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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which issue was NOT confronting the nation when the Kennedy administration took office?
(a) Reconstruction.
(b) Missiles.
(c) Civil rights.
(d) China policy.

2. Why didn't Kennedy offer the position of Secretary of State to J. William Fulbright?
(a) Fulbright was too old and conservative.
(b) Fublright was too young and inexperienced.
(c) Fulbright had some unresolved scandals in his past.
(d) Fulbright did not have the support of Negroes or Jews.

3. When Kennedy did not authorize more troops, what does Halberstam say he told the Pentagon?
(a) To plan to redeploy combat troops.
(b) To prepare a larger engagement.
(c) To develop plans to expand the war to Cambodia.
(d) To develop an exit strategy.

4. Why did the Americans back down on demands for reform in Vietnam in 1962, in Halberstam's account?
(a) Diem had begun to renege on his promises.
(b) Reforms had already been accomplished.
(c) Diem could not afford reforms.
(d) They lost confidence that reforms could be implemented.

5. What did Chester Bowles think was the most important issue to confront?
(a) Poverty.
(b) Budget cuts.
(c) Military expansion.
(d) Race issues.

6. How does Halberstam say Dean Rusk felt about his interview with Kennedy for the Secretary of State job?
(a) Superbly.
(b) He did not know whether he could serve under Kennedy.
(c) He felt he had not been articulate enough.
(d) Not well.

7. Where does the book open?
(a) Vietnam.
(b) Kennedy's Georgetown townhouse.
(c) Washington, D.C.
(d) Kennedy's family home in Massachusetts.

8. Where was the war going well, at the time when the White House was losing faith in Diem, according to Halberstam?
(a) In the Mekong Delta.
(b) Around Saigon.
(c) In Quang Nam.
(d) In Pleiku.

9. What does Halberstam say McNamara tried to do with his fact-finding missions to Vietnam?
(a) Provide a forum for dissenting soldiers.
(b) Conceal the deteriorating conditions.
(c) Publish the truth.
(d) Protect the President.

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

11. Whose theories had been used as the basis for expanded militarization in the late 1940s?
(a) George Kennan's.
(b) McGeorge Bundy's.
(c) Robert McNamara's.
(d) Chester Bowles'.

12. Whom did Kennedy want to act as Secretary of State?
(a) Adlai Stevenson.
(b) Chester Bowles.
(c) He was going to act as his own Secretary of State.
(d) He was going to abolish the position of Secretary of State.

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

14. Which situation had the biggest effect on the Kennedy administration in 1961?
(a) The financial crisis.
(b) The Gulf of Tonkin incident.
(c) China policy.
(d) The Bay of Pigs.

15. Which cabinet member was opposed to the Bay of Pigs invasion?
(a) McGeorge Bundy.
(b) Chester Bowles.
(c) Robert McNamara.
(d) Dean Rusk.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the problem with the Buddhist monks begin?

2. Whom did Robert Lovett recommend to Kennedy for Secretary of Defense?

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

4. What does Halberstam say Kennedy had done in response to the meeting with Russians in Vienna?

5. Who was named to head the U.S. command in Saigon in January 1962?

(see the answer keys)

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