On the left is the text of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. You can read it to see how Congress reacted to the events.

Here are ideas for further research and discussion:

• LBJ had recently been able to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would soon move on to the crucial Voting Rights Act of 1965. Yet Vietnam came to loom over his record on Civil Rights and the War on Poverty. What do you believe to be Johnson's enduring legacy?
• At various times in U.S. history, newspaper accounts of incidents, and the language used, have helped drive the nation toward involvement in or escalation of war efforts. Consider the Gulf of Tonkin incident in light of the sinking of the Maine in 1898 or supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003. Are there other such instances?

Note any thoughts you have below: