22. Upon the desegregation of the military, which branch was the last to comply?
a. Navy
b. Air Force
c. Army
d. Marines
e. Coast Guard
23. Which of the following statements accurately describes the racial landscape African
Americans experienced in the years after World War II?
a. Although racial prejudice and violence were still ingrained in American life, the fight
against the racist Nazi regime helped fuel the movement against racial bigotry at home.
b. Truman refused to take any steps to ban racial discrimination, out of fear it would hurt
his chances at reelection and because of his ignorance regarding the extent of racial
violence.
c. Because African Americans had only been able to serve in the war in very small
numbers, America’s racial landscape remained unchanged.
d. African American veterans faced little danger in speaking out against racial bigotry
because of the extent of white Americans’ gratitude for their military service.
e. Southern Democrats had become far more receptive to equal opportunities for African
Americans and called for increased intervention by the government in race relations.
24. The first African American to play baseball for a major league team was
a. Jessie Owens.
b. Jackie Robinson.
c. Carl Weathers.
d. Marcus Garvey.
e. Wilt Chamberlain.
25. The American GI Forum was created after World War II to deal with prejudice facing
a. African Americans.
b. Mexican Americans.
c. Asian Americans.
d. Texans.
e. Native Americans.
26. Which of the following were policies proposed by Truman’s Fair Deal?
a. A great reduction in American involvement in foreign affairs
b. Equal pay for men and women
c. Civil rights and federal aid to education
d. The reinstatement of the Taft-Hartley Act
e. Less government involvement in health insurance
27. How did Truman’s proposed Fair Deal policies fare?
a. Congress passed most of the policies because it considered them more just and
bipartisan than Roosevelt’s New Deal policies had been.
b. Although Truman was unsuccessful in his efforts to reinstate the Taft-Hartley Act, he
secured national health insurance and a new approach for subsidizing farmers.
c. Conservative Republicans managed to get the policies passed by Congress because they
agreed with Truman’s new hands-off approach to foreign policy.
d. Most of the programs were rejected by Congress, in part because bipartisan
conservatives considered them extensions of earlier New Deal programs such as social
security.
e. Although Truman used the proposed policies as part of his platform for the 1948
election, he never actually brought them before Congress because he became distracted
by foreign affairs.
28. In what way did the Chinese civil war prove significant for the cold war?
a. It reassured Truman that the scope of the cold war was diminishing because communism
had not proved a major issue between the fighting Chinese factions.
b. It led the U.S. military to intervene immediately and demonstrated the strong support
Americans showed early on for such a massive intervention.
c. It resulted in the victory of Communists over Chinese Nationalists, although the United
States would continue to recognize the Nationalist government as the official
government.
d. It ended with the Chinese Nationalists’ victory over the Communists because of their
detonation of the first atomic weapons since World War II.
e. It led to an alliance between the U.S. government and the Communist Chinese
government, for their version of communism was much different than the Soviet
Union’s.
29. In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government fled to
a. Japan.
b. Korea.
c. Taiwan.
d. Nippon.
e. Manchuria.
30. What event heightened cold war tensions in 1949?
a. The Soviets detonated a nuclear bomb.
b. The Soviets sent a manmade satellite into orbit.
c. The United States developed an atomic bomb.
d. The Soviets erected the Berlin Wall.
e. The Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.
31. During the Korean War, who supplied communist North Korea with war material?
a. United States
b. Vietnam
c. Soviet Union
d. England
e. France
32. Who was placed in command of the UN forces in Korea during the Korean War?
a. Dwight D. Eisenhower
b. George Patton
c. Gerald Ford
d. Douglas MacArthur
e. Fred McNamara
33. When the United Nations forces drew too close to the North Korean northern border, which
nation attacked them and forced a retreat?
a. Japan
b. Manchuria
c. Russia
d. China
e. Jakarta
34. Because he was critical of President Truman, __________ was fired for insubordination in
1951.
a. Dwight D. Eisenhower
b. George Patton
c. Gerald Ford
d. Douglas MacArthur
e. Fred McNamara
35. An impact of the Korean War was that President Truman authorized assistance for French
troops in __________, beginning a long period of U.S. involvement there.
a. India
b. North Africa
c. Turkey
d. Southeast Asia
e. Berlin
36. The executive order issued by Truman to ensure there were no communists or anyone
associated with communism in the United States government was called the
a. McCarran Internal Security Act
b. Sedition Act
c. Loyalty Order
d. Marshall Plan
e. Patriot Act
37. In May 1947, charges that __________ was a “hotbed of communism” led to a
Congressional investigation.
a. Washington, D.C.
b. Harvard
c. The Brookings Institute
d. Hollywood
e. The Civil Service Commission
38. Arthur Miller’s play __________ about the Salem Witch Trials was really an allegory for
the HUAC hearings.
a. Witch Hunt
b. The Crucible
c. The Scarlet Letter
d. Death of a Salesman
e. Who’s Your Commie?
39. In 1949 the Supreme Court upheld the Smith Act of 1940 arguing that __________
overrode the right to free speech.
a. military commitments
b. large corporations’ business reputations
c. the rights of atheists not to hear prayers
d. public school prohibitions against vulgar language
e. a clear and present danger to the United States
40. Who was arrested, tried, and executed for participating in a Soviet spy ring in the United
States?
a. Alger Hiss
b. James and Connie Fields
c. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
d. Douglas MacArthur
e. James Franklin
41. Who was the U.S. senator who made reckless charges and groundless accusations of the
extent of communist activity in America during the early 1950s?
a. Harry Truman
b. Richard Nixon
c. John Kennedy
d. Joseph McCarthy
e. William Jennings
42. What bill did President Truman veto because he said it would create government “thought
control”?
a. McCarran Internal Security Act
b. Marshall Plan
c. Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
d. National Security Act
e. Loyalty Order
43. Why did President Truman not seek a second term in 1952?
a. He was ready to retire.
b. He died in office.
c. He felt he would not win since his approval rating was so low.
d. He was labeled a communist.
e. He was defeated in the Democratic primary.
44. Which of the following statements about Truman’s legacy as president is accurate?
a. He spent too much of his energy on decreasing the power of the federal government and
the presidency, which in turn dangerously limited the power of the military.
b. He was most successful in his ability to prevent widespread conformity of thought and
behavior in the United States and to quell any anti-Communist hysteria.
c. He failed to use enough American resources in his efforts to address communism and
focused too much on prioritizing his responses to Soviet adventurism.
d. He helped open the way for what Dwight D. Eisenhower would eventually call the
military-industrial complex, in part through the creation of new government agencies.
e. He was considered far more corrupt than his administration, and in the early fifties
toward the end of his presidency, the economy began to rapidly decline.
ESSAY
1. What were the components of President Truman’s Fair Deal? How did it compare to FDR’s
New Deal? What was Congress’s response to the proposed policies, and why?
2. Discuss the election of 1948. Who were the major (and minor) parties, and what issues
dominated the campaign? What was the eventual outcome of the race?
3. Explain the origins of the Cold War. Which nations were at the center of the tension? What
were the difficulties in overcoming those tensions?
4. Explain the political concept of “containment.”
5. What were the civil rights controversies of the Truman era? How did Truman respond? Was
there any “progress” while he was president?
MATCHING
Match each person, group, or event with one of the following descriptions.
a. Wrote the influential “Long Telegram” in 1946 on a cold war strategy for limiting Soviet
expansion and trying to avoid war
b. Was taunted and baited during the 1947 baseball season
c. Defected from the national Democratic party in 1948 out of disagreement with the party’s
support for civil rights
d. Was convicted in 1950 of perjury in an espionage case
e. Was the Republican presidential candidate in 1948
f. Was a former Soviet agent and later an editor of Time magazine
g. Were blacklisted because they refused to testify before HUAC
h. Coined the term “iron curtain”
i. Was secretary of state in 1947
j. Organized the America GI Forum, later expanding it from focusing on veterans’ issues to
equal opportunities for all people
k. Outlined in 1950 a top-secret militaristic approach to combating the spread of global
communism
l. Formed originally to investigate Nazi subversion in World War II and, later on, Communism
in the government and movie industry
1. Thomas E. Dewey
2. NSC-68
3. Alger Hiss
4. Whittaker Chambers
5. George F. Kennan
6. George C. Marshall
7. The Hollywood Ten
8. Winston Churchill
9. House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC)
10. Dr. Hector Perez Garcia
11. Dixiecrats
12. Jackie Robinson
