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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Why did the Americans back down on demands for reform in Vietnam in 1962, in Halberstam's account?
(a) Diem had begun to renege on his promises.
(b) Diem could not afford reforms.
(c) They lost confidence that reforms could be implemented.
(d) Reforms had already been accomplished.

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

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(a) Troops were withdrawn from the Mekong Delta.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

5. 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 institute a new era of peace.
(c) They were going to get the country moving again.
(d) They were going to continue the country's prosperity.

6. 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) Not well.
(c) Superbly.
(d) He felt he had not been articulate enough.

7. Why did Robert Lovett demur about being appointed in the Kennedy administration?
(a) He had health problems.
(b) He was in financial trouble.
(c) He was newly a father.
(d) He did not like Kennedy.

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

9. What does Halberstam say Americans were united about in the early 1960s?
(a) The need to fight Communism.
(b) The need to balance the budget.
(c) The need to grant civil rights.
(d) The need to establish military supremacy.

10. Whom did Kennedy ask to be Secretary of State instead of Adlai Stevenson?
(a) Chester Bowles.
(b) McGeorge Bundy.
(c) Dean Rusk.
(d) Robert McNamara.

11. Why didn't Kennedy formulate a China policy, in Halberstam's account?
(a) China was not a high priority.
(b) He didn't have time.
(c) China was experiencing a revolution.
(d) His China advisor had not been confirmed.

12. Whom had Eleanor Roosevelt wanted Kennedy to appoint as Secretary of State?
(a) Adlai Stevenson.
(b) Dean Rusk.
(c) Robert McNamara.
(d) Chester Bowles.

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

14. What family was McGeorge Bundy descended from?
(a) The New York Blisses.
(b) The Rockefellers.
(c) The New England Lowells.
(d) The Roosevelts.

15. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did McNamara achieve his goals while he was at Ford?

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

3. Where does Halberstam say McNamara found people to work under him as Secretary of Defense?

4. How does Halberstam say McNamara learned about the affairs in Vietnam?

5. What had Robert Lovett been before entering government?

(see the answer keys)

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