--- title: Joint Resolution to Promote the Maintenance of International Peace and Security in Southeast Asia (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/ description: Joint Resolution to Promote the Maintenance of International Peace and Security in Southeast Asia (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) by United States Congress… section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a Cold War intelligence-briefing collage with the Kremlin, Eastern Bloc architecture and a reconnaissance map of Europe.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-techniques.jpg) [Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/) · Report # Joint Resolution to Promote the Maintenance of International Peace and Security in Southeast Asia (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) At a glance The 1964 joint resolution authorising the President to take all necessary measures to repel armed attack in Southeast Asia, passed after the reported attacks on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. - **Author:** United States Congress - **Published:** August 10, 1964 - **Origin:** United States - **Length:** 384 words Full details - **Edition:** Public Law 88-408, 78 Stat. 384, approved 10 August 1964, as transcribed on the National Archives milestone-documents page (General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11) - **Language:** English - **Text source:** [U.S. National Archives, milestone documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/tonkin-gulf-resolution) - **Text basis:** National Archives transcript of the enrolled resolution; the bracketed "[endorsements]" at the end is the Archives' own marker for the endorsements on the original. - **Rights:** A statute of the United States is a work of the federal government and is not eligible for copyright (17 U.S.C. 105). The teaching notes on the National Archives page are not copied. - **Rights checked:** October 2, 2026 On this page - [The text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/#read) - [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/#provenance) - [Where it appears in the archive](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/#cited) - [Related](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/#related) The joint resolution of Congress approved on 10 August 1964, which recites that "naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam" had "deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels" and authorises the President to take all necessary measures to repel armed attack and prevent further aggression. It is the resolution's text only. The archive's Iraq WMD case study discusses President Johnson's address of 4 August 1964 and notes that Congress passed this resolution three days later, and its Vietnam case study shows the same address; the Library holds the resolution those pages refer to. ## The text [Download as plain text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964/tonkin-gulf-resolution-1964.txt) 384 words, with the provenance header above the text Eighty-eighth Congress of the United States of America AT THE SECOND SESSION Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four Joint Resolution To promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam, in violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law, have deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels lawfully present in international waters, and have thereby created a serious threat to international peace; and Whereas these attackers are part of deliberate and systematic campaign of aggression that the Communist regime in North Vietnam has been waging against its neighbors and the nations joined with them in the collective defense of their freedom; and Whereas the United States is assisting the peoples of southeast Asia to protest their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area, but desires only that these people should be left in peace to work out their destinies in their own way: Now, therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom. Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress. [endorsements] ## Provenance and rights - **Edition:** Public Law 88-408, 78 Stat. 384, approved 10 August 1964, as transcribed on the National Archives milestone-documents page (General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11) - **Text source:** [U.S. National Archives, milestone documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/tonkin-gulf-resolution) - **Text basis:** National Archives transcript of the enrolled resolution; the bracketed "[endorsements]" at the end is the Archives' own marker for the endorsements on the original. - **Rights:** A statute of the United States is a work of the federal government and is not eligible for copyright (17 U.S.C. 105). The teaching notes on the National Archives page are not copied. Checked October 2, 2026. - **Changes made:** The National Archives page's teaching notes, citation, navigation and footer removed. Wording and punctuation are the transcript's own. - **Source file checksum:** `4085239940727029…` (SHA-256 of the download this text was made from) ## Where it appears in the archive - [How the US and UK governments presented the case for war in Iraq, 2002-03](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/iraq-wmd-case-2002-03/) ## Related - [Chieu Hoi and Radio Hanoi: both sides' propaganda aimed at the other side's soldiers in Vietnam](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/vietnam-chieu-hoi-and-radio-hanoi/)