stylistic:tone
Congress votes

Johnson invited 18 senators and congressmen led by Mansfield to the White House to inform them he had ordered a bombing raid on North Vietnam and asked for their support for a resolution. Johnson began the meeting with a warning: "It is dangerous to have the leaders come here. The reporters see they are coming and they go back and report all over the Hill. Some of our boys are floating in the water. The facts we would like to present to you are to be held in the closest confidence and are to be kept in this room until announced". Congressman Charles A. Halleck denied leaking the meeting, saying "I did not tell a damn person". The atmosphere of the meeting with Johnson saying that the American warplanes were on their way to bomb North Vietnam made it difficult for those present to oppose the president, out of the fear of appearing unpatriotic. Most of the congressional leaders were supportive, through Mansfield still had doubts, saying he preferred the matter be referred to the United Nations. Rusk assured Mansfield that he would have liked to take the matter up at the UN, but the possibility of a Soviet veto at the UN left the president no choice. Johnson told Mansfield the UN was not an option and that: "I have told you what I want from you". Senator George Aiken told the president about the proposed resolution: "By the time you send it up, there won't be anything for us to do, but support you". Senator Bourke B. Hickenlooper argued that there was no point in inquiring if the second incident had occurred or not, saying it was imperative that the United States must strike North Vietnam at once to show strength. Rusk told the congressional leaders: "We are trying to get across two points-one, leave your neighbor alone and, two, if you don't we will have to get busy". About the fact that Radio Hanoi had admitted to the first incident, but denied the second, Rusk used the radio broadcasts to argue for the malevolence and dishonesty of North Vietnam, saying: "They have not talked about what did happen, but what did not happen". After the meeting, Johnson summoned his National Security Adviser, McGeorge "Mac" Bundy, to tell him: "You know that resolution your brother's been talking about for the past few months? Well, now's the time to get it through Congress." When Bundy replied "Mr. President, that seems too fast for me", Johnson growled "I didn't ask you that question. I want you to do it."