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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. How many troops were in Vietnam when Kennedy was assassinated?

2. What does Halberstam say was Robert McNamara's role in the White House policy discussions?

3. What does Halberstam say was the state of tensions within the White House as involvement in Vietnam escalated?

4. What policies had Robert Lovett been involved in crafting?

5. How does Halberstam say McNamara learned about the affairs in Vietnam?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the White House eventually try to limit the military?

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

3. Why didn't the U.S. gain the loyalty of the Vietnamese peasants?

4. Describe the confrontation in Laos.

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

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

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

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

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

10. Who was Frederick Nolting, and what was his role in Vietnam?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What must McGeorge Bundy or Robert McNamara or President Johnson have thought about the Vietnam war? Write a journal entry as if you were them.

Essay Topic 2

Using the hindsight gained by "The Best and the Brightest", would you say that the war in Vietnam was a local conflict that could have been left to resolve itself, or would you say that if left unaddressed, Vietnam would have been one of the dominoes in a string of nations the Communists took over? Put another way: would the internal tensions in Vietnam have dogged the Communists just as badly as they dogged the Americans and the American-backed South Vietnamese government, if the Vietcong had ever acquired power there?

Essay Topic 3

What lessons did the U.S. learn from the Bay of Pigs invasion, and how were these lessons visible in the planning for military campaigns in Vietnam? Did the Bay of Pigs invasion sour the U.S. war planners on relying on local forces? Did it foster the argument for bombing instead of troops on the ground?

(see the answer keys)

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