U.S. History Today 3/12 Review the War up to 1965 Quiz, Section 1 Ch 22 Powerpoint: What happened in the Gulf of Tonkin? A Mystery of History HW: Sec. 2 Ch 22 (p. 736)

What happened in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964?

In 1848, a young Congressman introduced… The “Spot Resolutions.” He demanded to know from President Polk exactly where fighting had begun in the Mexican War of 1846-48—was it on American or Mexican soil?

His reasoning? If the war had started on Mexican territory, it was an unjust war of aggression launched by the U.S. His resolution was ignored: We had won 1/3 of Mexico’s territory, and weren’t about to give it back.

The Congressman? Abraham Lincoln To think about: How was this situation similar to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident?

Aug. 1964 Two American destroyers are patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin, off North Vietnam

They’re on a routine patrol in international waters

On the night of Aug. 2, they’re attacked by North Vietnamese PT boats, similar to these American ones

On the night of Aug. 4, a second attack is launced by the North Vietnamese

The U.S. destroyers sink two of the PT boats

As a result of this clearly deliberate second attack… President Johnson persuades Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which gives him full power to wage war in Vietnam in response to the communist aggression

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution… Escalates the war—U.S. troops increase from 15,000 to 180,000 in a year—it’ll be 500,000 by 1968

The problem is… Did the second attack ever happen? 2. Were the destroyers in international waters?

Version #2 of the night of Aug. 4 The destroyers were not on “routine patrol:” they were on an spy mission, eavesdropping on North Vietnamese radio communication and “jamming” their signals

Where were they? The Navy account has the destroyers in international waters. There is evidence that they were inside Vietnamese waters, which means the PT boats had every right to attack.

How’s this similar to Lincoln questioning the Mexican War?

If the PT boats ever existed! The captain of one ship, the Maddox, acquired an unknown target and opened fire. The other ship, the Turner Joy, joined in. Air strikes from the carrier Ticonderoga rocked the area. But other planes found nothing in the area.

The captain of the Maddox… Later admitted he may have been wrong. It’s possible that the two American destroyers actually opened fire on each other.

But Congress would vote: 416-0 in the House 88-2 in the Senate To approve the Tonkin Gulf Resolution Now the President had the power to wage war…

Over an attack That never happened

The result is that many in your parents’ generation… …would have a difficult time, after Lyndon Johnson, believing their own government…

While others, heartbroken because of our loss in Vietnam… Have become very protective of America and oppose all dissent against the government.

So what happened that night in the Gulf of Tonkin… …still haunts America today.