A Debt of Gratitude: How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veteran's Issues on the National Agenda

by Glenn Robins

Overview

Georgia Author of the Year, history category

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700637836
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	12/16/2024
Series:	Modern War Studies
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Glenn Robins is professor of history, Georgia Southwestern State University, and author of The Longest Rescue: The Life and Legacy of Vietnam POW William A. Robinson and They Have Left Us Here to Die: The Civil War Prison Diary of Sgt. Lyle G. Adair, 111th U.S. Colored Infantry.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Illuminating Vietnam Veterans

2. The Vietnam Campaign

3. The Vietnam Agenda

4. Battling Expectations

5. Losing Control of the Agenda

6. The Revolt of the Veterans

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Makes a compelling case that Jimmy Carter substantially helped Vietnam War veterans."—VVA Veteran

“With impressive new scholarship, A Debt of Gratitude fills a significant hole in our understanding of the aftermath of the Vietnam War by giving Jimmy Carter his proper due in transforming the image of Vietnam veterans from victims into patriots, finally granting the appreciation they long deserved.”—Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life

“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 sociocultural 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

“History has not been kind to Jimmy Carter in his role as commander-in-chief. Glenn Robins, however, excels in offering a thoughtful necessary revision to that history by cogently and fairly evaluating Carter’s relationship with veterans of the American war in Vietnam. A superb analysis of political advocacy, veteran readjustment, and collective memory.”— Gregory A. Daddis, author of Pulp Vietnam: War and Gender in Cold War Men’s Adventure Magazines

From the Publisher