Editing Gulf of Tonkin incident (section)

==United States' response==

===Johnson's speech to the American people===
[[File:37 Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1|US President [[Lyndon Johnson]] in 1964]]

Shortly before midnight, on 4 August, Johnson interrupted national television to make an announcement in which he described an attack by North Vietnamese vessels on two U.S. Navy warships, ''Maddox'' and ''Turner Joy'', and requested authority to undertake a military response.<ref name="Ball">{{Cite journal|last=Ball |first=Moya Ann |s2cid=144436208 |title=Revisiting the Gulf of Tonkin Crisis: An Analysis of the Private Communication of President Johnson and his Advisers |journal=Discourse & Society |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=281–296 [p. 286] |year=1991 |doi=10.1177/0957926591002003002 }}<!--|access-date=October 28, 2009  --></ref><ref name="Gulf of Tonkin Incident">{{cite web |url=http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/speeches/rhetoric/lbjgulf.htm |title=Gulf of Tonkin Incident |date=August 4, 1964 |access-date=October 27, 2009 |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223204420/http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/speeches/rhetoric/lbjgulf.htm |archive-date=December 23, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Johnson's speech repeated the theme that "dramatized Hanoi/[[Ho Chi Minh|Hồ Chí Minh]] as the aggressor and which put the United States into a more acceptable defensive posture."<ref name="Ball" /> Johnson also referred to the attacks as having taken place "on the high seas", suggesting that they had occurred in international waters.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/historicspeeches/johnson_lyndon/gulfoftonkin.html |title=Text of Lyndon Johnson's speech, ''Gulf of Tonkin Incident''. |access-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121215629/http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/historicspeeches/johnson_lyndon/gulfoftonkin.html |archive-date=November 21, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He emphasized commitment to both the American people, and the South Vietnamese government. He also reminded Americans that there was no desire for war. "A close scrutiny of Johnson's public statements ... reveals no mention of preparations for overt warfare and no indication of the nature and extent of covert land and air measures that already were operational." Johnson's statements were short to "minimize the U.S. role in the conflict; a clear inconsistency existed between Johnson's actions and his public discourse."<ref name="Cherwitz">{{Cite journal|last=Cherwitz |first=Richard A.  |title=Masking Inconsistency: The Tonkin Gulf Crisis |journal=Communication Quarterly |year=1980 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=27–37 |doi=10.1080/01463378009369364 }}<!--|access-date=October 28, 2009--></ref><ref>{{Cite speech|last=Johnson |first=Lyndon B. |event=[[Syracuse University]] Graduation Ceremony |location= [[Syracuse, New York]] |publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs|Miller Center]] (from [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum]])|language=en|title=Remarks on Vietnam at Syracuse University |url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/august-5-1964-remarks-vietnam-syracuse-university |access-date=June 7, 2020 |date=August 5, 1964}}</ref>

Within thirty minutes of the incident, Johnson had decided on retaliatory attacks (dubbed "[[Operation Pierce Arrow]]").<ref>[[Edwin E. Moise]], ''Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War''m (University of North Carolina Press, 1996), p. 210.</ref> That same day he used the "hot line" to Moscow, and assured the Soviets he had no intent in opening a broader war in Vietnam. Early on 5 August, Johnson publicly ordered retaliatory measures stating, "The determination of all Americans to carry out our full commitment to the people and to the government of South Vietnam will be redoubled by this outrage." One hour and forty minutes after his speech, aircraft launched from U.S. carriers reached North Vietnamese targets. On 5 August, at 10:40, these planes bombed four torpedo boat bases and an oil-storage facility in [[Vinh]].<ref>The World Today, Vol. 26, No. 5 (May 1970), pp. 209–217, Adam Roberts</ref>

===Reaction from Congress===
[[File:Wayne Morse.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|US Senator Wayne Morse]]

While Johnson's final resolution was being drafted, U.S. Senator [[Wayne Morse]] attempted to hold a fundraiser to raise awareness about possible faulty records of the incident involving ''Maddox''. Morse supposedly received a call from an informant who has remained anonymous urging Morse to investigate official logbooks of ''Maddox''.<ref name="Goulden">{{Cite book|last=Goulden |first=Joseph C. |title=Truth is the First Casualty |location=Chicago |publisher=Rand McNally & Company |year=1969 }}</ref> These logs were not available before Johnson's resolution was presented to Congress.<ref name="Goulden" /> After urging Congress that they should be wary of Johnson's coming attempt to convince Congress of his resolution, Morse failed to gain enough cooperation and support from his colleagues to mount any sort of movement to stop it.<ref name="Goulden" /> Immediately after the resolution was read and presented to Congress, Morse began to fight it. He contended in speeches to Congress that the actions taken by the United States were actions outside the constitution and were "acts of war rather than acts of defense."<ref name="Goulden" /> Morse's efforts were not immediately met with support, largely because he revealed no sources and was working with very limited information.<ref name="Goulden" /> It was not until after the United States became more involved in the war that his claim began to gain support throughout the United States government.

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