Instructions: Identify the Following Terms

Question

Examlex · Accepted Answer

The Answer is The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress on August 7, 1964, in response to two alleged incidents involving the U.S. Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of North Vietnam. The resolution effectively gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." This included the use of military force without an official declaration of war.

The resolution came about after two separate incidents involving the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy, U.S. Navy destroyers that were allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. The first incident occurred on August 2, 1964, and the second was reported to have happened on August 4, 1964. However, subsequent evidence suggested that the second incident may not have occurred at all or was grossly exaggerated.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was significant because it provided the legal justification for the United States' deepening involvement in the Vietnam War. It allowed President Johnson, and later President Richard Nixon, to deploy U.S. armed forces in a sustained campaign against North Vietnam without a formal declaration of war by Congress.

The resolution was later repealed in 1971 as part of a growing desire within Congress to regain control over war powers that had been ceded to the President. The Vietnam War continued until 1975, ending with the fall of Saigon and the unification of Vietnam under communist control. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is often cited as a cautionary example of how incomplete or misleading information can lead to an escalation of military conflict.

Instructions: Identify the Following Terms

Definitions: