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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of these was NOT a point of disagreement between the White House and the military, in Halberstam's account?
(a) The use of napalm.
(b) The use of jets.
(c) The free fire zones.
(d) The commitment of advisers.

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

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

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

5. Whom did Kennedy want to act as Secretary of State?
(a) He was going to act as his own Secretary of State.
(b) Adlai Stevenson.
(c) Chester Bowles.
(d) He was going to abolish the position of Secretary of State.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What issue did Joseph McCarthy use to energize voters?

4. What had McNamara done by the time he took over as Secretary of Defense?

5. Whom did Kennedy ask to be Secretary of State instead of Adlai Stevenson?

Short Essay Questions

1. What crises confronted the Kennedy administration in 1961?

2. What was McNamara's stance with regard to nuclear weapons?

3. What did Kennedy's representatives report back after their 1961 fact-finding mission?

4. How did the situation in Vietnam unfold?

5. Why does Halberstam say Chester Bowles' popularity faded?

6. Who was McGeorge Bundy, and what was his role in the Kennedy administration?

7. What does Halberstam say was Robert McNamara's background before becoming Secretary of Defense?

8. Describe U.S. engagements in Vietnam in the 1950s.

9. What were Americans beginning to say with regard to Diem after the Buddhist monk problems began?

10. What does Halberstam say Kennedy was confronted with at the beginning of "The Best and the Brightest"?

(see the answer keys)

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