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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which situation had the biggest effect on the Kennedy administration in 1961?
(a) China policy.
(b) The financial crisis.
(c) The Gulf of Tonkin incident.
(d) The Bay of Pigs.

2. What was the logic behind the U.S.'s actions after the 1961 fact-finding mission?
(a) Inaction would allow trade to develop.
(b) Further delay would defuse the situation.
(c) Wait for the Vietnamese elections.
(d) A show of force would intimidate the Vietcong.

3. What measures does Halberstam say Washington, D.C. took when the soldiers dissented over conditions?
(a) They held Congressional hearings.
(b) They repressed the dissent.
(c) They held town hall meeting where soldiers could air their views.
(d) They arrested any soldiers who spoke against the government.

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

5. How did Kennedy's followers feel about Chester Bowles' ideas?
(a) They were antithetical to them.
(b) They were inspired by them.
(c) They were looking for ways to follow them.
(d) They did not appreciate them.

6. Why was Chester Bowles assigned to a different position?
(a) He had quarreled with Bobby Kennedy over who was in charge in Kennedy's absence.
(b) He had leaked confidential information to the press.
(c) He had disgraced himself by having an affair with one of his pages.
(d) He had been caught saying embarrassing things on an open mic.

7. When did Kennedy first send advisers to Vietnam?
(a) February 1962.
(b) October 1961.
(c) June 1963.
(d) May 1962.

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

9. Who was Kennedy's military analyst on the 1961 fact-finding mission?
(a) Chester Bowles.
(b) Maxwell Taylor.
(c) Robert McNamara.
(d) McGeorge Bundy.

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

11. What kind of reports does Halberstam say would come from the head of the U.S. command after his 1962 appointment?
(a) Unrealistic reports.
(b) Highly detailed reports.
(c) Pragmatic and diplomatic reports.
(d) Reports that were imperial propaganda.

12. How does Halberstam say McNamara learned about the affairs in Vietnam?
(a) By talking to people.
(b) By seeing for himself.
(c) By reading reports.
(d) By conducting academic studies.

13. What did the Kennedy administration represent to America?
(a) Elitism and a new American nationalism.
(b) Culture and American cosmopolitanism.
(c) Catholicism and American sectionalism.
(d) Wealth and American individualism.

14. How did the Kennedy administration see the war in Vietnam?
(a) As a boon to the military contractors.
(b) As a war against Communism.
(c) As a gift to Asian allies.
(d) As a diversion from domestic problems.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say Americans were united about in the early 1960s?

2. What were Eleanor Roosevelt's feelings about Kennedy?

3. Whom did Robert Lovett recommend to Kennedy for Secretary of Defense?

4. Which cabinet member was opposed to the Bay of Pigs invasion?

5. How big a margin did Kennedy win the presidency by?

(see the answer keys)

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