Since the days of the Vietnam War, we have learned that the major incident at the Gulf of Tonkin never took place, though the Defense Department and President Johnson used it to gain the support of 48 out of 50 Senators, who gave Johnson expanded war powers. Ironically, Johnson professed to oppose an escalated war in the 1964 election, while at the same time, he planned to attack North Vietnam in the following year. This chicanery would lead to America’s most divisive conflict since the Civil War.

Why did Nixon’s Vietnamization ultimately fail? Are there similar programs today?