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There were no "doves" or "hawks" at this meeting. The possibility of shelling the northern seaport of Haiphong was discussed briefly, but it was discarded since it would involve civilian casualties and would require moving warships into territorial waters. McNamara suggested instead an air strike against five specific targets—four torpedo-boat bases and an oil storage facility. Rusk thought it might be wiser to hit two of the southernmost bases first and save the others for a possible second-stage attack. McCone argued for clobbering all five places, in view of the gravity of the North Vietnamese "act of war" against the destroyers. That was it. "All right," said the President, "let's go."
"We're Going." McNamara hurried back to his office and set the plans in motion. The Pentagon phoned Sharp. In turn, Sharp called the Navy's Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, stationed at nearby Makalapa Naval Base, told him: "We're going to clo it." Orders crackled through the Pacific as units of the Seventh Fleet were alerted. The carrier Constellation moved out of Hong Kong—about 500 miles from the Tonkin bases—with instructions to join the Ticonderoga as quickly as possible.
As the massive military machinery gathered its strength, Lyndon Johnson and McNamara briefed the National Security Council and summoned congressional leaders to the White House. McNamara, Rusk, McCone and Wheeler explained the events and the plans. The President was grim, decisive. He made it clear he was informing his old Capitol Hill colleagues, not asking their advice. "These are our plans," he snapped.
Johnson also asked the legislators to move swiftly for a resolution expressing congressional approval and support of "the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression." Solemnly, Johnson looked to each man around the table for his agreement. No one dissented. Republican Senator Everett Dirksen, the key figure, waved his O.K.
When he was sure that the air strike at North Viet Nam was under way, Lyndon went on nationwide TV networks at 11:37 p.m. to deliver his somber message. "My fellow Americans: As President and Commander in Chief, it is my duty to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply . . . That reply is being given as 1 speak to you tonight. Air action is now in execution against gunboats and certain supporting facilities in North Viet Nam which have been used in these hostile operations."
While voicing U.S. indignation at what he called "this outrage" by the Communists, Johnson carefully avoided any sound of saber rattling. "Our response for the present," he said, "will be limited and fitting. We Americans know, although others appear to forget, the risks of spreading conflict. We still seek no wider war."