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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say the U.S. government had to rely on once it had advisers in Vietnam?

2. What does Halberstam say marked the end of the generals' faith in Diem?

3. What committee had Kennedy served on in the Senate?

4. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt about his interview with Kennedy for the Secretary of State job?

5. Where was the war going badly, at the time when the White House was losing faith in Diem?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the Kennedy administration's image with the American people?

2. What crises confronted the Kennedy administration in 1961?

3. What does Halberstam say was McNamara's relationship with Kennedy?

4. Who was Robert A. Lovett, and what does Halberstam say he signified for Kennedy?

5. What does Halberstam say was Robert McNamara's background before becoming Secretary of Defense?

6. What was McNamara's stance with regard to nuclear weapons?

7. What kind of reports does Halberstam say the U.S. got from Vietnam?

8. How did the White House eventually try to limit the military?

9. What did Kennedy's representatives report back after their 1961 fact-finding mission?

10. What was the American government's relationship with Diem in 1961?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Argue for the appropriateness or the inappropriateness of executive secrecy as it was used during the Johnson administration. What factors and evidence mitigates the need for executive transparency? What factors and evidence makes transparency an absolute requirement?

Essay Topic 2

How did American support influence Diem and Khanh? Did it make them more or less legitimate in the eyes of the Vietnamese? If there were problems caused by overt American support, say also what roles were played by Vietnamese society and by the personalities of Diem and Khanh.

Essay Topic 3

What kind of administrative or bureaucratic changes could have helped the war effort in Vietnam? Specifically, how could U.S. commanders have ensured that accurate information flowed unimpeded from troops and analysts in Vietnam to military planners in the U.S.? What factors in the military or political establishment created this problem?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 851 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample