Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

What would Lyndon Johnson have been if not for Vietnam?

On this day in 1964, all but two senators ensured that we’d never know. But it’s still an eminently frustrating question. Think about it: The one man who, more than anyone, defined the priorities, values, and goals of an entire political party, is, today, practically taboo. But if that roll call had gone differently — and he thus repeated in ’68 his enormous, consensus-rallying knockout from ’64 — then, I’m convinced, he’d have been untouchable in his legacy and esteem from then onward.

August 07 1964

Source: Records of the U.S. Senate

Tags: 1960s, Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam War

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