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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What committee had Kennedy served on in the Senate?
(a) Banking and Finance Committee.
(b) Judiciary Committee.
(c) Foreign Relations Committee.
(d) Military Affairs Committee.

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

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

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

5. Why didn't Kennedy offer the position of Secretary of State to J. William Fulbright?
(a) Fulbright was too old and conservative.
(b) Fulbright did not have the support of Negroes or Jews.
(c) Fulbright had some unresolved scandals in his past.
(d) Fublright was too young and inexperienced.

6. 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.

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

8. On which issue does Halberstam say Kennedy compromised with the military?
(a) Free fire zones.
(b) Bombing in the north.
(c) The use of jets.
(d) The use of napalm.

9. 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 Buddhists instigated confrontations with the army.
(c) The government raided the pagodas and blamed it on the army.
(d) The Buddhists martyred themselves in opposition to the government.

10. Where was the war going badly, at the time when the White House was losing faith in Diem?
(a) In Quang Nam.
(b) In Pleiku.
(c) Around Saigon.
(d) In the Mekong Delta.

11. When Kennedy did not authorize more troops, what does Halberstam say he told the Pentagon?
(a) To plan to redeploy combat troops.
(b) To develop an exit strategy.
(c) To develop plans to expand the war to Cambodia.
(d) To prepare a larger engagement.

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

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

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

15. What does Halberstam say was Robert McNamara's role in the White House policy discussions?
(a) McNamara followed the will of the other advisers.
(b) McNamara filled in the details of others' plans.
(c) McNamara enforced Kennedy's will.
(d) McNamara dominated discussions.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Who was named to head the U.S. command in Saigon in January 1962?

3. Why hadn't Roosevelt stopped the French from returning to Indochina after the war, in Halberstam's account?

4. Who was Kennedy's military analyst on the 1961 fact-finding mission?

5. When did the problem with the Buddhist monks begin?

(see the answer keys)

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