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

2. What rule does Halberstam say Kennedy was following in trying to appoint a Secretary of State?
(a) Someone who didn't look back at bad decisions, but plowed ahead.
(b) Someone who had a strong intuition.
(c) Someone who had not made many mistakes or offended too many people.
(d) Someone who had learned from his mistakes and had diplomatic experience.

3. What position had Robert Lovett been appointed to in 1947?
(a) Undersecretary of State.
(b) Secretary of State.
(c) Secretary of the Interior.
(d) Secretary of Defense.

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

5. What does Halberstam say McNamara tried to do with his fact-finding missions to Vietnam?
(a) Provide a forum for dissenting soldiers.
(b) Conceal the deteriorating conditions.
(c) Protect the President.
(d) Publish the truth.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Robert Lovett represent for Kennedy?

2. What does Halberstam say was the problem with the Kennedy administration's pragmatism?

3. Where does the book open?

4. What did the fact-finding mission discover at about the time of the problem with the Buddhist monks?

5. What does Halberstam say Americans were disunited about in the early 1960s?

Short Essay Questions

1. What crises confronted the Kennedy administration in 1961?

2. How did the fall of China and the Cold War affect the Kennedy administration?

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

4. Who was Chester Bowles, and what did Kennedy get by tapping Bowles to be an adviser?

5. How did the situation in Vietnam unfold?

6. What did Lovett and Kennedy discuss during their meeting?

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

8. Who was Dean Rusk, and what was his role and place in the Kennedy administration?

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

10. What three plans does Halberstam say the U.S. was considering in Vietnam in 1961?

(see the answer keys)

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