The United States' approach to fighting the Vietnam War:
A)  Brilliantly related American military power to the central task of building an effective South Vietnamese government.
B)  Was consciously designed to inflict the maximum number of civilian deaths possible.
C)  Was never appropriate for the war because the U.S. merely assumed that applying its superior military power would achieve victory.
D)  Was more political than military in nature.
E)  Greatly overestimated North Vietnam's military strength.
ANSWER: C

The Johnson Administration's decision to pursue a gradualist approach to the air war permitted North Vietnam to do all of the following EXCEPT:
A)  Establish a large munitions industry.
B)  Build a powerful air defense system.
C)  Implement alternative transportation systems.
D)  Protect critical resources.
E)  Persist in the war despite the damage the U.S. was inflicting.
ANSWER: A

The USSR began to provide North Vietnam with substantial military assistance beginning in 1965 because:
A)  It hoped to tie the U.S. down in Southeast Asia so that unopposed Soviet forces could pursue opportunities in Europe and the Middle East.
B)  An American defeat in Southeast Asia would set the stage for a real thaw in the Cold War.
C)  Moscow wished to prevent America from establishing a strong position on the border of its close fraternal ally, China.
D)  Assistance to North Vietnam would prove Soviet credibility in the face of hostile Chinese propaganda and give the USSR the chance to test new weapon systems.
E)  All of the above.
ANSWER: A

Beijing assisted North Vietnam in its war with the U.S. by:
A)  Having its fighter aircraft intercept American attack planes over the Tonkin Gulf.
B)  Sending "volunteers" to join People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units fighting in South Vietnam.
C)  Providing huge amounts of supplies and munitions and by deploying 320,000 troops to help North Vietnam rebuild and defend its transportation network.
D)  Having Chinese divisions engage American Marines along the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
E)  Threatening to invade Taiwan.
ANSWER: C

The Rolling Thunder air war did all of the following EXCEPT:
A)  Result in the loss of over 950 American aircraft between 1965 and 1968.
B)  Stop the infiltration of men and supplies into South Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
C)  Provide Hanoi with American hostages in the form of downed airmen.
D)  Cost the United States $9.60 for each $1 of damage inflicted.
E)  Give Hanoi a tremendous propaganda advantage.
ANSWER: B

Through his Search and Destroy strategy, General William Westmoreland:
A)  Abandoned the U.S. Army's traditional, conventional approach to warfare in favor of a small-unit counterinsurgency strategy.
B)  Sought to lure North Vietnamese units into populated areas where the U.S. could easily effect their destruction.
C)  Pursued a typical, conventional strategy designed to eliminate the military threat to South Vietnam by locating and destroying North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front (NLF) units.
D)  Avoided engaging enemy main force units in favor of police activities designed to uproot and destroy the NLF's political apparatus.
E)  Launched a conventional, tank-led invasion across the DMZ into North Vietnam.
ANSWER: B

President Lyndon Johnson's "many flags" campaign to secure troop commitments to Vietnam from America's Pacific allies:
A)  Was a resounding success that resulted in large numbers of allied troops joining American forces in South Vietnam.
B)  Met with outright hostility from previously steadfast allies such as Thailand, Australia, and South Korea.
C)  Was publicly supported by American allies, but did not result in the commitment of any soldiers.
D)  Was a disappointment that resulted in the deployment of only 71,000 troops.
E)  All of the above.
ANSWER: D

American forces used which of the following in Vietnam:
A)  IBM computers programmed to predict when and where the enemy would attack.
B)  Defoliants such as Agent Orange designed to destroy the dense jungle that provided the enemy with cover.
C)  Massive air support including napalm and B-52 raids.
D)  Huge amounts of artillery fire.
E)  All of the above.
ANSWER: E

From 1965 to 1968, North Vietnam:
A)  Matched American escalations by sending more troops south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and by maintaining the military pressure so as to inflict maximum casualties on U.S. units.
B)  Sought to engage in traditional, set-piece battles in which its forces could decisively defeat the Americans.
C)  Proved unable to match the massive American escalation that took place between 1965 and 1968.
D)  Sought to minimize combat with the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces so as to keep its casualties down.
E)  All of the above.
ANSWER: A

The principle index the United States used to chart success in Vietnam was:
A)  The movement of the front line and the capture of key geographical objectives.
B)  A sophisticated measurement of the proportion of South Vietnamese peasants who were loyal to the Saigon government.
C)  The strength and stability of the South Vietnamese government.
D)  The "body count."
E)  All of the above.
ANSWER: D

With the Americanization of the war in 1965, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN):
A)  Became more dependent than ever on the U.S.
B)  Underwent a period of intensive retooling from which it emerged stronger than ever.
C)  Was divided into small units that were then integrated into the American command under a system pioneered during the Korean War.
D)  Shrank dramatically in size to become a highly mobile, elite striking force.
E)  Undertook a series of spoiler attacks into North Vietnam that threw the enemy off balance.
ANSWER: A

Antiwar liberals opposed American participation in the war for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
A)  Their belief that the employment of weapons such as napalm was inhumane.
B)  Their conviction that America had betrayed its bedrock principles by supporting a corrupt and repressive regime in South Vietnam.
C)  Their conclusion that U.S. escalation violated a number of international agreements including the United Nations Charter and the 1954 Geneva Accords.
D)  Their doubts in the validity of the domino theory on which the Johnson Administration justified intervention.
E)  Their belief that the war was but the latest example of the way in which American capitalism brutally exploited people all across the globe.
ANSWER: E

According to the author, the antiwar movement:
A)  Failed to turn the American people against the war, but did compel a debate that eventually led policymakers and the public to give serious consideration to ending American involvement in Vietnam.
B)  Almost single-handedly forced the U.S. to deescalate its involvement in Vietnam.
C)  Turned the American people against the war and thus encouraged a wavering North Vietnamese government to press on toward victory.
D)  Had no impact whatsoever on the course of the war.
E)  Divided America to the point that a civil war nearly erupted in the summer of 1967.
ANSWER: C

By the summer of 1967, the chief opponent in the Johnson Administration to the continuation of the Vietnam War was:
A)  Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
B)  Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
C)  Assistant Secretary of State Chester Bowles.
D)  Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
E)  Senator Robert Kennedy.
ANSWER: D