Tonkin Resolution: U.S. Enters the Vietnam War
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, passed by Congress on August 7, 1964, gave President Lyndon Johnson authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. It was based on reports of two North Vietnamese attacks on the destroyer USS Maddox. The first attack on August 2 was real; the second on August 4 almost certainly never happened. The Maddox's sonar operators may have been tracking their own ship's wake. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara later admitted the second incident was questionable. The resolution passed the Senate 88-2 and the House unanimously. It authorized the deployment of 500,000 American troops and a bombing campaign that would drop more ordnance on Vietnam than all of World War II combined.
August 7, 1964
62 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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President of the United States
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Congress of the United States
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Lyndon B. Johnson
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Vietnam War
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North Vietnam
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United States Congress
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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Vietnam War
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United States Congress
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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Lyndon B. Johnson
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Democratic Republic of Vietnam
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Vietnamese
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Gulf of Tonkin incident
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United States
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