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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was U Thant?
(a) Acting Secretary General of the United Nations.
(b) Secretary of Defense.
(c) Soviet Chairman.
(d) Soviet Ambassador to the United Nations.

2. What book had JFK recently read that had to do with miscalculations leading to war?
(a) The Dangerous Summer.
(b) Night.
(c) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
(d) The Guns of August.

3. When looking at the first photographs of the missile bases in Cuba, what did JFK say it looked like?
(a) Football field.
(b) Soccer field.
(c) Swimming pool.
(d) Farm.

4. What did JFK ask in a letter to Khrushchev after ordering the blockade?
(a) All missiles to be handed over.
(b) For Khrushchev to observe the quarantine.
(c) All shipes to turn back.
(d) For Khrushchev to leave Berlin out of their deliberations.

5. Who wrote the note saying, "I now know how Tojo felt when he was planning Pearl Harbor" (24)?
(a) John F. Kennedy.
(b) Robert F. Kennedy.
(c) Lyndon B. Johnson.
(d) John McCone.

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

7. Who sent messages praising Russia and castigating the U.S.?
(a) Fidel Castro.
(b) David Ormsby Gore.
(c) Bertrand Russell.
(d) Ted Sorensen.

8. What was Robert's main argument against a surprise attack?
(a) Christian morality.
(b) Cowardice of surprise.
(c) Ineffectiveness of attack.
(d) America's traditions and history.

9. Before the announcement could be made that there was a Cuban Missile Crisis, what did the press report on instead of the crisis?
(a) The President would make a speech.
(b) The secret meetings of Ex Comm.
(c) The normal news.
(d) The OAS meeting.

10. What did the intelligence community tell JFK on September 19th, regarding the possibility of Russians putting offensive weapons in Cuba?
(a) Russia would not put offensive weapons in Cuba.
(b) Russia would use offensive weapons if in Cuba.
(c) Russia would put offensive weapons in Cuba, but they would not be a threat.
(d) Russia would put offensive weapons in Cuba.

11. 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) Robert Kennedy.
(b) Thomas Bundy.
(c) Dean Rusk.
(d) John McCone.

12. What did JFK read aloud at a meeting with a Russian representative?
(a) His own statement from September 4th.
(b) The Declaration of Independence.
(c) The Bible.
(d) Khrushchev's statement from September 19th.

13. What was one recommendation from the military action plan?
(a) Nuclear bombardment of Cuba.
(b) Nuclear bombardment of Russia.
(c) A warning sent to Khrushchev.
(d) Permission granted by the UN.

14. What did Robert sarcastically claim to be the advantage to being wrong in the case of military action?
(a) America's nuclear power would keep other countries from voicing disapproval.
(b) All of the enemies would be destroyed.
(c) It was favored by the American people.
(d) No one would be around to know.

15. Who publicly confronted Soviet Union Ambassador V. A. Zorin?
(a) Ted Sorensen.
(b) David Ormsby Gore.
(c) Adlai Stevenson.
(d) Bertrand Russell.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is one effect of pressure, according to Robert?

2. While Ex Comm was making final decisions regarding their recommendations, JFK was where?

3. Against what strategy was the following argument used: It would be like "closing the door after the horse has left the barn" (28)?

4. What did Secretary McNamara do, despite his dissent to the strategy?

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

(see the answer keys)

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