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I believe had JFK not been assassinated in 1963 that he would have handled the Tonkin Gulf incident with the Maddox and Turner Joy differently, he certainly would have taken more time to get all the information before making the decision to respond with air strikes against North Vietnam, even in the election year of 1964. Kennedy might have reduced troop numbers as some claim but he would not have completely pulled out of the situation in South east Asia...after all he did send US ground troops to Thailand to blunt suspected infiltration by Pol Pot's maniacs on the Thai/Cambodian boarder.
I think Kennedy would have turned to strong demonstrations and a public warning to the North Vietnamese rather than ordering air strikes.