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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. What does Isaacson claim to be Dean Acheson's views on Vietnam?
(a) He considered Vietnam to be evidence that the war against communism was never going to end.
(b) He considered Vietnam to be identical to the challenges of Korea.
(c) He considered Vietnam to be a distraction from the affairs of Europe.
(d) He considered Vietnam the most important confrontation to avoid the "Domino Theory."

2. How does Isaacson claim President Truman planned to fight for support for the Marshall Plan in Congress?
(a) By campaigning across the country to rally popular support for the effort.
(b) By calling for an emergency session of Congress and winning support for an "interim aid" bill.
(c) By advising Democrat congressmen to amend planks of the plan to popular legislation so it would eventually get passed out of the notice of political opponents.
(d) By vetoing every spending bill until the plan was accepted in Congress.

3. What was the only concession the Japanese requested for its surrender to end WWII, according to Isaacson?
(a) That Russia not be allowed to occupy the island.
(b) That Japanese Americans kept in detention camps be allowed to repatriate with their homeland.
(c) That Japan could keep its emperor.
(d) That their American occupiers limit their personal interaction with Japanese citizens.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. When and where was the first atomic bomb used on Japan?

2. 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?

3. Who does Isaacson claim Dean Acheson supported for the 1960 Democrat Presidential Nomination?

4. 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?

5. What does Isaacson claim to be George Kennan's biggest concern regarding Soviet Communism?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Isaacson report to be the concern of Robert Lovett regarding the operations of the CIA under President Eisenhower?

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

4. Who does Isaacson claim that Dean Acheson supported for the 1960 Democrat Presidential nomination over John F. Kennedy?

5. 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?

6. What affect did the Soviet aggression in Czechoslovakia have on Truman's effort to win Congressional approval of the Marshall Plan, according to Isaacson?

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

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

9. How did President Truman respond to the North Korean invasion of South Korea on June 24, 1950, according to Isaacson?

10. How does Isaacson explain the changes in the military policy of the Truman Administration once it became clear the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons?

(see the answer keys)

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