What was the impact on Johnson's escalation?

Explain the impact of one of these two events on escalation under Johnson:
The death of Diem.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Before the incident the US government were trying to find a way to send in troops in Vietnam without declaring war and then it being published to the public. This was then achieved as when the Gulf of Tonkin incident occured the media made it look as if it was an attack on the US and from then Johnson was able to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resoulution that allowed hin to 'take any means necessary to protect US interests in Vietnam'. Therefore the Gulf of Tonkin incident had the biggest impact on the escalation in Vietnam because it led to the deployment of US troops, one of the biggest forms of the US escalation, and it extended the war since now that the Viet Cong and the NVA had to fight US troops as well as the ARVN.