Causes Of The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident

“In August of 1964, in response to the American and GVN espionage along its coast, the DRV launched a local and controlled attack against C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox , two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin” (Brigham 2). This resulted in the United States government giving Lyndon Johnson the ability to make war under the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. President Johnson then gave orders to perform air raids on Northern Vietnam pushing the United States further into the war. Compared to 1962 when only 9,000 soldiers supported the South Vietnamese, by June 1965 82,000 soldiers occupied the country. The number only continued to rise exponentially, and by 1966 370,000 soldiers had been sent in to prop their South Vietnam allies. President Richard Nixon withdrew American soldiers from Vietnam and as part of the “vietnamization” of the war. Over and 60,000 American soldiers had been lost in a war to preserve the status quo, not to win.

47. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the president all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggressions

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a resolution that stated that the president could take any and all action necessary in Vietnam. This was spurred by a supposed attack on a United States gun boat in the Gulf of Tonkin. A point of comparison to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution could be the declaration of war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) launched a large bombing mission against the ships and the soldiers at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After this event, the original idea to try and keep the United States out of World War II was abandoned and the United States began to churn out military equipment and supplies to combat the Axis powers. In both cases, the seemingly correct thing to do was considered to be obvious.

While conducting intelligence missions along the coast of Vietnam, the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy were attacked by Viet Cong forces. This attack prompted President Johnson to go to Congress and The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed, which gave the President the ability to conduct military operations in Vietnam without actually declaring war. Early in the war, many U.S citizens and troops did not know where or what Vietnam was. They thought since Vietnam was insignificant there is no reason to intervene. This ideology would be one of the root causes of the anti-war movement that is to come. The mindset of the U.S troops was the same as every previous conflict, ‘We’ll be home by Christmas’. The The early strategy in Vietnam was to bomb the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong into submission. After bombing target areas, the U.S would send troops in to perform search and destroy missions. After attacking their target they would return to their base. During the night, the Viet Cong would return to the area the U.S attacked and it would generate a cycle in which the U.S bombs, sends ground units, and withdraws. The early campaign in Vietnam was filled with many top officials being very arrogant about their chances of winning the war. They thought the Vietnamese were essentially savages with makeshift weapons who posed no threat. As the war progressed it became clear the path to victory would not be an easy one. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were holding strong against the American war machine and were even delivering decisive blows physically and to morale. With the North holding their own, the American Homefront was shifting. It was becoming clear America had no reason to be in Vietnam and the people were making it known through music and

All in all, congress did not make a right decision in approving the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because of the war it caused, how much bombing there was, and how many innocent lives were taken. The result was negative, and they did not succeed in anything. They only caused a

“Our military thought that they couldn't get to Pearl Harbor, that it was too long a journey from Japan to get there, and they proved us wrong”- Jerry Bruckheimer. This quote helps explains that the United States thought that Japan could not get to the United States.

Johnson made great strides towards improving conditions for those that are impoverished, conditions for mothers and students, and for the environment, he fell flat regarding national security and the Vietnam War. Following in the footsteps of what Kennedy sought to accomplish before his assassination, Johnson quickly authorized a national security memorandum called NSAM 273 after his inauguration. NSAM 273 directed the United States Government to "to assist the people and Government of South Vietnam to win their contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy." When counterinsurgency failed, Johnson signed OPLAN 34A-64 on January 16, 1964, calling for stepped up infiltration and covert operations against the North to be transferred from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the military. After reports of attacked U.S. naval vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson asked Congress for a resolution of support. By a vote of 98 to 2 in the Senate and a unanimous vote in the House, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and authorized the President to take all measures necessary to protect the armed

We responded immediately. And we took out one of their boats and put the other two running. And we're puttin' our boats right there, and we're not running on in." is what President LBJ tells secretary McNamara to say to Senate Majority Leader Mansfield. Later President Johnson consequently approved a move under which the destroyer Maddox was reinforced by the C. Turner Joy, and both ships entered the Gulf together. With the American warships in a state of hyperalert, on the night of August 3/4 the warships recorded a series of sound (sonar) and electronic (radar) readings interpreted to be attacking torpedo boats. Although the commander on the scene, Captain John D. Herrick, quickly amplified the initial, excited reports with one stating he doubted the reality of the attacks, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp nevertheless proceeded as if the attacks were genuine. This is a clear reference to the OPLAN-34A raids, confusion about which had been a factor in the initial Tonkin Gulf engagement on August 2. Here LBJ suggests a measure that would actually increase Hanoi's incentives to fight. A little over an hour later, at 10:53 AM., McNamara has a second conversation with the president in which Johnson's concern centers on the details of the supposed combat in the Gulf. McNamara tells LBJ that the U.S. aircraft carrier Ticonderoga sent out

Many people were against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because it sent millions of troops to Vietnam to fight a war many Americans didn’t seem necessary. Americans realized that after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed it was a declaration of war even though no declaration was officially passed. Many Americans did not want to be in any wars and a very large majority just did not want to be halfway around the world in Vietnam, fighting a war that was unnecessary in their eyes. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Johnson a blank check so he had full control of the military and most of the American taxpayer’s money at his disposal. People were not excited to be in a war considered useless to them and because a war with China

Lyndon Johnson and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution The official rhetoric of Lyndon Johnson’s administration portrayed the Gulf of Tonkin incident as an unprovoked and malicious attack on U.S. ships by the armed forces of North Vietnam, as a result of which the President needed the power to deal militarily with the North Vietnamese. The Gulf of Tonkin incident explicitly encompasses military actions on August 2, and alleged actions on August 4, 1964, between North Vietnamese torpedo patrol boats and United States destroyers and aircraft off the coast of North Vietnam. President Johnson and many top administration officials declared that the United States was innocent of any aggressive offensive maneuvers against the North

A “Troop Strength and Casualties” graphic depicts exponential increase in the number of troops and ‘battle dead’ after the passing of the resolution. This effectively illustrates the magnitude of impact that the resolution had. Nothing but a full-scale war would cause such dramatic increases in military personnel and death. In a New York Times article by E.W. Kenworthy, it is stated that “the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution...gave the President authority equivalent to that conveyed by a declaration of war.” In this, it is apparent that multiple sources believed the resolution to be of equal weight to a formal declaration from

The United States’ involvement began with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This event, also known as the USS Maddox Incident, gave congress the reason they had been looking for in order to go to Vietnam. On August 2nd, 1964, two North Vietnamese ships attacked

The United States issued the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964. It said that Congress empowered the President, as Command in Chief, "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression." Most importantly, the memorandum gave the President the permission to retaliate North Vietnam's threats to international peace, as the attacks were reason enough for further American involvement in Vietnam, as well as an escalation of military forces.

In 1965, the United States of America officially enter the war against North Vietnam. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident where North Vietnamese attacked two U.S. ships on August 2nd and 4th, 1964, this event was a chance for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson to give authority for U.S. to enter war in Vietnam. United State involvement in Vietnam War was an approach to seize the communist aggression. A campaign authorized by President Johnson called “Operation Rolling Thunder” which started on February 24th, 1965 is a series of extensive bombing directed towards the North Vietnamese predicted to be eight weeks long until the North Vietnamese surrender to U.S. power. However, this campaign lasted two years longer than expected.

There was not much serious thought in escalating the Vietnam War until the Tonkin Gulf incident occurred. In the Gulf of Tonkin it was reported “that two American destroyers had been attacked by North Vietnamese PT boats on August 4, 1964,” (Friedman 293). Shortly after these incidents, “Johnson immediately escalated the war by ordering airstrikes on North Vietnam” (Friedman 293). These events made it so Johnson could raise United States involvement in Vietnam without congressional backing on his decisions. Increasing involvement in the war was appealing though because after the Tonkin Gulf incident support of military involvement in North Vietnam raised from thirty one percent approvals to fifty percent approval (Moise 226). Although approval of the amount in favor immediately after the Gulf of Tonkin incident rose, it was a “mistake on Johnson’s part… assuming that the