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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did the fact-finding mission discover at about the time of the problem with the Buddhist monks?
(a) Vast corruption.
(b) Diem was not on top of the situation.
(c) The North was expanding its recruitment.
(d) The U.S. was unprepared for guerilla warfare.

2. Whom did Kennedy ask to be Secretary of State instead of Adlai Stevenson?
(a) Robert McNamara.
(b) Dean Rusk.
(c) Chester Bowles.
(d) McGeorge Bundy.

3. Who was Kennedy's military analyst on the 1961 fact-finding mission?
(a) Chester Bowles.
(b) Maxwell Taylor.
(c) Robert McNamara.
(d) McGeorge Bundy.

4. How long had Ho Chi Minh's communism associations been known to the U.S., in Halberstam's account?
(a) Since 1954.
(b) Since 1941.
(c) Since 1931.
(d) Since 1946.

5. What committee had Kennedy served on in the Senate?
(a) Foreign Relations Committee.
(b) Military Affairs Committee.
(c) Judiciary Committee.
(d) Banking and Finance Committee.

6. What kind of reports does Halberstam say would come from the head of the U.S. command after his 1962 appointment?
(a) Reports that were imperial propaganda.
(b) Highly detailed reports.
(c) Pragmatic and diplomatic reports.
(d) Unrealistic reports.

7. Whom had Eleanor Roosevelt wanted Kennedy to appoint as Secretary of State?
(a) Dean Rusk.
(b) Robert McNamara.
(c) Chester Bowles.
(d) Adlai Stevenson.

8. What does Halberstam say happened that threatened the relationship between Diem and the Buddhists?
(a) The people backed the Buddhists against Diem.
(b) Diem reneged on his promises.
(c) The Buddhists expanded their protests.
(d) Diem and Nhu retreated into aristocratic aloofness.

9. What does Halberstam say was the sense in the Kennedy administration as they came into office?
(a) They were going to institute a new era of peace.
(b) They were going to get the country moving again.
(c) They were going to conquer the Russians.
(d) They were going to continue the country's prosperity.

10. Which problem did NOT arise for the Kennedy administration during 1961?
(a) Financial crisis.
(b) Escalation of problems in Laos.
(c) Arms race.
(d) Bay of Pigs invasion.

11. What did Robert Lovett represent for Kennedy?
(a) A link to previous administrations.
(b) A brilliant theoretical thinker.
(c) A connection with the opposition.
(d) A bright new talent.

12. What mistake had the Kennedy administration made in the Bay of Pigs invasion?
(a) They had not checked the weather for the invasion.
(b) They had not supplied enough men and material.
(c) They had underestimated the logistical difficulties of a landing.
(d) They had not seen that the Cuban people were not opposed to Castro.

13. What was Kennedy's position on the Cold War policies of his predecessors?
(a) He was going to end them.
(b) He did not want to follow them.
(c) He was going to improve on them.
(d) He was going to continue them.

14. Where did the first confrontation take place in Indochina?
(a) Laos.
(b) Cambodia.
(c) Malaysia.
(d) Vietnam.

15. What did Kennedy represent to Eleanor Roosevelt's followers?
(a) Businessmen.
(b) Old guard.
(c) Foreigners.
(d) The new breed.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Kennedy become well known in Washington?

2. Which situation had the biggest effect on the Kennedy administration in 1961?

3. Why did the Americans back down on demands for reform in Vietnam in 1962, in Halberstam's account?

4. What did the Kennedy administration represent to America?

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

(see the answer keys)

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