to make voters fear a change at this time."
(b) "Never waste a good crisis."
(c) "Great wars define great leaders."
(d) "In times of crisis, the American citizen tends to back up his President."

8. 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) Edward Teller.
(c) David Lilienthal.
(d) Robert Oppenheimer.

9. How does Isaacson suggest that President Kennedy hoped to avoid war in Laos?
(a) With help from the British in reviving the International Control Commission.
(b) By supporting economic development throughout South East Asia.
(c) By calling on the support of allies in the area to come to America's aid for the war that was rapidly developing.
(d) Through back channel negotiations with leaders of the Soviet Union.

10. How did communist cells throughout Europe respond to the Marshall Plan?
(a) They started programs of social support for European laborers to win political support for their agendas.
(b) They began a program of counterfeiting currencies to cause an inflationary cycle.
(c) They posed as businesses that received funds that were then put into programs to promote communism.
(d) They would attempt to disrupt governments and try to bring them down.

11. What does Isaacson write of what became of the "Six Wise Men" after Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1952?
(a) They went into "exile" from Washington and served in the private sector.
(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 became involved in movements to create a global economy.

12. 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 John McCloy to being an internationalist to being an isolationist.
(d) The conversion of Harry Truman from being a non-interventionist to being an internationalist.

13. According to Isaacson, why did did George Kennan oppose the development of more powerful nuclear weapons?
(a) Kennan felt that communism was unsustainable especially when its systems were attempting to build empires.
(b) Kennan believed the confrontation with communism was a social battle, not military.
(c) Kennan believed that confronting the Soviets with conventional forces would avoid nuclear annihilation.
(d) Because Kennan felt the Soviets were paranoid and a bigger bomb would make them more dangerous.

14. Who does Issacson report to have written a telegram that claimed fear that war could come, "with dramatic suddenness"?
(a) General Douglas MacArthur.
(b) George Kennan.
(c) Former Secretary of War Henry Stimson.
(d) General Lucius Clay, the Military Governor of Germany.

15. 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) Preserving Germany's industrial capacity.
(d) Restoring Europe's economy.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Isaacson claim President Truman planned to fight for support for the Marshall Plan in Congress?

2. What does Isaacson suggest shaped President Johnson's views on dealing with Soviet Communism?

3. Why did Dean Acheson believe the U.S. should get involved in the war between North and South Korea, according to Isaacson?

4. When had Dean Acheson worked with Secretary of State George Marshall, prior to Marshall's appointment to the State Department, according to Isaacson?

5. Who does Isaacson claim John F. Kennedy called for advice on responding to a congratulatory telegram from Nikita Khrushchev the day after Kennedy was announced the winner of the 1960 election?

(see the answer keys)

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