Gulf of Tonkin, 1964 :: WhiteHouseTapes.org

August=20 3, 1964

As news = of an=20 attack by a North Vietnamese PT boat on the = Maddox=20 reached Washington, administration officials publicly=20 characterized the incident as unprovoked aggression.=20 Privately, however, President Johnson and Secretary of = Defense=20 Robert McNamara conceded that U.S. covert operations = in the=20 Gulf of Tonkin had probably provoked the North = Vietnamese=20 attack.

Facing = pressure on=20 the right for a large scale military response and from = the=20 left for disengagement, and not wanting to be forced = down=20 either path, Johnson used information to influence the = political debate. To the most vocal critics on the = right=20 calling for a forceful retaliation, Johnson and his = senior=20 advisers quietly sent word that U.S. covert operations = in the=20 region had probably provoked the North Vietnamese = attacks. In=20 public, however, the administration vehemently denied = such=20 claims and went to considerable lengths to discredit = them,=20 maintaining the official line that the attacks were=20 unprovoked.

" . . . = these=20 covert operations. There's no question but that had = some=20 bearing on it."

To Robert=20 McNamara
[Extract from Tape WH6408.03 PNO 10, = Citation=20 #4633]

Transcript + Audio=20
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"So I imagine they wanted to put a = stop to=20 it."

To Robert=20 Anderson
[Extract from Tape=20 WH6408.03 PNO 9, Citation #4632]

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August=20 4, 1964

As real-time = information flowed in to the Pentagon from the = Maddox=20 and the Turner Joy, the story became more and = more=20 confused.

Admiral U.S. Grant "Oley" Sharp, = commander of=20 the Pacific Fleet, fed reports to Washington as soon = as he=20 received them. In this phone call, Sharp briefed Air = Force=20 General David Burchinal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff = on the=20 latest information he was receiving.

This telephone call was recorded at = the=20 National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. It = was=20 amongst a series of recordings released by the LBJ = Library in=20 June 2002.

". . . there apparently have been = at least=20 nine torpedoes in the water. . . . All missed, and = apparently=20 two of their boats have been sunk, as far as we can = tell."

12:22 p.m.,=20 Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp to General David Burchinal=20
[Extract from NMCC Tape VN01_10] =

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August=20 6 , 1964

Having = spent the=20 morning on the Hill testifying to Congressional = committees,=20 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara updated President = Johnson=20 on Congressional support for the Tonkin Resolution. = Despite a=20 few dissenting voices on both sides of the aisle, = McNamara=20 reported that Congressional support for the Resolution = was=20 strong.

" . . . a = blank=20 check authorization for further action . . . "=20

12:46 p.m.,=20 To Robert McNamara
[Extract from Tape = WH6408.08 PNO 22,=20 Citation #4773]

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Election-year politics complicated = the=20 administration's response. While criticism from the = likes of=20 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was=20 expected, Johnson was forced to contend with a = renegade voice=20 much closer to the White House.

While President Johnson, Robert = McNamara, and=20 Secretary of State Dean Rusk were all trying to = convince=20 Congress and the American public that the North = Vietnamese=20 attacks were unprovoked, Johnson's running mate in the = upcoming presidential election, Hubert Humphrey, broke = with=20 the administration line and revealed the classified, = covert=20 role that the U.S. Navy had been playing to support = South=20 Vietnamese sabotage raids against North Vietnam in the = Gulf of=20 Tonkin.

" . . . = our friend=20 Hubert [Humphrey] is just destroying himself with his = big=20 mouth. "

To James=20 Rowe
[Extract from Tape=20 WH6408.09 PNO 4, Citation #4777]

Transcript + Audio=20
Transcript=20 Only [PDF]=20
Audio=20 Only [high quality WAV]=20
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=

Recommended=20 Reading:

Fredrik Logevall, Choosing = War: The=20 Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in = Vietnam=20 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)
Edwin E. Moise, Tonkin Gulf = and the=20 Escalation of the Vietnam War (Chapel Hill: University = of North=20 Carolina Press, 1996)
Robert Mann, A Grand = Delusion:=20 America's Descent into Vietnam (New York: Basic Books, = 2001)=20
Robert S. McNamara, In = Retrospect: The=20 Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York: Times Books, = 1995)=20
David Kaiser, American = Tragedy:=20 Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War=20 (Cambridge: Belknap, 2000) =

Further=20 = Resources:

NPR=20 Morning Edition's program on these tapes, including = an=20 interview with PRP Editorial Advisory Board member Robert = Dallek.=20
John Prados, "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, = 40 Years=20 Later," National Security Archive
About the=20 LBJ Tapes=20
LBJ = Library
- LBJ Library info on the LBJ Telephone=20 Recordings
About=20 the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings=20 Program =20
Miller Center=20 of Public Affairs
Scripps Library and Multimedia=20 Archive=20
AmericanPresident.org=20
WhiteHouseTapes.org =

Exhibit=20 Credits:

Transcription: Seth = Center, Kerry=20 O'Brien, David Coleman, Kent Germany, Marc Selverstone, and = Robert=20 Johnson
Text & Editing: = David Coleman=20 and Marc Selverstone
Research Assistance: = Kerry=20 O'Brien
Editorial Advisers: = Kent Germany=20 and Timothy Naftali=20
Web & Multimedia = Design:=20 David Coleman=20
Digital Archivist: = Michael=20 Greco=20
Hosted by=20 WhiteHouseTapes.org=20
Presidential Recordings Program = (Timothy=20 Naftali, Director), Miller Center of Public Affairs
Original LBJ tapes courtesy of = the Lyndon B.=20 Johnson Library

About the = Authors:

David Coleman and = Marc=20 Selverstone are assistant professors at the University of = Virginia=92s=20 Miller Center of Public Affairs, where they are annotating and = transcribing the secret White House recordings of Presidents = Kennedy=20 and Johnson. They are co-editors, with Fredrik Logevall, of=20 Prelude to Escalation: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Dilemmas = of=20 Vietnam (W.W. Norton, forthcoming).=20