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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 committed and had good leadership.
(d) They were using guerilla tactics ineffectively.

2. What was Kennedy's position on the Cold War policies of his predecessors?
(a) He was going to end them.
(b) He was going to improve on them.
(c) He did not want to follow them.
(d) He was going to continue them.

3. Why didn't Kennedy offer the position of Secretary of State to David Bruce?
(a) Bruce was felt to be too young.
(b) Bruce was felt to be too old.
(c) Bruce was felt to be too conservative.
(d) Bruce was felt to be too academic.

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

5. What does Halberstam say McNamara had done while he was at Ford?
(a) Raised the quality of the product without raising the cost.
(b) Busted a unionization attempt.
(c) Innovated in the design of the production process.
(d) Created a fiscal crisis.

6. What committee had Kennedy served on in the Senate?
(a) Foreign Relations Committee.
(b) Banking and Finance Committee.
(c) Military Affairs Committee.
(d) Judiciary Committee.

7. What does Halberstam say Americans were disunited about in the early 1960s?
(a) How to establish peace.
(b) How to balance the budget.
(c) How to go about fighting Communism.
(d) How to reduce nuclear weapons.

8. What does Halberstam say marked the end of the generals' faith in Diem?
(a) The influence of American interests on Diem's government.
(b) The backlash against the army after the botched raids on the pagodas.
(c) The drought and subsequent humanitarian crisis.
(d) The raid on the pagodas.

9. What did the fact-finding mission discover at about the time of the problem with the Buddhist monks?
(a) Diem was not on top of the situation.
(b) The North was expanding its recruitment.
(c) The U.S. was unprepared for guerilla warfare.
(d) Vast corruption.

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

11. Whom had Eleanor Roosevelt wanted Kennedy to appoint as Secretary of State?
(a) Chester Bowles.
(b) Dean Rusk.
(c) Adlai Stevenson.
(d) Robert McNamara.

12. Why did Robert Lovett demur about being appointed in the Kennedy administration?
(a) He was in financial trouble.
(b) He had health problems.
(c) He was newly a father.
(d) He did not like Kennedy.

13. What had happened to reduce the Communism threat by the time McNamara took over as Secretary of Defense?
(a) Cuba had instituted its own version of Communism.
(b) Communism had failed in North Korea.
(c) McCarthy had purged Communists from American politics.
(d) Russia and China had split.

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

15. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt in the Kennedy administration?
(a) He felt like a new kid without enough respect.
(b) He felt like the smartest of the bunch.
(c) He always felt like an outsider.
(d) He felt like the spokesman of the party.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did the Americans back down on demands for reform in Vietnam in 1962, in Halberstam's account?

2. Which situation had the biggest effect on the Kennedy administration in 1961?

3. Where did the first confrontation take place in Indochina?

4. How many troops were in Vietnam when Kennedy was assassinated?

5. Who was Kennedy's military analyst on the 1961 fact-finding mission?

(see the answer keys)

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