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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 11-12.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Halberstam say Harkins had a hard time firing one of his people in the Mekong Delta?
(a) He knew the person needing to be fired personally.
(b) He was discouraged from using his authority.
(c) He was told that everything was under control there.
(d) He was told that there would be too many repercussions.

2. Where does the book open?
(a) Kennedy's Georgetown townhouse.
(b) Washington, D.C.
(c) Vietnam.
(d) Kennedy's family home in Massachusetts.

3. What does Halberstam say was the problem with the Kennedy administration's pragmatism?
(a) It was grounded in academic theory.
(b) There were too many crises at once.
(c) It was not backed with muscular diplomacy.
(d) It did not have real-world experience.

4. What rule does Halberstam say Kennedy was following in trying to appoint a Secretary of State?
(a) Someone who had a strong intuition.
(b) Someone who had not made many mistakes or offended too many people.
(c) Someone who had learned from his mistakes and had diplomatic experience.
(d) Someone who didn't look back at bad decisions, but plowed ahead.

5. Whom did Robert Lovett recommend to Kennedy for Secretary of State?
(a) Chester Bowles.
(b) Robert McNamara.
(c) McGeorge Bundy.
(d) Dean Rusk.

Short Answer Questions

1. What mistake had the Kennedy administration made in the Bay of Pigs invasion?

2. What measures does Halberstam say Washington, D.C. took when the soldiers dissented over conditions?

3. On which issue does Halberstam say the military lost its battle with the White House?

4. What position had Robert Lovett been appointed to in 1947?

5. Why didn't Kennedy formulate a China policy, in Halberstam's account?

(see the answer key)

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