Tonkin Resolution Dbq

“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.

On August 7th 1964 the United States Congress passed into law the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which, for all intents and purposes, officially brought the United States into the Vietnam War. Following this resolution, a draft was instated to increase the number of men that could be sent to war. Shortly after men started to be signed into conscription for the United States Military, a public outcry started over the use of a draft to increase military size. The draft was found to be unfair to American Citizens because certain groups of men were severely disadvantaged, the draft was illegal in many ways, and veteran’s future lives were harmed, among other reasons.

After, World War Two things between the Soviet Union and the Unites States of America began to change. Things between the two were fine during World War Two they helped each other; however, suddenly after World War Two they became enemies (Economic Difference between the U.S and Soviet Union). So they did not always disagree about things until after World War Two. One of the major things they did not agree about was how an economy should be run and also the government (Economic Difference between the U.S and Soviet

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a series of reported confrontations between the USS Maddox on August 2nd and August 4th, 1964. The second of the two confrontations, on August 4th, was later proven to have never happened, and the legitimacy of the first confrontation on August 2nd is in question. The USS Maddox reported that on August 2nd, while patrolling in international waters, it was attacked by three North Vietnamese Torpedo Boats. President Johnson went on live television on August 4th saying that the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were attacked again by Vietnamese boats. He used these attacks as reason to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that granted him the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia without a formal

“War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” ~ Bertrand Russell. The famous quote from Bertrand Russell describes the reality of war. War only lets the powerful and the wealthy side win and not the righteous side. On an average 378,000 people die each year at war while 1,450,000 people died in the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war started on 1 November 1955 and lasted until 30 April 1975. The war was fought between the North Vietnamese Communist government and the South Vietnamese Communist rebels known as the Viet Cong against the non-Communist South Vietnamese government and their ally U.S.A. The war destroyed the life of both, the North and South Vietnamese along with the other nations that took part in it. More than 1 million people were killed including civilians and over 3 million injured. Thousand were wives were left widows and hundreds of kids orphans. After consistent protests by the Americans, U.S.A withdrew from the later stages of war. The Vietnam War is a depiction that wars are murky and filthy and should be circumvented as they bring agony and desolation to the people. To show this I used three different mediums which are - Political Cartoon “Name a

The Vietnam War lasted longer, bloodier, and more hostile than any U.S. President or American citizen imagined. Lyndon Johnson faced many other enemies during the war such as the duration, the immense number of deaths, and for the first time in most American’s history, failure. Through deep evaluation of Lyndon B. Johnson’s foreign policies as President during the Vietnam war, failure was a recurring outcome, as he faced military and political difficulties over having complete authority over political decisions made leading to the misuse of his respective power, receiving split support through torn Americans at home, and his accord to deport so many troops into combat in Vietnam.

Americas inability to attain the “Hearts and Minds” of the Vietnamese population led to a constantly growing opposition ensuring that for every one “gook” the Americans killed there were always 2 more to replace him. No matter how many casualties USA inflicted on Vietnam the continuous supply of people would eventually beat the policy restricted US. ‘You can kill 10 of my men for everyone I kill of yours, but in the end I will win and you will lose”.

President Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin as an excuse to declare war on Vietnam, which was believed to be fabricated, and was easily able to obtain the War Powers Act from congress. This lead to major protests from around the whole country, many thought the war was immoral, and many thought that the United States had no valid reason to intervene with the foreign affairs in Vietnam. This and many other protests from around the country made the 19060’s to be one of the most hostile decades in American history. In 1968 a killing of over 400 Vietnamese civilians later named the My Lai Massacre only added fuel to the protests flames, and it was clear that most Americans now disapproved of the war in Vietnam. 1969 these protests seemed to force politicians to end the

The military had invented many strategies on the North, but that this time President Johnson had anxiety that the public would not give appeal to the expansion. Early that month the U.S troops (Navy) reported that the North Vietnamese gunboats had barraged them and was unstoppable. The public had become to be outraged and uncontrollable. Congress had voted opposed to the resolution and made a decision to declare war. Others had thought that Johnson was very tremble to be seen as a leader. On the other hand, forces were stable when it came to the control over half South Vietnam. Johnson had gotten bash because the war had become destructive. Johnson had sent an order for bombing on the North Vietnamese but the incident had already

President Lyndon Johnson asked U.S Congress for permission to increase the U.S military in Indochina, because two U.S destroyers called in that they had been fired on by North Vietnamese forces. President Johnson received authorization to proceed any actions that is necessary to get revenge and to encourage the repairs of security and worldwide peace, he was granted approval when Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The Johnson Administration believed that increasing the U.S military presence in Vietnam was the only answer, the South Vietnamese troops stayed generally ineffective. In supporting South Vietnamese raids and applying a U.S program for the Lao border to disturb supply lines, U.S military started supporting South Vietnamese raids of the North Vietnamese coast. In the Gulf of Tonkin two destroyers by the name of the Maddox and the Turner Joy, were stationed to strengthen these action by The United States Navy. The commander on the Turner Joy reported being attacked by North Vietnamese Patrol boats twice, once on August 2 and the second on August 4. However, doubts later occurred as to whether or not the Turner Joy was attacked. Under those circumstances, Johnson instantly asked permission from Congress to defend U.S militaries in Southeast Asia. The Senate passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution with just two restricting votes, and the House of Representatives passed it collectively. Congress upheld the determination with the supposition that the president

Johnson decided to escalate war in Vietnam because of the ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ Incident.A USS Maddox was on patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam.The captain reported that the ship exchanged fire with North Vietnamese Torpedo boats.Two days later,The ships captain reported he was under attack,although it is widely accepted that this was due to faulty radio.Johnson persuaded congress to pass the ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ resolution empowering him to protect American lives in Vietnam.Johnson refused to send ground forces although he did send more military advisors to

The United States of America used a giant lie of freedom, democracy, and a communism scare to invade Vietnam. According to A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, the U.S. is only interested in “rice, rubber, teak, corn, tin, spices, oil, and many others” that the country has to offer (Zinn 475). Vietnam has been a quiet country until the war started. Many problems occurred when the United States used a man name Diem to control Vietnam. Many tragic things had happened during this incident like murders and burning down villages. Many people would rather go to jail than kill innocents lives. The war was simply taking advantage of this country resource that it could be compel into giving the United States.

Over the years it has been an often heated and debated issue on whether the United States could have entered the war sooner and therefore have saved many lives. To try to understand this we must look both at the people’s and the government’s point of view.

During the summer of 1964, President Johnson received reports of that North Vietnamese torpedo boats had fired on the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the first attack, on August 2, the damage inflicted was limited to a single bullet hole, and on August 4, proved to be only misread radar sightings. To Johnson this didn't seem to matter if the attack was real or fantasy, the president made a call for arms because he saw this as the beginning of a wider war. In the entire Congress, only two senators voted against his request for the power to "Take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, as it came to be known, gave the President the freedom to conduct the operations in Vietnam as he saw fit.

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.