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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 does Isaacson claim to be Harriman's first crusade in his role with the Roosevelt Administration?

2. How does Isaacson claim Bohlen distinguished himself in the service of his first assignment?

3. When did Averell Harriman join the most elite club at Yale according to Isaacson?

4. Who was the Supreme Court Justice for whom Dean Acheson clerked?

5. What does Isaacson claim the six men profiled in The Wise Men represent?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the circumstances through which John McCloy came into contact with Averell Harriman and Robert Lovett after WWI, according to Isaacson?

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

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

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

5. Which of the "Six Wise Men" does Isaacson report came to know the family of another through his father's employment?

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

7. What did Isaacson report regarding a meeting between Averell Harriman and Max Beaverbrook that foretold the change in the balance of power between England and the United States?

8. What does Isaacson identify as the major issues facing Harry Truman during the first month of his presidency after the death of President Roosevelt?

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. What were the major declarations of the Atlantic Charter, according to Isaacson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dean Acheson and John McCloy followed different legal careers to become very important influences throughout the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Explain how their different legal experiences and connections led to their accessing positions through which they shaped policies from the 1930's throughout the 1970's.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Much of what the "Wise Men" helped to develop during the Cold War (NATO, the CIA, foreign aid spending, the military industrial complex) still exists today despite the fact that the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989 and China has abandoned communism as an economic and governing model. Consider how these institutions and strategies are being used in the "War on Terror," and the reasons current leaders say this is a necessary global war and compare them to claims of the "Wise Men" for confronting the global threat of communism. Use evidence in the book and from outside sources in this comparison give your opinion on one of three options:

a. The efforts of the "Wise Men" to develop the tools to protect America's interests around the world were for the sake of the people of the U.S. and they are still being used for the same today.

b. The intentions of the "Wise Men" were to protect the U.S. but they have recently been used to expand the power of people in the government over the lives of American citizens.

c. The "Wise Men" used their access to the foreign policy bureaucracy to draw power to themselves and the foreign policy establishment and they continue to be so used today.

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