“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
