How might the Tonkin Gulf Resolution affect the power of the presidency?

1 Answer
Mar 7, 2017

It gave unlimited power to the President to escalate war in Vietnam.

Explanation:

The Gulf of Tonkin resolution was passed in 1964 after an American warship, the USS Maddox was attacked by Northern Vietnamese troops.

The centralization of power in the hands of the President is similar to what had occurred in the previous wars in which the United States had fought. The Espionnage Act had been passed in 1917 to increase the size of the executive power. It started during the Civil War with Lincoln's violations of the Bill of Rights.