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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many Americans could potentially have died within minutes of the known missiles being fired off as of October 18th?
(a) Eight million.
(b) Eighty million.
(c) Eight hundred.
(d) Eighty thousand.

2. Who intervened with the newspapers to delay the report of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
(a) Ed Martin.
(b) JFK.
(c) Robert Kennedy.
(d) George Ball.

3. Who said, "It is exactly what I would have done . . . a great government such as yours does not act without evidence" (41)?
(a) Dean Acheson.
(b) General de Gaulle.
(c) Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
(d) Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

4. What happened around 10:30, October 27th, the first day of the blockade?
(a) The Cubans shot down a plane.
(b) The Russian ships stopped.
(c) The Cubans overran the U.S. embassy.
(d) The Russian ships fired upon a U-2.

5. What does Robert believe often leads to war?
(a) Pride.
(b) Prudence.
(c) Hate.
(d) Greed.

6. What does Robert claim was impossible for Ex Comm to come up with when making their recommendations to JFK?
(a) A dogmatism.
(b) The right answer.
(c) A unanimous vote.
(d) An intelligent response.

7. When Robert meets with Dobrynin after the blockade is put into effect, what does Dobrynin say the ships will do?
(a) Take military action against boarders.
(b) Re-route to another country.
(c) Turn back to Russia.
(d) Continue as planned.

8. What was JFK's feeling after meeting with a Russian representative after learning about missiles in Cuba?
(a) Rage.
(b) Displeased.
(c) Depressed.
(d) Content.

9. Who said, "they, no more than we, can let these things go by without doing something. They can't after all their statements, permit us to take out their missiles, kill a lot of Russians, and then do nothing. If they don't take action in Cuba, they certainly will in Berlin" (28)?
(a) General LeMay.
(b) General Shoup.
(c) Robert F. Kennedy.
(d) John F. Kennedy.

10. Against what strategy was the following argument used: It would be like "closing the door after the horse has left the barn" (28)?
(a) Summit.
(b) Blockade.
(c) Nuclear War.
(d) Air stike.

11. What piece of information caused JFK to favor the blockade?
(a) Russian promise to use nuclear weapons against Berlin.
(b) No guarantee of all missiles being destroyed.
(c) No guarantee that American lives would not be lost.
(d) The Russian demand to remove bombs from Turkey.

12. Who said that Russia only wanted to "give bread to Cuba in order to prevent hunger in that country" (34)?
(a) Khrushchev.
(b) Castro.
(c) Gromyko.
(d) Dobrynin.

13. In the section entitled, "It was now up to one single man," when did JFK hope to broadcast his plan to the nation?
(a) Tuesday.
(b) Sunday.
(c) Monday.
(d) Never.

14. What might have happened to the President if he had not acted?
(a) Death.
(b) Nothing.
(c) Public humiliation.
(d) Impeachment.

15. Who, due to his role in the government, might have been the leader of Ex Comm if he had been able to attend more meetings?
(a) Dean Rusk.
(b) Robert Kennedy.
(c) Thomas Bundy.
(d) John McCone.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the members of Ex Comm avoid arousing suspicion when visiting the White House at 9:15 at night?

2. What was the main reason that the President did not attend all of the Ex Comm meetings?

3. When did John F. Kennedy call his brother, Robert, to the White House to discuss the photographs taken over Cuba?

4. What did the intelligence community tell JFK on September 19th, regarding the possibility of Russians putting offensive weapons in Cuba?

5. Robert describes the conflict in Cuba as one between two atomic nations. What are the two atomic nations he refers to?

(see the answer keys)

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