Failing Our Veterans

Mark Boulton is Assistant Professor of History at Westminster College (MO).

"Failing Our Veteransis a significant contribution to our understanding of Vietnam-era veterans benefits specifically and veterans policies generally. Boulton highlights how leaders, even well-meaning ones, have far too often sacrificed veterans benefits to other political or ideological goals.As a new generation of veterans returns home to America from war, contemporary lawmakers would be wise to heed the cautionary history presented inFailing Our Veteransand avoid making the same mistakes." (Journal of America's Military Past) "Failing Our Veterans is an outstanding legislative history of the G.I. Bill and its evolution during and after World War II. Boulton traces a clear and understandable path through a complex array of personalities and organizations involved in the public policy debate that comprised postwar veterans policy." (American Historical Review) "This book fills an important niche, helping explain the difficulties encountered by those never labeled 'the Greatest Generation'." (Choice) "Failing Our Veterans is highly recommended for scholars of modern American history and anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of veterans affairs." (Canadian Military History) "The book is well organized and presents convincing and compelling analysis of an extremely important issue." (Register of the Kentucky Historical Society) "The shoddy treatment of our veterans is one of this nations dirtiest secrets. Mark Boulton deserves high praise for the systematic way in which he reveals how the betrayal of American veterans has been carried out through the course of numerous Presidential administrations. One can only hope that his no-holds-barred censure of callous politicians will lead to a new era, where the government that sends men and women to war acts responsibly in taking care of them once they return home. This book needs to be read by every politician who ever voted on, or ever will vote on, a veterans rights bill, and by every American who votes those politicians into office." - Gerald Nicosia,author of Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement "With the country facing decades of costly health and service benefits for veterans of its 21st century wars, nothing could be more timely than Mark Boulton's look-back at the political, economic, and ideological battles that shaped public policies currently in place. He gives us a detailed but easy to read history with unsettling implications for our future." - Jerry Lembcke,Associate Professor Emeritus, College of the Holy Cross "[] Failing Our Veterans makes a valuable contribution to knowledge about the Vietnam veterans experience particularly useful for researchers who specialize in Vietnam veterans, education policy and veterans readjustment providing a context for an understanding of the relevant debates about educational benefits, and showing their connectedness to the broader history of their times." (The Journal of the Historical Association) "InFailing Our VeteransMark Boulton, an assistant professor of history at Westminster College in Missouri, provides a detailed examination of the legislative history of the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 and subsequent bills passed between 1967 and 1974 to explain why many veteran needs were not fulfilled.Failing Our Veteransably illustrates fundamental issues remain unresolved." (The Journal of American History)

• Acknowledgments ixIntroduction: "A Chance for Learning" 11. For the Wounded and the Worthy: Veterans' Benefits from the Early Republic to the Vietnam Era 192. The Clash of the Texans: The Making of the 1966 Cold War G.I. Bill 533. A Peacetime Bill for the Warrior: Shortchanging the Vietnam Vets 954. Mr. President (Have Pity on the Fighting Man): Nixon's Right Turn for America, Wrong Result for the Veterans 1195. On the Streets and in the Schools: The Veterans Come Home 1556. Denouement: Ford's War on Inflation and Teague's Last Stand 177Conclusion: "A Chance for Learning" Missed 207Notes 217Bibliography 251Index 263About the Author 273