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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. How does Isaacson suggest the Soviet Union's possession of nuclear weapons changed President Truman's perspective on checking Soviet aggression?
(a) Truman decided that the best way of confronting the Soviets would be with a massive military build-up of both nuclear and conventional forces.
(b) Truman saw the futility of the destructive nature of nuclear weapons and attempted to begin a policy of non-intervention.
(c) Truman realized that the struggle between communism and freedom would be costly and desperate.
(d) Truman believed America's monopoly on nuclear weapons could check Soviet aggression, but Soviet nuclear power made him doubtful.

2. What does Isaacson claim to be the the Soviet's view of keeping security?
(a) The Soviets viewed security in terms of seeing everyone as a potential threat.
(b) The Soviets saw security as the primary goal of all of its imperial efforts.
(c) The Soviets saw massive military buildups as the primary method of achieving security.
(d) The Soviets viewed security in terms of dominating and occupying as much territory as possible.

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

4. When did the Soviet Union begin its "clampdown" on Czechoslovakia, according to Isaacson?
(a) March 3, 1948.
(b) December 7, 1947.
(c) June 24, 1950.
(d) February 25, 1948.

5. What does Isaacson report to have been the reaction to communist tactics against the Marshall Plan?
(a) Congress began to realize that the battle against communism was going to be long and costly.
(b) The Truman Administration had the evidence of the corrosive nature of communism to convince the country its steps were the right ones.
(c) The American public began looking for similar activities within their communities.
(d) Congress initiated the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the Johnson Administration offer to Vietnamese communists if they pulled back on their invasion of South Vietnam in the summer of 1965, according to Isaacson?

2. What State Department official does Isaacson report to have been determined to bring the United States into a "Western Union" military alliance?

3. How did communist cells throughout Europe respond to the Marshall Plan?

4. Why did President Eisenhower relieve Bob Lovett from the Defense Department, according to Isaacson?

5. How did George Kennan contribute to Acheson's effort to win support for Greece and Turkey, according to Isaacson?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who did President Kennedy choose to act as his chief negotiator at the International Control Commission talks on Laos, according to Isaacson?

2. Why did the Truman Administration consider making an atomic arms control "covenant" with the Soviet Union, according to Isaacson?

3. What does Isaacson report to have been General Douglas MacArthur's proposal to stop the flow of Chinese Soldiers into the war between North and South Korea?

4. Who were the first two of the "Six Wise Men" to remove themselves from advising President Johnson because they could no longer support America's involvement in Vietnam, according to Isaacson?

5. What does Isaacson claim Winston Churchill offered as a suggestion for a solution to Soviet expansionism in his "Iron Curtain" speech in Missouri?

6. Why does Isaacson suggest that Dean Acheson recommended Dean Rusk to President-Elect Kennedy for Secretary of State?

7. What was Dean Acheson's view regarding America's involvement in Vietnam, according to Isaacson?

8. What organization did John McCloy help to form that became the precursor to the European Common Market, according to Isaacson?

9. What does Isaacson report to be the entry into the logbook of the Enola Gay to record the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima?

10. What did Isaacson identify as George Kennan's recommended next phase for dealing with communist expansionism after he felt that his plan for containment was working?

(see the answer keys)

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