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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 was the result of the Thanksgiving Day Massacre?
(a) Kennedy increased the number of troops in Vietnam.
(b) Troops were withdrawn from the Mekong Delta.
(c) Averell Harriman was named Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs.
(d) Maxwell Taylor was removed from his position.

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

3. What does Halberstam say was the sense in the Kennedy administration as they came into office?
(a) They were going to get the country moving again.
(b) They were going to conquer the Russians.
(c) They were going to institute a new era of peace.
(d) They were going to continue the country's prosperity.

4. How many troops were in Vietnam when Kennedy was assassinated?
(a) 3,000.
(b) 5,000.
(c) 20,000.
(d) 200,000.

5. What policy did Rostow support in Vietnam?
(a) Battleship diplomacy.
(b) An appeasement policy.
(c) An aggressive anti-Communist policy.
(d) A policy of rapprochement.

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

7. What did the fact-finding mission discover at about the time of the problem with the Buddhist monks?
(a) Diem was not on top of the situation.
(b) The North was expanding its recruitment.
(c) The U.S. was unprepared for guerilla warfare.
(d) Vast corruption.

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

9. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt in the Kennedy administration?
(a) He always felt like an outsider.
(b) He felt like the spokesman of the party.
(c) He felt like a new kid without enough respect.
(d) He felt like the smartest of the bunch.

10. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt about his interview with Kennedy for the Secretary of State job?
(a) He did not know whether he could serve under Kennedy.
(b) Superbly.
(c) Not well.
(d) He felt he had not been articulate enough.

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

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

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

14. When did the problem with the Buddhist monks begin?
(a) November 1962.
(b) April 1962.
(c) March 1961.
(d) May 1963.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Robert Lovett demur about being appointed in the Kennedy administration?

2. What does Halberstam say McNamara tried to do with his fact-finding missions to Vietnam?

3. When Kennedy did not authorize more troops, what does Halberstam say he told the Pentagon?

4. Which situation had the biggest effect on the Kennedy administration in 1961?

5. What made McGeorge Bundy an effective administrator?

(see the answer keys)

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