it would resend something -- rescind something, the gulf of tonkin resolution authorizing lyndon johnson to act in the ways people would come to regret. it is also the root of what becomes known as the war powers resolution of 1973, a congressional attempt to hamstring the president in the use of military force. the fact is that is all that happened with nixon. he was not impeached. he was not curbing the american operations. though he got slapped on the wrist, he really had no significant impact on the outcome of the vietnam conflict. it did create more opposition to the actions of the administration. the legacy of the war powers resolution, we will talk about that a bit. it doesn't really do very much in terms of constraining presidential power all that much. presidents now seek congressional approval, many times, but they do not have to. there is a lot of resistance to this. the modern presidency, modern presidents have a lot of power, etc. right? but talk about james k. polk. he comes to the presidency in 1845. the united states annexes the republic of texas. and in annexing texas, t

ships in the gulf of tonkin. lee harvey oswald single-handedly killed john f. kennedy. no, fidel castro killed john f. kennedy. these are the stories power has told about itself throughout my life time. essentially these are the real conspiracy theories and they are told by power. with the complicity of the american media, appropriate media. these are the stories that had unfortunately some tragic consequences as well as we all know from the examples i just cited. it is the job of people like me, historians, alternative historians, journalists, to present the truth. basically, to cut through mythsmaking, spinning of history, of reality. it is no easy task because there is hollywood, there is the corporate media, there is a fox news. again and again day after day 24/7 they are telling us there reality and as the great sociologists who wrote the power elite during the cold war in the 1915s, one of the first to analyze the phenomenon of the dulles brothers and the power circle, as he famously said about these. is such men as these, they were 99% men and 96% today such men

i think it is fair to say that this is wilson's equivalent of lbj's tonkin gulf resolution on the war in the it now. it was a way to go to war without saying so. if you had not been for a senate filibuster, this is probably what would've happened in world war i. the decoration would have followed afterwards. there is an important difference, however. lyndon johnson wanted a war resolution in order to look strong before the 1964 democratic convention. wilson's in direct path towards war seemed geared towards washing his hands, his own hands of responsibility for a policy, for what his policy would have accomplished. osrt -- sort of going to war without having to say so. the event, and however, the arms neutrality bill died in the senate as international tension increased, battles and the senate intensified, and time ran out and the final days of the 64th congress. a sympathetic biographer blames wilson for the failure. but wilson blamed what he calls a little group of willful men who held up action that the president and the public thought was urgent. [indiscernible] he insisted that t

was that tonkin america? is your take on the fact that president the fact the president did mention that when the sailors were behind bars in iran? >> my guess is when the facts come out there is at least regulation of a mechanical problem with their bowls. the president was very confident that secretary of state carried had said before the state of the union that they have been assured by the ukrainian government to be released and they were. to overreact in the state of the union to lay out some great fear of for these when the sailors lives at that point were confident they were going to be released i think was the right thing to do. it points out that i know we all want immediate answers and reaction. sometimes having spent time in the white house, a president has got to be calm, cool, understand the facts and then wait and not overreact. in today's world, lots of people jump to conclusions. to take any time in the state of the union embrace the fear of the american people that somehow these lives are at

ships in the gulf of tonkin. lee harvey oswald single-handedly killed john f. kennedy. no, fidel castro killed john f. kennedy. these are the stories that power has told about itself throughout my lifetime. essentially, these are the real conspiracy theories. and they're told by power. with the complicity of the american media, corporate media. and these are the stories that have had, unfortunately, some tragic consequences as well, as we all know. from the examples that i just cited. sost the job of people like -- so it's the job of people like me, historians, alternative historians, journalists, to present the truth, basically, to cut through this myth-making, this spinning of history, of reality. and, you know, it's no easy task because there's hollywood, there's the corporate media, there's fox news. and again and again, day after day, 24/7, they're telling us their reality. and as mills, the great sociologist who wrote "the power elite" back during the cold war in the 1950s and was one of the first to analyze the phenomenon of the dulles brothers and that power cir

to the gulf of tonkin resolution was a lie. lyndon johnson i think was great president, except that he had this vietnam war thing, and, yeah, it wasn't just a democratic war. democratic party war. richmond nixon continued and it sabotaged the -- 1968 nixon san talk to lyndon johnson's attempts to negotiate a trust. the johnson library released a tape of johnson taking to if everett dirk senior and he said they're telling tu not to negotiate with me until after the election, this is trend. and everett dirksn sis this is treason. it was political awakening, not a shaft from republican to democrat. >> host: what are you going to talk about tomorrow on the show and. >> guest: i don't know. was is so wonderful about a chicago to -- and you get a sense of this --ous just never know what is going to come up and you work with what is in front of you. after this today i'll be looking for the stories, not necessarily the ones everybody is talking about. the ones that -- actually important things are pivoting on. >> host: are you working