Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Documenting the American Promise: “Ending the War in Vietnam”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Why did President Richard Nixon argue that immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam in 1969 would be a bad idea?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. Nixon believed that immediately withdrawing American troops from Vietnam “would be a disaster” because it “would inevitably allow the Communists to repeat the massacres which followed their takeover in the North 15 years before.” Nixon argued that this strategy would leave the South Vietnamese people extremely vulnerable, and essentially undo everything the entire Vietnam War achieved.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Nixon believed that immediately withdrawing American troops from Vietnam “would be a disaster” because it “would inevitably allow the Communists to repeat the massacres which followed their takeover in the North 15 years before.” Nixon argued that this strategy would leave the South Vietnamese people extremely vulnerable, and essentially undo everything the entire Vietnam War achieved.

Question

2. What did President Richard Nixon fear would be the consequence at home if the United States lost the Vietnam War?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Nixon was forthright about what he feared would be the implication domestically of the United States losing the Vietnam War: “this first defeat in our Nation’s history would result in a collapse of confidence in American leadership.” Nixon feared that both Americans and people overseas would no longer see the United States as one of the great world leaders, which it had been since World War II.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Nixon was forthright about what he feared would be the implication domestically of the United States losing the Vietnam War: “this first defeat in our Nation’s history would result in a collapse of confidence in American leadership.” Nixon feared that both Americans and people overseas would no longer see the United States as one of the great world leaders, which it had been since World War II.

Question

3. John Kerry, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, argued in 1971 that the United States should not have gotten involved in Vietnam in the first place because

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. In his testimony before the U.S. Senate, Kerry argued that the Vietnamese people “had for years been seeking their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever.” He said that “most people didn’t even know the different between communism and democracy” because all they wanted was to be able to live and work without the threat of violence. The Vietnamese wanted the United States “to leave them alone in peace.”
Incorrect. The answer is b. In his testimony before the U.S. Senate, Kerry argued that the Vietnamese people “had for years been seeking their liberation from any colonial influence whatsoever.” He said that “most people didn’t even know the different between communism and democracy” because all they wanted was to be able to live and work without the threat of violence. The Vietnamese wanted the United States “to leave them alone in peace.”

Question

4. When John Kerry said that he believed the weapons used in Vietnam would never be used in a European theatre of war, he was implying that

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. Kerry mentioned race a few times during his testimony. He noted how “blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties” in Vietnam, and that the enemy was typically referred to as “‘oriental human beings,’ with quotation marks around that.” His statement that the United States would never consider using the weapons from the Vietnam War in a European theatre was intended to suggest that some of the war’s strategy was racially motivated.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Kerry mentioned race a few times during his testimony. He noted how “blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties” in Vietnam, and that the enemy was typically referred to as “‘oriental human beings,’ with quotation marks around that.” His statement that the United States would never consider using the weapons from the Vietnam War in a European theatre was intended to suggest that some of the war’s strategy was racially motivated.

Question

5. How did John Kerry’s opinion of Vietnamization differ from President Richard Nixon’s view on this strategy?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Vietnamization was Nixon’s strategy to “win the peace” in Vietnam. It consisted of training and strengthening South Vietnamese troops so that they could gradually take over their country’s defense from U.S. troops, who would then be withdrawn incrementally. Kerry, however, argued that Vietnamization was a strategy that displayed “incredible arrogance,” and lamented the notion that more men would have to die while this strategy played out.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Vietnamization was Nixon’s strategy to “win the peace” in Vietnam. It consisted of training and strengthening South Vietnamese troops so that they could gradually take over their country’s defense from U.S. troops, who would then be withdrawn incrementally. Kerry, however, argued that Vietnamization was a strategy that displayed “incredible arrogance,” and lamented the notion that more men would have to die while this strategy played out.