A Debt of Gratitude
How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veteran's Issues on the National Agenda
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University Press of Kansas
Published:4th Nov '24
Should be back in stock very soon
On December 15, 1972, as rumors swirled of a pending peace agreement between the United States and North Vietnam, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter issued an executive order creating the Georgia Advisory Committee on Vietnam Veterans. His reasoning was simple: “the citizens of the state of Georgia and of the United States of America owe a debt of gratitude to these veterans who have served the nation in an unpopular war.” Carter’s efforts followed trends occurring across the country as a host of states contemplated their responsibilities to Vietnam veterans. Through his words and actions, Carter joined this broader debate regarding society’s obligation to Vietnam veterans.
In A Debt of Gratitude, Glenn Robins examines Carter’s role in the creation of Vietnam veterans’ issues as a national agenda item. Covering virtually the entire decade of the 1970s, from Carter’s single terms as governor to president of the United States, Robins demonstrates that, throughout this period, Carter distinguished himself as one of the country’s most important decision-makers concerning Vietnam veteran policy. By addressing Vietnam veterans’ issues and by communicating his positions and views, Carter made a substantial political investment in moving these items from the level of public debate to the level of policy prescriptions, thereby raising awareness, generating concern, and promising government attention to honor and thank Vietnam veterans.
Glenn Robins̻s A Debt of Gratitude: Jimmy Carter and Vietnam Veterans joins the growing body of well-researched scholarly books that set the record straight about the presidency and legacy of Jimmy Carter. It not only reveals in convincing detail both Carter the politician and Carter the humanitarian at work, it demonstrates how the often-maligned veterans earned and deserved the gratitude that the thirty-ninth president offered them.""—E. Stanly Godbold, Jr., author of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: The Georgia Years, 1924–1974 and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: Power and Human Rights, 1975–2020
""Based on prodigious archival research, Glenn Robins details how Jimmy Carter grappled with the complex issue of Vietnam veterans, ultimately to his political detriment. A Debt of Gratitude expertly uncovers Carter’s motivations and his efforts on behalf of the veterans of an unpopular war while simultaneously providing an intriguing window into US presidential politics and socio-cultural mores in the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict.""—Andrew Johns, author of The Price of Loyalty: Hubert Humphrey’s Vietnam Conflict
""In this eye-opening book, Glenn Robins makes a convincing case that Vietnam War veterans do, indeed, owe a debt of gratitude to Jimmy Carter, who during his governorship of Georgia and while in the White House did more to recognize their service and support meaningful readjustment programs than any other American political leader. This is a clear-eyed and revealing look at the 1970s Vietnam War veterans’ movement and a solid addition to the history of that consequential time.""—Marc Leepson, arts editor and columnist, The VVA Veteran magazine and editor of The Webster’s New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War
ISBN: 9780700637836
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
192 pages