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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the reason Isaacson suggests that John McCLoy's mother encouraged him to tutor children of her wealthy clients during summers away from school?

2. What unusual practice did Soviet pilots take as they flew in approach to Russian cities, according to Isaacson?

3. With what country did Bohlen become fascinated during late-night discussions at Harvard?

4. Which of the six "Wise Men" does Isaacson report Roosevelt's Secretary of War asked to work on German espionage?

5. What does Isaacson report Vice President Harry Truman was doing when news of President Roosevelt's death was first leaked?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Isaacson claim that Robert Lovett's father started in his work for E.H. Harriman?

2. Which of the "Six Wise Men" attended Yale, according to Isaacson?

3. What does Isaacson report to be Averell Harriman's first achievement after he was named as transportation adviser to the National Defense Advisory Commission by President Franklin Roosevelt?

4. What does Issacson suggest comes between 20th century isolationism and a utopian dream of a world order based on international law?

5. After WWI, how does Isaacson show Averell Harriman's process of making business deals with Leon Trotsky of Communist Russia?

6. What does Isaacson claim to be Averell Harriman's qualification for Skull and Bones?

7. What experience in John McCloy's background does Isaacson claim gave McCloy the exposure to Henry Stimson that eventually led to McCloy's appointment to the Department of War as a special consultant on German espionage?

8. What kind of jobs did John McCloy's mother find for him during his youth, according to Isaacson?

9. What does Isaacson claim to be the "warning" issued through the Potsdam proclamation by the Allied Powers to Japan regarding the dropping of the atomic bomb?

10. Why did Russian soldiers dismantle German factories and send the assets back to their homeland at the end of WWII according to Isaacson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Connections with the Soviet Union became a connecting point between each of the "Wise Men" and other world leaders. Detail how the "Wise Men" established connections with the Soviet Union, what leaders affected their connections with it, and events that shaped their future perspectives of the Soviet Union.

Essay Topic 2

Joseph Stalin is very prominent in the development of American foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union. Was American foreign policy developed with regard to American interests or as reactions to Stalin's personality, demands, and aggression against domestic political enemies and satellite states to the Soviet Union? If you choose the answer that policy regarding Stalin's Soviet Union was made in defense of American interests, support your position with evidence from the book and outside sources. If you consider that foreign policy was made as a reaction to Stalin, support your position with evidence and suggest how the government could have acted more for the benefit of the nation.

Essay Topic 3

Upon the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima, the crew of the Enola Gay realized the power of the weapon. Trace the steps that led to the decision to use the atom bomb on Japan with information from the book. Consider the situation Japan faced after the surrender of Germany and Italy in Europe. Was the use of the atom bomb necessary to bring Japan to face its defeat? Why or why not? What reasons are cited in The Wise Men for making the decision to use the atom bomb? Do these reasons justify the destruction that was brought on the general populations of those two cities?

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