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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 does Halberstam say was the beginning of the 'credibility gap'?
(a) When the media began to exploit photographs to build opposition to the war.
(b) When the government's figures were revised to protect Johnson's Great Society program.
(c) When U.S. deaths in Vietnam were withheld.
(d) When the military gave the government falsified reports on progress in Vietnam.

2. Why does Halberstam say that September and October of 1963 were good for the Kennedy administration?
(a) There was accord on civil rights issues.
(b) The administration was prepared to pick up seats in special elections.
(c) The military made progress in the Mekong Delta.
(d) Averell Harriman made progress on the test ban treaty.

3. What does Halberstam say was the Joint Chiefs of Staff's perception of the problem in Vietnam?
(a) They thought it could be solved by bombing.
(b) They were planning to solve it with a coup.
(c) They thought it was a military problem.
(d) They thought it could be resolved diplomatically.

4. What problem does Halberstam say Maxwell Taylor had in Vietnam?
(a) Taylor could not control things like he had elsewhere.
(b) Taylor could not convince his superiors that conditions were bad.
(c) Taylor could not get honest reporting.
(d) Taylor could not understand how the Vietcong withstood the bombings.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Halberstam say the U.S. assured its generals during their meeting in Vietnam?

2. What strategy does Halberstam say evolved out of the struggle over troop strength?

3. Who does Halberstam say eventually took on the role of setting the tone for Vietnam policy?

4. What does Halberstam say became clear by the time Rolling Thunder had been in effect for six weeks?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what Halberstam calls 'the Bundy trip' to Vietnam.

2. What was Dean Rusk's role in Vietnam after Kennedy's assassination?

3. What does Halberstam say became clear to the American government after Diem's death?

4. What did the Johnson administration tell America as it committed more troops to Vietnam?

5. What does Halberstam say happened when Westmoreland assumed control?

6. How did the reality of the war become public information?

7. What was the military's position on bombing North Vietnam?

8. What does Halberstam say the effect of the Vietnam war on the American people was?

9. What was the public story of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and what was the truth?

10. What was the result of the Spring Offensive?

(see the answer keys)

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