The Tonkin Gulf Resolution authorized military force in Vietnam and granted the President the right to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” The resolution went immediately to Congress, where the House unanimously approved it following only a 45-minute discussion.
He turned to Congress with these reports, whose members responded swiftly. President Johnson characterized the attacks as “unprovoked,” ordering retaliatory air strikes. Two days later, the situation escalated on August 4, both the Maddox and USS Turner Joy reported attacks by North Vietnamese military units in the Gulf. On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese PT boats reportedly engaged the American destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. As the 1964 presidential campaign got underway, the president quickly realized that balancing American interests at home and abroad would fully test his political skills. He worried that conducting a large-scale war in Vietnam would jeopardize “The Great Society,” the comprehensive domestic agenda he sought to achieve. However, Johnson also envisioned himself a champion of major social reform. In picking up for the fallen Kennedy, President Johnson felt compelled to carry on America’s commitment to the region, and between 19, several foreign policy decisions escalated the conflict. Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy both viewed Southeast Asia as an area of importance to US security during their presidencies. In November 1963, the assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, South Vietnam’s first president, placed the United States’ decade-long efforts to create an independent South Vietnam in jeopardy.
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