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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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 not seen that the Cuban people were not opposed to Castro.
(c) They had underestimated the logistical difficulties of a landing.
(d) They had not checked the weather for the invasion.

3. What did Robert Lovett represent for Kennedy?
(a) A connection with the opposition.
(b) A link to previous administrations.
(c) A bright new talent.
(d) A brilliant theoretical thinker.

4. Where does Halberstam say McNamara found people to work under him as Secretary of Defense?
(a) Academia.
(b) Boeing.
(c) England.
(d) The auto industry.

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

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

7. Why didn't Kennedy offer the position of Secretary of State to McGeorge Bundy?
(a) Bundy had a reputation for saying damaging things off the cuff.
(b) Bundy was too old and conservative.
(c) Bundy did not have the support of the Jews.
(d) Bundy was a Republican and too young.

8. What did Kennedy represent to Eleanor Roosevelt's followers?
(a) Old guard.
(b) Businessmen.
(c) The new breed.
(d) Foreigners.

9. 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.

10. How did Kennedy see Adlai Stevenson?
(a) He saw Adlai Stevenson as an ideologue.
(b) He saw Adlai Stevenson as lazy.
(c) He saw Adlai Stevenson as principled.
(d) He saw Adlai Stevenson as indecisive.

11. What was Kennedy's relationship with the press during his presidential campaign?
(a) He had to quash a few stories that were critical to his campaign.
(b) He had a contentious relationship with the press.
(c) He had the support of most of the press.
(d) He had a number of hostile enemies in the press.

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

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

14. 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) Created a fiscal crisis.
(d) Innovated in the design of the production process.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Whose input did the French and Americans ignore about Vietnam, in Halberstam's account?

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

4. What events does Halberstam say affected American perceptions of its global priorities?

5. What position did the Kennedy administration take with regard to nuclear disarmament?

(see the answer keys)

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