aug 5, 1964 - U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson submits the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to Congress

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Commanders reported a North Vietnamese torpedo boat attack on the U.S. destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy in the Gulf of Tonkin, resulting in this resolution being submitted. The resolution authorizes the president to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States.” Although the captain of the Maddox urged caution, suggesting that the attack had been conjured from the imaginations of overeager or inexperienced sonar operators (an assessment that will ultimately prove correct), Congress overwhelmingly passes the resolution. Approximately 23,000 U.S. troops are in Vietnam, and roughly 400 have been killed

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