1. Obama writes that he narrowed the vice-presidential choice to two people, and that he was personally closer to one of them. Whom did he select, and how does he explain passing on the other?The Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.Photo by w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0. A. Hillary Clinton. He writes that the primary had been too bitter for them to share a ticket.B. Joe Biden. He was closer to Tim Kaine, but two young lawyers would unsettle voters.C. Evan Bayh. He writes that Bayh could carry Indiana, and that Kaine and Biden had both withdrawn.D. Bill Richardson. He writes that Richardson's years as U.N. ambassador put him ahead of Biden.
2. Who held the Speaker's gavel during this period?The chamber of the House of Representatives.U.S. House of Representatives. A. Nancy Pelosi at the start, then John Boehner after the 2010 election.B. John Boehner from inauguration day through the end of this volume in May 2011.C. Nancy Pelosi the entire time, since a midterm cannot change control of the House.D. The vice president, who becomes Speaker when the president's party holds the House.
3. Who led the Senate while Obama was trying to pass his agenda?The Senate chamber.U.S. Senate. A. Mitch McConnell as majority leader, after Republicans took the Senate in the 2010 midterms.B. Harry Reid as majority leader, Democrats in charge and McConnell leading the minority.C. Hillary Clinton, keeping her New York seat and managing the Democratic bills on the floor.D. Joe Biden, on the view that the vice president runs the Senate's day-to-day business.
4. What did the 2010 midterm elections do to party control of Congress?The west front of the United States Capitol.Architect of the Capitol. A. Democrats enlarged both majorities and rebuilt a filibuster-proof, 60-vote Senate.B. Republicans captured the House and the Senate and took over the legislative agenda.C. Neither chamber changed hands, and the meaningful losses came in the governorships.D. The GOP took the House, Democrats kept the Senate, and he called it a shellacking.
5. What was Hillary Clinton's role in the administration?Hillary Clinton.U.S. government photograph. A. Vice president, chosen because she finished a close second in the primaries.B. Ambassador to the United Nations, casting the administration's Security Council votes.C. Secretary of state, leading the State Department from the start of the term.D. Senate majority leader, charged with moving his bills on the Senate floor.
6. What did the unemployment rate do between inauguration and the spring of 2011?The Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, May 2010.Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0. A. It fell from just under 8 percent in January 2009 to about 5 percent by the spring of 2011.B. It rose from under 8 percent in January 2009 to 10 percent that October, then eased toward 9.C. It held near 5 percent from January 2009 through the spring of 2011, with no real spike.D. It rose from just under 8 percent in January 2009 past 15 percent and was still climbing in spring 2011.
7. In March 2011, Muammar Qaddafi's forces were closing on the rebel city of Benghazi, and he was threatening a massacre. What did Obama decide to do?The city centre of Benghazi, Libya.Photo by Jaw101ie, CC BY-SA 1.0. A. US ground troops into Tripoli, under a NATO flag, to install a new government.B. No US forces in the fight, with France and Britain left to act on their own.C. A UN air campaign, US strikes first and then NATO, and no US ground troops.D. No US flights until Congress had passed a formal declaration of war.
8. Obama writes that the crisis called for stimulus on the order of $1 trillion, while the Recovery Act that passed was about $787 billion. Much of it went to unemployment insurance, food stamps, tax cuts, and aid to states and cities, rather than to a slate of brand-new infrastructure projects. Why does he say the bill was built that way?President Obama signs a bill in Denver, February 2009.White House photograph by Pete Souza. A. The Senate parliamentarian had ruled that new construction did not count as emergency spending.B. He had promised in the campaign that the stimulus would fund no new federal building.C. Governors would take cash for their budgets and had refused infrastructure grants.D. Existing programs could pay out quickly, and new construction would have taken too long.
9. In the first months of 2009, with the public furious at the banks, Obama describes rejecting a course that some liberal economists and commentators wanted. What was it?The Treasury Department building.Library of Congress, Carol M. Highsmith. A. Nationalizing the big banks and having the government seize their assets.B. Publishing stress tests and making the weaker banks raise private capital.C. Letting the remaining large banks fail in the way Lehman Brothers had.D. Capping every bank executive's pay at one dollar until TARP was repaid.
10. Obama writes that he did not try to invent a single-payer system from scratch. The health-care bill followed a model already at work. Which model?President Obama signs a health-care bill, March 2010.White House photograph by Pete Souza. A. Canada's provincial single-payer plans, with the government as the insurer.B. Medicare, opened in one step to every American under the age of 65.C. The Massachusetts law Mitt Romney signed, with rules plus subsidies.D. Britain's National Health Service, with doctors paid by the government.
11. In January 2010, Republican Scott Brown won the special election for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Democrats no longer had the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. How does Obama describe getting the health-care law through after that?Scott Brown.U.S. Congress photograph. A. He adjourned the Senate and put the Senate bill into effect by executive order.B. The House passed the Senate bill, then reconciliation passed the fixes by majority vote.C. The Senate started over on a smaller bill that Snowe and Collins had agreed to cosponsor.D. Massachusetts delayed seating Brown so the old Senate could still break a filibuster.
12. In the fall 2009 Afghanistan review, General Stanley McChrystal asked for on the order of 40,000 more U.S. troops. What decision does Obama describe making?U.S. soldiers on a patrol in Afghanistan, 2009.U.S. Army photograph by Staff Sgt. Richard Roman. A. The full 40,000, with no public date set for any drawdown.B. No added troops, and US combat forces removed within six months.C. A handover to NATO, with US forces cut to a few thousand trainers.D. About 30,000 more troops, with a transition to begin in July 2011.
13. At the December 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, the talks were stuck, and leaders of the large emerging economies were meeting without the United States. What did Obama do?The Bella Center in Copenhagen.Photo by Froztbyte, CC BY-SA 3.0. A. He and Clinton entered that meeting and pressed the leaders for an accord.B. He left the summit early and left the European hosts to finish the bargaining.C. He refused to sign anything unless the Senate had already consented to a treaty.D. He dropped the US emissions target in exchange for a later summit in Washington.
14. On April 28, 2011, advisers debated a night raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden might be living. Obama describes the chance that bin Laden was there as about even. Who does he say argued against launching the raid then, because failure would be so costly and the intelligence was still uncertain?Advisers in the White House Situation Room, May 2011.White House photograph by Pete Souza. A. Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta.B. John Brennan and Admiral Mike Mullen.C. Joe Biden and Robert Gates.D. Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod.
15. Why does Obama say the Pakistani government was not told before the Abbottabad raid?An aerial view of a walled compound in Abbottabad.U.S. government photograph. A. Parliament had already forbidden any American raid, so a call would only draw a formal no.B. A warning might reach bin Laden through ties in the security services near the compound.C. The SEALs were already airborne before the final order, so there was no time to call.D. A standing treaty allows notice to Pakistan only after a raid is finished, never before.
16. Obama's first signed bill was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. What legal rule did that statute change?President Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, January 2009.White House photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian. A. It set a national minimum wage of $15 for every private employer.B. It made every public company publish each employee's pay by name.C. It reset the deadline for an unequal-pay claim with each paycheck.D. It gave a Labor Department board the power to set private salaries.
17. In his first week Obama ordered the CIA's secret prisons closed, limited interrogations to the Army Field Manual, and ordered the Guantanamo prison closed within a year. Why was Guantanamo still open at the end of this volume?Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay.Department of Defense photograph by Kathleen T. Rhem. A. Congress later barred funds to bring detainees into the United States.B. The closing orders were written for the press and never signed.C. The Supreme Court held that only a declaration of war can shut a prison.D. The Pentagon closed the prison in 2009 and reopened it after the midterms.
18. Justice David Souter retired in 2009. Obama writes that the short list included Elena Kagan and Judge Diane Wood. Whom did he nominate, and how does a Supreme Court appointment become final?The Supreme Court building.Photo by Kurt Kaiser, CC0. A. Merrick Garland, confirmed by a majority vote of the House.B. Elena Kagan, seated by presidential signature alone, with no Senate vote.C. Diane Wood, confirmed by the two-thirds Senate vote used for a treaty.D. Sonia Sotomayor, confirmed by a majority vote of the Senate.
19. Obama had long opposed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on open military service by gay Americans. Why did ending it go through Congress, rather than an executive order of the sort Truman used to desegregate the armed forces?A joint-service color guard.Photo by mark6mauno, CC BY 2.0. A. The Joint Chiefs, rather than the president, set the rules for who may serve.B. Congress had written the ban into a statute, so only a new statute could repeal it.C. A 2009 Supreme Court ruling required two-thirds of both houses to change personnel rules.D. The ban was a NATO treaty term, so only the Senate had power to change it.
20. In April 2010 Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed New START, a treaty cutting deployed strategic nuclear weapons and restoring inspections. What did the Constitution require before it bound the United States?President Obama and President Medvedev sign New START in Prague.White House photograph by Chuck Kennedy. A. The consent of two-thirds of the senators present for the vote.B. A House majority, because spending on the inspections has to start there.C. The 60-vote Senate count used to break a filibuster on an ordinary bill.D. Nothing further: the president's signature alone makes a treaty law.
21. The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 is the Wall Street statute of this period. Which pair of tools did it give the government for the next financial crisis?President Obama after a bill signing, July 2010.White House photograph by Pete Souza. A. It nationalized the six largest banks and put a cabinet officer on each board.B. It repealed deposit insurance and left every failure to ordinary bankruptcy.C. It added a consumer-credit bureau and a liquidation process for a failing giant.D. It required a balanced-budget amendment before the government could help any bank.
22. In June 2009 the House passed a cap-and-trade bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act. What became of it?Wind turbines in Iowa.Photo by GoBlue9, CC BY-SA 4.0. A. He vetoed it as too weak, and Congress then banned any further climate rules.B. The Senate passed the House text, and he signed it at the Copenhagen summit.C. The Supreme Court struck the bill down before it could leave the House.D. The Senate never passed it, so the House vote died without becoming law.
23. In the spring of 2009, GM and Chrysler were weeks from running out of cash. What policy did Obama adopt?The General Motors headquarters in Detroit.Library of Congress, Carol M. Highsmith. A. Sell both companies to the United Auto Workers for a dollar, then step away.B. Quick bankruptcies that kept the plants open and paired Chrysler with Fiat.C. Let both firms liquidate, on the same terms as the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.D. Ask Congress to take permanent public ownership of the American car companies.
24. Republicans won the House in the 2010 midterms. In the December lame-duck session, what tax bargain did Obama accept?A bill signing in December 2010.White House photograph. A. Extend the Bush tax rates for two years, plus benefits and a payroll-tax cut.B. Let every Bush-era tax cut expire on January 1 and fund a new public-works bill.C. Raise the top income-tax rate at once and cut the corporate tax rate to zero.D. Pass no tax bill, because a lame-duck session is barred from voting on taxes.
25. What was the legal basis for the Iraq drawdown he carried out in this period?U.S. soldiers on patrol in Iraq.U.S. Army photograph. A. A treaty he signed in 2009 required every US soldier out of Iraq within 30 days.B. The War Powers Resolution ended the war on its own on Inauguration Day.C. He ended combat operations in August 2010, on a 2011 exit already set by a Bush-era agreement.D. Congress repealed the 2002 war authorization in 2009, and that repeal brought the troops home.