1. The tonkin Gulf Incident

2. TENSION MOUNTS IN TONKIN GULF
OPLAN 34A: a secret operation designed to put pressure on North Vietnam through the use of spy planes, attacks on radar stations and destroyer patrols in the Tonkin Gulf
30 July 1964: South Vietnamese patrol boats attack a radar station on an island off the coast of North Vietnam

3. August :
‘Desoto’ Patrol is patrolling the Gulf
USS Maddox is attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats and returns fire
August :
Johnson sends additional US bombers
to wait in Thailand
Maddox continues patrol
August :
Turner Joy joins the Maddox
Radar on both boats show them being under attack
Both boats return fire with torpedoes
4 hours later they report they may have been mistaken
=confusion on board and at the White House

4. August 4 1964 10:30pm 64 US bombers take off to bomb North Vietnam
Johnson addresses the nation justifying the attack on North Vietnam because of, “renewed hostile actions against US ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin”

5. August :
Congress passes the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (with only two votes against)
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.”

6. The Resolution allowed for the ‘Americanisation’ of the Vietnam War
Johnson described the Tonkin Gulf Resolution as “like Grandma’s nightshirt – it covered everything”
The Resolution allowed for the ‘Americanisation’ of the Vietnam War

7. But……….

8. Were the North Vietnamese provoked?
Did the incident on August really happen?
Did Johnson deceive the American public?
Was Johnson’s strategy of sending the Maddox into the Tonkin Gulf to provoke an incident into order to force Congress’ hand in passing the Tonkin Resolution?

9. 1995 – Robert McNamara visits Vietnam and meets with General Giap
1995 – Robert McNamara visits Vietnam and meets with General Giap. McNamara accepts the Hanoi Government’s explanation that the second incident did not take place.
2005 – US NSA declassified information pertaining to the Tonkin Incident despite policymakers claiming it could be used to make comparisons with the intelligence gathered to justify the Iraq War (2003) .
McNamara on Tonkin:

10. BUT what we can be sure of is…
Historians have argued and debated over the amount of information LBJ had. Some argue that only information supporting a communist attack were given to the White House, while others say LBJ deceived the US public.
6 years after the event:
John McCain on Tonkin:
BUT what we can be sure of is…

11. The Tonkin Incident led to:
Amerianisation of the Vietnam War
A test of America’s capacity to defeat communism
The longest war of the 20th Century