Profile in Courage: Wayne Morse

In early August, 1964, President Johnson informed the country that some of our naval vessels had come under attack by North Vietnamese forces, and this became known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident.  Nearly immediately, LBJ asked for Congress to grant him the power to take "All necessary actions" in order to respond militarily to the North Vietnamese.  This would of course lead to full-blown war in Vietnam.

Still on somewhat of "patriotic high" following WWII and the Korean conflict, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.  The Senate was nearly just as unanimous, save two Senators - Ernest Gruening of Alaska and Wayne Morse of Oregon.

Although a terribly unpopular decision at the time, Wayne Morse said this regarding sending troops to Vietnam:

"Our government has no right to send American boys to their death in any battlefield in the absence of a declaration of war, and Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution vests the prerogative of declaring war in the Congress of the United States. And no war has been declared in Southeast Asia, and until a war is declared, it is unconstitutional to send American boys to their death in South Vietnam, or anywhere else in Southeast Asia. I don't know why we think, just because we're mighty, that we have the right to try to substitute might for right. And that's the American policy in Southeast Asia. It's just as unsound when we do it as when Russia does it. " (see a full transcript at National Radio Project)

Senator Morse would later be completely vindicated when the truth came out that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was nearly entirely fabricated, and because he showed unwavering dedication to the cause of peace under heavy pressure, Wayne Morse is the Populist Papers' first profile in courage.


Official Bio of Wayne Morse

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution