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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was named commander of American forces in Vietnam in June 1964?
(a) General Harkins.
(b) Maxwell Taylor.
(c) Averell Harriman.
(d) General William C. Westmoreland.

2. What plan was the U.S. government following by the end of 1964?
(a) Limit bombing but increase troops on the ground.
(b) Expand the pacification program.
(c) Pour as many resources as necessary into Vietnam.
(d) Restrict operations to bombing missions.

3. What does Halberstam say was decided at the April 20, 1965 meeting in Honolulu?
(a) The military shifted to search-and-destroy missions exclusively.
(b) The military reduced troop levels.
(c) The military agreed to increased troop usage.
(d) The military refused to provide reports from field commanders.

4. When did McNamara say the U.S. would be out of Vietnam, when he visited the country?
(a) By the end of 1965.
(b) By the end of 1968.
(c) By the beginning of 1966.
(d) By 1970.

5. How does Halberstam say the Americans responded when the Vietcong attacked Pleiku?
(a) They decided to withdraw.
(b) They decided to reevaluate their strategy.
(c) They decided to retaliate.
(d) They put more troops on the ground.

6. What was Paul Kattenburg's view of the war, in early 1964?
(a) He doubted its correctness.
(b) He saw it as an experiment in nation-building.
(c) He thought it was a waste of political and economic capital.
(d) He described it as a crusade.

7. What does Halberstam say the military had been telling President Johnson when he sent an investigative team to Vietnam?
(a) They had been telling him that conditions were improving.
(b) They had been telling him to bomb.
(c) They had been telling him to withdraw.
(d) They had been telling him to send more troops.

8. What strategy does Halberstam say evolved out of the struggle over troop strength?
(a) A search-and-destroy strategy.
(b) The use of napalm.
(c) The bombing campaign.
(d) Bombing of Cambodia.

9. Who traveled to Vietnam after the 1965 inauguration?
(a) Westmoreland, Harriman and Rusk.
(b) Taylor, Ball and Bundy.
(c) McNamara, Ball and Harriman.
(d) Bundy, McNamara and Rusk.

10. What does Halberstam say was the result of the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
(a) The use of napalm.
(b) An end of diplomacy.
(c) A Northern offensive.
(d) Bombing of North Vietnam.

11. How does Halberstam say Johnson conducted planning for the Vietnam war?
(a) Johnson governed by consensus among his advisers.
(b) Johnson consulted with a wide range of experts.
(c) Johnson kept planning secret.
(d) Johnson made every decision himself.

12. When does Halberstam say that McNamara realized he had been misled about the conditions in Vietnam?
(a) In his December 1963 trip to Vietnam.
(b) When he read the military reports in December 1963.
(c) In his March 1964 trip to Vietnam.
(d) When he received envoys from Vietnam in March of 1964.

13. Who does Halberstam say was making the case for bombing after the 1964 election?
(a) Harkin.
(b) McNamara.
(c) Bundy.
(d) Harriman.

14. Who was it who authorized a paper that would rationalize an exit from Vietnam?
(a) Robert McNamara.
(b) Averell Harriman.
(c) John McNaughton.
(d) McGeorge Bundy.

15. What did the U.S. embassy offer to Diem and Nhu when the coup began?
(a) Protection against their enemies.
(b) Retribution against their enemies.
(c) Return to power.
(d) Safe conduct out of the country.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Halberstam say the U.S. spun the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

2. What did the fact-finding trip to Vietnam in early 1965 coincide with?

3. Who oversaw domestic operations of the operation code named 34A?

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

5. What problem does Halberstam say McNamara discovered in Vietnam?

(see the answer keys)

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