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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Dobrynin say the Cubans resented when Robert meets with him after the U-2 was shot down?
(a) Socialism.
(b) U.S. democracy.
(c) Violation of Cuban air space.
(d) The Bay of Pigs.

2. In a conversation between JFK and Robert, how far did JFK say that he wanted to push the Russians?
(a) To the brink of war.
(b) He did not want to push them at all.
(c) To the precipice of no turning back.
(d) Not one inch farther than required.

3. Who said, " You are in the courtroom of world opinion right now, and you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist, and I want to know whether or I have understood you correctly" (58)?
(a) Adlai Stevenson.
(b) Don Wilson.
(c) V. A. Zorin.
(d) Pierre Salinger.

4. How many countries does the Secretary of State have to deal with?
(a) One hundered and twenty.
(b) Fifty.
(c) Seven.
(d) One hundered and seventy-five.

5. What do men have the power to do today that they did not in past war making?
(a) Destroy mankind.
(b) Save the world.
(c) Fight without killing anyone.
(d) Start wars without involving other countries.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the Joint Chief of Staff suggest the U.S. do to respond to the letter sent October 27th?

2. Robert tells that JFK felt that if what had happened could be considered a triumph, it was only one for who?

3. Who handles all international problems for the U.S.?

4. Who did JFK believe should take public credit for the end of the missile crisis?

5. According to the Afterword, what did victory mean pre-1945?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who did JFK seek advice from? Why?

2. What does Robert mean when he says "that with respect to nuclear war there is an awesome crack between unlikelihood and impossibility" (105)?

3. What does Robert mean when he writes "no action is taken against a powerful adversary in a vacuum" (96)?

4. What did the letter received October 23rd from Khrushchev imply about the U.S. and the repercussions the U.S. may expect?

5. What made the prospect of war unbearable to JFK?

6. Why does Robert believe that a devil's advocate is necessary for the President?

7. How did Africa play a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

8. Analyze the simile "the leaders who lived through the crisis felt what it was like to peer over the precipice" (104)?

9. Khrushchev uses several metaphors in his letter to JFK. What is one metaphor and what does it mean?

10. Why does Robert claim that "we cannot be an island even if we wished; nor can we successfully separate ourselves from the rest of the world" (94)?

(see the answer keys)

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