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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What pressure does Halberstam say the events of September and October of 1963 relieved for Kennedy?
(a) He no longer felt the political pressure to deliver a victory.
(b) He felt like he was finally hitting his stride in the presidency.
(c) He was relieved of budgetary pressure.
(d) He no longer felt the need to prove himself to Kruschev.

2. The war continued until which President took office?
(a) Nixon.
(b) Reagan.
(c) Ford.
(d) Carter.

3. How does Halberstam say the Americans responded when the Vietcong attacked Pleiku?
(a) They decided to retaliate.
(b) They decided to reevaluate their strategy.
(c) They decided to withdraw.
(d) They put more troops on the ground.

4. When did the Spring offensive start in Vietnam?
(a) March 1963.
(b) May 1965.
(c) April 1964.
(d) June 1966.

5. What did the code 34A stand for in the White House?
(a) Search and destroy missions.
(b) The plan to bomb North Vietnam.
(c) Diplomacy to end the war.
(d) The covert actions that responded to the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

6. Who oversaw domestic operations of the operation code named 34A?
(a) Maxwell Taylor.
(b) General Harkins.
(c) McGeorge Bundy.
(d) General Westmoreland.

7. What happened in the Gulf of Tonkin as a part of 34A?
(a) An American ship sunk a North Vietnamese PT boat.
(b) An American plane was shot down by Russian Migs.
(c) The VIetcong launched missiles at an American plane.
(d) An American ship was torpedoed.

8. What does Halberstam say was the result of Johnson's method of planning for the war?
(a) He often took the most effective actions.
(b) He missed opportunities to let his generals take actions that might have been decisive.
(c) He was compelled to water down his plans to accommodate his advisers' pet projects.
(d) He never raised taxes to pay for the war.

9. How does Halberstam say Johnson conducted planning for the Vietnam war?
(a) Johnson consulted with a wide range of experts.
(b) Johnson governed by consensus among his advisers.
(c) Johnson kept planning secret.
(d) Johnson made every decision himself.

10. What strategy does Halberstam say evolved out of the struggle over troop strength?
(a) The bombing campaign.
(b) The use of napalm.
(c) Bombing of Cambodia.
(d) A search-and-destroy strategy.

11. What does Halberstam say was the result of the Spring Offensive?
(a) American troop levels were reduced to 20,000.
(b) General Westmoreland raised troop levels to 200,000.
(c) General Harkin withdrew from his post.
(d) The military employed more bombers.

12. In what way does Halberstam say that Lyndon Johnson resembled Kennedy in his management style?
(a) Johnson did not seek a wide variety of opinions.
(b) Johnson sought out expert opinions beyond his cabinet.
(c) Johnson used a cabinet of enemies.
(d) Johnson trusted the military's reports.

13. What was Paul Kattenburg's view of the war, in early 1964?
(a) He doubted its correctness.
(b) He described it as a crusade.
(c) He thought it was a waste of political and economic capital.
(d) He saw it as an experiment in nation-building.

14. What does Halberstam say was the purpose of operation Rolling Thunder?
(a) To open North Vietnamese markets.
(b) To force Hanoi to capitulate.
(c) To demonstrate the benefits of democracy.
(d) To display American airpower.

15. What kind of problem does Halberstam say the cost of the war caused for the Johnson administration?
(a) Disclosure problems.
(b) Public relations problems.
(c) Budget problems.
(d) Moral problems.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say the military had been telling President Johnson when he sent an investigative team to Vietnam?

2. What does Halberstam say affected the American attitude toward the war?

3. What does Halberstam say the administration had led the American people to believe about the war?

4. What plan was the U.S. government following by the end of 1964?

5. Who tipped off Senator Wayne Morse about the real situation of the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

(see the answer keys)

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