Basic Information
Name: Wayne Lyman Morse
Nickname: Mr. Filibuster, Vietnam Dissenter #1
Born: October 20, 1900
Died: July 22, 1974
Nationality: USA
Hometown: Madison, WI
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: United States Senator, Attorney
Education: Columbia University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Wilbur F. Morse, Jessie Elnora Morse
Siblings: Mabel, Harry, Grant, Caryl
Spouse: Mildred Martha Downie Morse
Children: Three daughters
Friends: Ernest Gruening, Vietnamese, war protesters
Foes: The rest of Congress, Robert McNamara
Analysis
Morse Honor Code
Vietnam made Wayne Morse famous. Actually, it was trying to stay out of Vietnam that made Morse famous. He, along with Senator Ernest Gruening, were the only two people in the entire U.S. Congress that opposed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The only two, out of five hundred and thirty-five people.
Talk about standing up for something you believe in.
So why did Morse oppose this obviously popular resolution? He believed it was unconstitutional. He was strongly in favor of Congress' power to declare war (Congress, not the President), and he believed that the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was violating that power.
If you think about it, he was technically right—the Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war, and the president must ask Congress for a vote in order to make it happen. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution allowed the President to send soldiers, supplies, and military aid to South Vietnam…yet it wasn't a declaration of war.
Morse (and his buddy Ernest Gruening) didn't agree with this idea, so they voted against the resolution. It still passed by a landslide, but hey, it's all about appearances right? By voting against it, Morse made a stand for what he believed in, and perhaps he was on the right side of history. He stuck to his guns (so to speak) and remained a critic of the war after Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed, joining protests and anti-war marches.
You could say that Mr. Morse wasn't exactly on board with the Vietnam War, and wasn't afraid to show it.