A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
Interesting that the least publicized military branch, the North Vietnamese Navy should start open warfare between the US and North Vietnam. The Resolution came within a week of those naval incidents (one actual naval battle and one radar malfunction/Tonkin Ghosts). The resolution amounted to war between the US & North VN without a formal declaration of war.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (officially, the Southeast Asia Resolution, Public Law 88-408) .
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution stated that Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression As a result, President Johnson, and later President Nixon, relied on the resolution as the legal basis for their military policies in Vietnam. As public resistance to the war heightened, the resolution was repealed by Congress in January 1971.
South China Sea: which is a part of the Pacific Ocean
In August, 1964, President Johnson reported to the nation that American ships had been attacked by North Vietnam gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin, in international waters. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving the President the power to use whatever force necessary to protect our interests in the area. At the time, the truth was not reported. In February, 1965, the Viet Cong attacked an American military base near Pleiku. Using the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson sent in 3,500 Marines, the first official troops, to South Vietnam. By the end of the year, there were 200,000 US troops in Vietnam.
Not a bay; a gulf...the Gulf of Tonkin.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which was passed by Congress in 1964.
the gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The passage of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution occurred due to sea battles in the Tonkin Gulf between the US Navy and the North Vietnam Navy.
The August, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution .
NATO existed well before the Tonkin Gulf incident.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
07 August 1964
Johnson.
The gulf of tonkin resolution was passed by President Johnson, in 1964, in responce to the attacks launched by the north vietnamese, against the American ships in the gulf of tonkin.
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution .