A Debt of Gratitude
How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veteran's Issues on the National Agenda
Published on 16. December 2024
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-7006-3783-6 (ISBN)
Description
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 honour and thank Vietnam veterans.
Reviews / Votes
"Glenn Robins?s 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
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Kansas
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7006-3783-6 (9780700637836)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Glenn Robins
A Debt of Gratitude
How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veteran's Issues on the National Agenda
E-Book
03/2025
University Press of Kansas
€48.99
Available for download
Person
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.