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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Halberstam say McNamara learned that he had to do in order to argue against nuclear weapons?
(a) Make emotional appeals to the electorate.
(b) Discredit military analysts in favor of nuclear weapons.
(c) Make a good argument for conventional weapons.
(d) Demonize his opponents.

2. What issue did Joseph McCarthy use to energize voters?
(a) Arms reduction.
(b) Civil rights.
(c) Tax cuts.
(d) Communism conspiracies.

3. On which issue does Halberstam say the military lost its battle with the White House?
(a) Bombing in the north.
(b) The use of jets.
(c) The commitment of troops.
(d) The use of napalm.

4. What position had Robert Lovett been appointed to in 1947?
(a) Undersecretary of State.
(b) Secretary of the Interior.
(c) Secretary of State.
(d) Secretary of Defense.

5. How long had Ho Chi Minh's communism associations been known to the U.S., in Halberstam's account?
(a) Since 1946.
(b) Since 1954.
(c) Since 1931.
(d) Since 1941.

6. What was Kennedy in the process of doing at the beginning of the book?
(a) Winning the election for president.
(b) Serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
(c) Campaigning for president.
(d) Assembling an administration.

7. Why hadn't Roosevelt stopped the French from returning to Indochina after the war, in Halberstam's account?
(a) He needed France for its support of American monetary policy.
(b) He could not get a censure from the United Nations.
(c) There was no post-war plan to prevent them.
(d) He did not have the authority to.

8. Which cabinet member was opposed to the Bay of Pigs invasion?
(a) Dean Rusk.
(b) Chester Bowles.
(c) Robert McNamara.
(d) McGeorge Bundy.

9. What does Halberstam say happened that strained the relationship between Diem and the Buddhists?
(a) The Buddhists martyred themselves in opposition to the government.
(b) The Buddhists instigated confrontations with the army.
(c) The government seized land and temples from the Buddhists.
(d) The government raided the pagodas and blamed it on the army.

10. 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 didn't look back at bad decisions, but plowed ahead.
(d) Someone who had learned from his mistakes and had diplomatic experience.

11. What events does Halberstam say affected American perceptions of its global priorities?
(a) The tension over civil rights in America.
(b) The revolution in Cuba.
(c) The agitation of labor unions in America and Europe.
(d) The escalation of the Cold War and the fall of China.

12. What did the Geneva Convention decide in Vietnam?
(a) It divided the country in two, a north and a south.
(b) It sanctioned the north for its attacks on the south.
(c) It established a procedure for holding elections.
(d) It determined how prisoners of war would be exchanged.

13. What did Kennedy ask Chester Bowles for advice on?
(a) Foreign policy.
(b) Campaigning.
(c) Budget cuts.
(d) Military analysis.

14. Which of these was NOT a point of disagreement between the White House and the military, in Halberstam's account?
(a) The use of jets.
(b) The use of napalm.
(c) The free fire zones.
(d) The commitment of advisers.

15. Whose theories had been used as the basis for expanded militarization in the late 1940s?
(a) Chester Bowles'.
(b) Robert McNamara's.
(c) McGeorge Bundy's.
(d) George Kennan's.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What kind of reports does Halberstam say would come from the head of the U.S. command after his 1962 appointment?

3. Which issue was NOT confronting the nation when the Kennedy administration took office?

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

5. What were Diem and Nhu's politics relative to the Vietnamese population's politics?

(see the answer keys)

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