View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who did President Eisenhower choose for his Ambassador to Russia, according to Isaacson?

2. To whom did President Kennedy look in an attempt to peacefully settle the conflicts in Laos?

3. Who does Isaacson record to be the first Democrat candidate for president in 1952 after President Truman announced he would not seek re-election?

4. What scientist suggested the United States should respond to the Soviet Union's possession of the A-bomb by producing more powerful bombs?

5. Which of the "Six Wise Men" was chosen by President Johnson to assume authority over all diplomatic efforts to end the war in Vietnam according to Isaacson?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

5. What was the focus of George Kennan's "Long Telegram" according to Isaacson?

6. What does Isaacson claim to be Stalin's reaction to the Marshall Plan?

7. 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?

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

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

10. What does Isaacson claim to be the North Vietnamese offensive that made the Johnson Administration realize America needed to get out of the Vietnam War?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Soviet Union was an ally of Nazi Germany before the U.S. entered WWII, but sought out U.S. and British support after Germany invaded it. Use details from the book that suggest:

a. American support for enemies of Nazi Germany was bringing America to the brink of the European war.

b. The Soviets would manipulate the alliance with the U.S. and Britain for their own benefit.

c. How the war time alliance between the Soviet Union and the U.S. foretold conflict for the future.

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

The Wise Men examines the life long connections of six men and how they shaped America's foreign policy for nearly 40 years. How were the early lives and experiences of the "Wise Men" intertwined and how did their elite upbringing give them access to the seats of power where they were given opportunity to direct American foreign policy?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 840 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample