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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 does Halberstam say Kennedy was feeling about the war at the beginning of Chapter 15?
2. What did the U.S. embassy offer to Diem and Nhu when the coup began?
3. What was McNamara beginning to suspect in Vietnam?
4. What does Halberstam say was the effect of the Gulf of Tonkin incident on the U.S. government?
5. Who was it who authorized a paper that would rationalize an exit from Vietnam?
Short Essay Questions
1. What happened to Diem and Nhu during the coup?
2. What was President Johnson's position regarding Vietnam in the early days of his presidency?
3. What does Halberstam say became clear to the American government after Diem's death?
4. Who was interested in overthrowing Diem?
5. What was President Johnson's position with regard to bombing?
6. What does Halberstam say Maxwell Taylor said were the three issues confronting the U.S. in its Vietnam planning?
7. What does Halberstam say the effect of the Vietnam war on the American people was?
8. What was the result of the Spring Offensive?
9. What were the questions people were asking on the issue of bombing the North?
10. What happened during the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Kennedy was a young president, and he was thought to be inexperienced. What was Kennedy's relationship with the past, and with politicians who went before him? What did he take from them, and which of their policies was he intent on changing?
Essay Topic 2
Write a critical review of "The Best and the Brightest": what does Halberstam do well, and what parts of the book are not well-executed? Considering recent revelations regarding the war, how prescient was Halberstam in his history?
Essay Topic 3
John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama share certain similarities, insofar as they were both young and charismatic leaders with relatively little experience, but represented a new way of doing things. Compare and contrast the early political careers and elections of these two presidents. How were they temperamentally similar? How did they relate to the old guard? How were their ascensions different?
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This section contains 717 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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