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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Kennedy represent to Eleanor Roosevelt's followers?

2. What does Halberstam say was the sense in the Kennedy administration as they came into office?

3. Which of these was NOT a point of disagreement between the White House and the military, in Halberstam's account?

4. Why hadn't Roosevelt stopped the French from returning to Indochina after the war, in Halberstam's account?

5. Why was Chester Bowles assigned to a different position?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Robert A. Lovett, and what does Halberstam say he signified for Kennedy?

2. Who was Kennedy, and how did he become well known?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyzing the evidence from Halberstam's text, describe the change that took place in American minds as a result of the Vietnam War. Put another way: Compare and contrast the administrations that preceded Kennedy's administration, and the Nixon administration, which followed the Johnson administration. How does Halberstam describe the different cultures that existed before and after the Vietnam war?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Halberstam as a biographer and historian. What are his preoccupations? What does he not consider? What are his narrative techniques, and what literary techniques does he use to describe the people and actions that comprise "The Best and the Brightest"?

Essay Topic 3

What kind of administrative or bureaucratic changes could have helped the war effort in Vietnam? Specifically, how could U.S. commanders have ensured that accurate information flowed unimpeded from troops and analysts in Vietnam to military planners in the U.S.? What factors in the military or political establishment created this problem?

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