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

2. Why was General MacArthur fired according to Isaacson?

3. Who was asked to approach President-Elect Kennedy's choice for Secretary of State to offer him the position, according to Isaacson?

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

5. Which two of the "Six Wise Men" does Isaacson report were called to brief the Kennedy Administration on the two crises that faced them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Southeast Asian country did President Eisenhower tell President-Elect Kennedy was the "key" to keeping communism from overtaking all of Southeast Asia according to Isaacson?

2. According to Isaacson, what caused President Truman to remove General Douglas MacArthur from his command over the conduct of South Korean forces in the Korean War?

3. How does Isaacson report England was affected by the end of WWII?

4. What does Isaacson claim Clark Clifford wrote in a campaign strategy memo regarding the affect of the Soviet clampdown on Czechoslovakia on the reelection chances of President Truman?

5. How many coups were conducted in Vietnam in less than a year between 1963 and 1964, according to Isaacson?

6. What was the suggestion that Dean Acheson made regarding the future of freedom if Turkey and Greece fell into the influence of Soviet Communism, according to Isaacson?

7. 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?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Isaacson on several occasions throughout The Wise Men suggests that the "Wise Men" and various leaders in the government were fighting against "isolationist" desires of the general public and various political leaders. What evidence does Isaacson offer to support the idea that "isolationism" was a threat to America's future, and how did the internationalism of the "Wise Men" affect them and the country?

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