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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt about his interview with Kennedy for the Secretary of State job?
(a) Superbly.
(b) He felt he had not been articulate enough.
(c) He did not know whether he could serve under Kennedy.
(d) Not well.

2. What had Robert Lovett been before entering government?
(a) An automobile executive.
(b) A career military officer.
(c) An insurance salesman.
(d) An investment banker.

3. What were Eleanor Roosevelt's feelings about Kennedy?
(a) She distrusted his Catholicism.
(b) She admired his leadership.
(c) She did not entirely trust him.
(d) She resented his inexperience.

4. When did Kennedy become well known in Washington?
(a) In his race for Senate.
(b) In the 1960 campaign.
(c) During the Cuban Missile Crisis.
(d) When he first entered politics.

5. Whom did Kennedy want to act as Secretary of State?
(a) He was going to act as his own Secretary of State.
(b) Adlai Stevenson.
(c) Chester Bowles.
(d) He was going to abolish the position of Secretary of State.

6. What does Halberstam say was Robert McNamara's role in the White House policy discussions?
(a) McNamara filled in the details of others' plans.
(b) McNamara dominated discussions.
(c) McNamara enforced Kennedy's will.
(d) McNamara followed the will of the other advisers.

7. What made McGeorge Bundy an effective administrator?
(a) He listened to others and used their ideas.
(b) He could sense what others were thinking and what they needed.
(c) He had a rigid sense of principle.
(d) He did not brook opposition.

8. What does Halberstam say was the sense in the Kennedy administration as they came into office?
(a) They were going to institute a new era of peace.
(b) They were going to continue the country's prosperity.
(c) They were going to conquer the Russians.
(d) They were going to get the country moving again.

9. What mistake had the Kennedy administration made in the Bay of Pigs invasion?
(a) They had not supplied enough men and material.
(b) They had underestimated the logistical difficulties of a landing.
(c) They had not seen that the Cuban people were not opposed to Castro.
(d) They had not checked the weather for the invasion.

10. What was the recommendation that came out of the fact-finding mission of 1961?
(a) That the U.S. send 100,000 troops.
(b) That the U.S. commit military advisers.
(c) That the U.S. send 8,000 troops.
(d) That the U.S. commit 20,000 troops.

11. What kind of reports does Halberstam say would come from the head of the U.S. command after his 1962 appointment?
(a) Unrealistic reports.
(b) Pragmatic and diplomatic reports.
(c) Reports that were imperial propaganda.
(d) Highly detailed reports.

12. What state does Halberstam say the Vietcong were in when Kennedy sent the fact-finding mission in 1961?
(a) They were fragmented and plagued with in-fighting.
(b) They had opposition in the civilian populace.
(c) They were using guerilla tactics ineffectively.
(d) They were committed and had good leadership.

13. How does Halberstam say McNamara learned about the affairs in Vietnam?
(a) By talking to people.
(b) By conducting academic studies.
(c) By seeing for himself.
(d) By reading reports.

14. How many soldiers had the U.S. sent to Vietnam in its first commitment of troops?
(a) 8 military advisers.
(b) 20,000 troops.
(c) 400 Special forces and 3,000 troops.
(d) 100,000 troops.

15. What did Chester Bowles think was the most important issue to confront?
(a) Military expansion.
(b) Race issues.
(c) Poverty.
(d) Budget cuts.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say was the state of tensions within the White House as involvement in Vietnam escalated?

2. Which of these was NOT a point of disagreement between the White House and the military, in Halberstam's account?

3. Why didn't Kennedy offer the position of Secretary of State to David Bruce?

4. How does Halberstam say Lyndon Johnson felt in the Kennedy administration?

5. What does Halberstam say McNamara learned that he had to do in order to argue against nuclear weapons?

(see the answer keys)

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