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

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

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

4. What does Halberstam say was the problem with the Kennedy administration's pragmatism?
(a) It was not backed with muscular diplomacy.
(b) There were too many crises at once.
(c) It did not have real-world experience.
(d) It was grounded in academic theory.

5. What does Halberstam say McNamara had done while he was at Ford?
(a) Raised the quality of the product without raising the cost.
(b) Innovated in the design of the production process.
(c) Busted a unionization attempt.
(d) Created a fiscal crisis.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say was the result of the Thanksgiving Day Massacre?

2. How did Kennedy see Adlai Stevenson?

3. Which issue was NOT confronting the nation when the Kennedy administration took office?

4. On which issue does Halberstam say Kennedy compromised with the military?

5. What were Eleanor Roosevelt's feelings about Kennedy?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was the Kennedy administration's stance with regard to Russia?

3. Describe the atmosphere in America when Kennedy took office.

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

5. What was the American government's relationship with Diem in 1961?

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

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

8. What was the Kennedy administration's image with the American people?

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

10. Describe Vietnam's problems with the Buddhist monks.

(see the answer keys)

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