1964 - The Gulf of Tonkin Phantom Attack

The Gulf of Tonkin incident stands as the definitive watershed moment in the American involvement in the Vietnam War. Ostensibly comprised of two separate naval engagements in early August 1964 between the United States Navy and the naval forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), the event catalyzed the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This legislative act granted President Lyndon B. Johnson sweeping executive powers to wage war without a formal declaration, fundamentally altering the constitutional balance of war powers in the United States and setting the nation on a trajectory toward a decade-long conflict that would claim over 58,000 American lives and millions of Vietnamese lives.