Video: 'Lyndon Johnson - Report on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident'

(Tuesday, August 4, 1964, shortly after 11:30 p.m. EDT; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. President Lyndon Johnson has ordered retaliatory action against gunboats and “certain supporting facilities in North Vietnam” after renewed attacks against American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

In a television address tonight, Johnson said air attacks on the North Vietnamese ships and facilities were taking place as he spoke (11:30 a.m., Aug. 5, 1964, in North Vietnam; click here watch a clip from ‘The Presidents: LBJ’ at 1:33:02).

Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - LBJ Goes to War [3/11]' (Johnson announcement, Aug. 4, 1964, at 12:58)

Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - America's Enemy [5/11]' (Johnson announcement, Aug. 4, 1964, at 14:39)

Video: '"The Ten Thousand Day War - Day of Decision " ( Full Documentary )' (Johnson announcement, Aug. 4, 1964, at 35:42)

Video: '45 85 Part 10' (Johnson announcement, Aug. 4, 1964, at 1:56)