August 16

On August 16, 1964, President Johnson's interpretation of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was attacked in the Senate by Sen. Fulbright, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee.

The Gulf of Tonkin resolution was voted on in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf of Tonkin incident. On August 2nd, 1964, there had been some naval skirmishes off the coast of Vietnam. The joint resolution gave President Johnson the authority to use whatever means necessary to aid any state in the South Asia Collective Defense Treaty. Famously, only two senators voted against it; Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening. The resolution was voted on very quickly.

President Johnson then used the resolution to justify escalation of the Vietnam War. No formal declaration of war by Congress was ever made, as required by the Constitution. The resolution was invalidated during the Nixon administration, but by then the damage was done.