The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was a United States congressional resolution passed in 1964. It granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war. The resolution was based on a supposed attack on U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnamese forces.
The piece of misleading information that served as the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was the second alleged attack on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was later revealed that the second attack never actually happened, leading to criticism and controversy surrounding the accuracy of the information used to justify the resolution.
