Sentence:  Considering the state of the whole world , the cold war 's three exposed fronts did not seem terribly ominous ; but , in Senator Gore 's words , it <WSD>was</WSD> `` not a very encouraging '' situation that would confront John F. Kennedy on Inauguration Day . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)