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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 the U.S. embassy offer to Diem and Nhu when the coup began?

2. How does Halberstam say Kennedy was feeling about the war at the beginning of Chapter 15?

3. How does Halberstam define the flash point?

4. How does Halberstam say the Americans responded when the Vietcong attacked Pleiku?

5. How did Lyndon Johnson want to be remembered, in Halberstam's account?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. What was Rolling Thunder and what was its purpose?

7. What does Halberstam say began to change in early 1964?

8. What happened during the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

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

10. What was the result of the first direct confrontation with Vietcong and American troops?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did American support influence Diem and Khanh? Did it make them more or less legitimate in the eyes of the Vietnamese? If there were problems caused by overt American support, say also what roles were played by Vietnamese society and by the personalities of Diem and Khanh.

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

Compare and contrast the strategies of Robert McNamara and General Westmoreland for bombing and search-and-destroy missions. What were the costs and benefits of either approach to the war against the Vietcong? Were they complementary, or did they work at cross-purposes?

(see the answer keys)

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