President Johnson’s Speech on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident

While it has been proven that during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident no U.S. warships had been fired on, it was still the event that jumpstarted the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam. Johnson was essentially given a blank check by Congress to do what he must in Vietnam [very similar to President Bush and the Iraq War in 2003].  The Cold War was raging and would be for a long time. The Vietnam War showed the true fear of Communism many American politicians and officials had. By 1965 there would be over 100,000 American troops in Vietnam. Johnson uses language such as, “supporting freedom” and “protecting peace in South Vietnam”. These phrases were commonplace in the 60s and 70s but also reemerged after the attacks on 9/11. President Bush used rhetoric like this when discussing the Iraq War and why U.S. forces should preemptively strike.