The Vietnam War had a lasting effect on both the men and the women who served. While there appears to be plenty of research on how the war impacted the lives of the men, there is very little publicity given to how the war impacted the women, despite the extensive documentation in the forms of oral histories and studies. By looking at oral histories and various studies on different aspects of service, such as PTSD, experience, combat exposure, and gender in the conflict, this study recognizes the gaps in the examination of the nurse's experiences in Vietnam. It strives to contribute to the process of forming a more comprehensive study of how the war impacted the women who served. This study will answer the following questions: How did the experiences of the Vietnam War change the lives of the women who served as nurses? What struggles did they face while in service and when they returned home? How did the war impact them psychologically and, thus, change their behavior? Since the majority of the women who served were Army medical personnel, this study will focus on that population. This study begins with an investigation of their prewar lives, their reasons for joining the Army Nurse Corps, and their experiences in basic training. It analyzes their services in Vietnam by examining their experiences, gender roles, and working conditions. Finally, it explores the impact of the war on their lives, through an analysis of their homecoming, the controversy of Agent Orange, and PTSD. It shows how many of these factors would overlap with their experiences, causing trauma and a change in the behavior of these women. In many cases, the nurses changed from innocent and sheltered to depressed, angry, and struggling with their memories. Their experiences before, during, and after the war changed their perceptions of the world and themselves, resulting in increased anxiety, the need for adrenaline, and isolationist behaviors. The war was indiscriminate, and therefore, had a similar impact on both the men and women involved.

The biography of J.D. Manning tells the story of the first man drafted in the United States at the dawn of World War II. Growing up, he lived an ordinary, small-town life in Washburn, Wisconsin. However, due to a clerical error, by the time he was inducted into the military, J.D. had assumed a second identity. While listed under a different name throughout his military service, J.D. decided to turn the military into a career. He extended his service and went on to Officer Candidate School before serving in the war. Ultimately, J.D. died in the Battle of Cherbourg. His story outlines the importance of humanizing war at a time when statistics and numbers tend to impersonalize such a large, historical event. J.D.'s biography provides an understanding of how even the most ordinary, typical life of a drafted solider during WWII can produce an extraordinary story. J.D. was not special. He was but one death in a body count of over 400,000 American soldiers during the war. Yet, his story teaches us that one does not have to be special to be important. Every American soldier has made a contribution to our country, yet only a select few have ever had their stories told. This biography of J.D. will add one more story to the limited collection existing today.

Edward Snowden's publishing classified information about the existence of the Section 215 bulk collection metadata program set in motion the largest debate about potential abuse in by spying agencies since the Watergate Scandal in the 1970's. This paper will examine the metadata program by: First, the relevant background which includes the establishment of the 20th century intelligence community, intelligence reforms in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and the changes stemming from the 9/11 attacks. Second, the Section 215 metadata program itself will be discussed, including its lawfulness. Third and finally, an analysis of potential reforms will be discussed, including ones advanced by government commissions. Ultimately, the Section 215 program has demonstrated compelling legal authority, positive benefits to national security, and a minimal need for reform. This conclusion is based on the program being consistent with the legal spirit of the Watergate Reforms, the language of the post-9/11 laws, the nature of the program, and the robust oversight protocols imposed upon the program.

The historiography of the Vietnam War's effect on American society and culture often focuses on the public image of its veterans. Historians and other scholars credit liberal and apolitical Vietnam veterans for reshaping Americans' opinions of those who served. These men deserve significant recognition for these changes; however, historians consistently overlook another aspect this topic. Conservative Republicans in the mid-1970s through the early 1990s made a concerted effort to alter how Americans viewed Vietnam veterans and their performance in the conflict. The few scholars who have examined this issue suggest conservatives wanted to quell Americans' distaste for military endeavors after the loss in Southeast Asia, a concept known as the Vietnam Syndrome.



This dissertation argues conservatives' efforts were more complex than simply wanting to break down the syndrome. The war and its loss threatened their understandings of the exceptional nature of the United States. This notion of exceptionalism stemmed from the immense success of the country territorially, economically, and in the international system, accomplishments realized with the assistance of the American military. The performance of the military establishment and its soldiers in the Vietnam War and the negative international and domestic opinions of the country in the wake of this loss threatened those elements of American success that conservatives viewed as imperative to maintaining the idea of exceptionalism and the power of the United States. As a result, a disparate group of conservative Republicans in the post-Vietnam era attempted to alter American understandings of the nation's martial tradition and the concept of martial masculinity, both ravaged by the war. This dissertation adds another layer to the historiography of the effects of the Vietnam War by arguing that conservatives not only shored up Americans' belief in the martial tradition and reshaped the definition of martial masculinity, but that they also significantly influenced Americans' newfound positive opinions of Vietnam veterans.

ABSTRACT

Historians of Anglo-American diplomacy in the nineteenth century tend to focus on the beginning of the century, when tensions ran high, or the end, when the United States and Britain sowed the seeds that would grow into one of the most fruitful alliances of the twentieth century. This dissertation bridges the gap between the century's bookends. It employs world history methodology, giving close attention to how each nation's domestic politics and global priorities played a vital role in shaping bilateral relations. In this manner, it explains how two nations that repeatedly approached the brink of war actually shared remarkably similar visions of peace, free trade, and neutral rights throughout the world. A careful consideration of the shifting priorities of the British Empire demonstrates that London approached trans-Atlantic relations as merely one part of a worldwide strategy to preserve its prestige and economic ascendancy. Meanwhile, naval inferiority, sectional tensions, and cultural affinity ensured that American belligerence never crossed the threshold from bluster to military action. By examining a handful of diplomatic crises originating far from the centers of power in London and Washington, this study argues that disputes between the United States and Britain arose from disagreements regarding the proper means to achieve common ends. During nearly half a century between the Monroe Doctrine and the Treaty of Washington, the two countries reached a mutual understanding regarding the best ways to communicate, cooperate, and pursue common economic and geopolitical goals. Giving this period its due attention as the link between post-Revolutionary reconciliation and pre-World War I alliance promotes a more comprehensive understanding of Anglo-American rapprochement in the nineteenth century.

Time magazine called 1976 "the year of the evangelical" partly in response to the rapid political ascent of the previously little-known Georgia governor Jimmy Carter. A Sunday school teacher and deacon in his local church, Carter emphasized the important role of faith in his life in a way that no presidential candidate had done in recent memory. However, scholarly assessments of Carter's foreign policy have primarily focused on his management style or the bureaucratic politics in his administration. This study adds to the growing literature in American diplomatic history analyzing religion and foreign policy by focusing on how Carter's Christian beliefs and worldview shaped his policymaking and how his religious convictions affected his advisors. To better demonstrate this connection, this dissertation primarily discusses Carter's foreign policy vis-à-vis religious nationalist groups of the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). By drawing on archival materials from the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Carter's own voluminous writings, and memoirs of other administration officials, this dissertation argues that Carter's religious values factored into policymaking decisions, although sometimes in a subtle fashion due to his strong Baptist doctrinal commitment to the separation of church and state. Moreover, Carter's initial success in using his religious beliefs in the Camp David negotiations raised expectations among administration officials and others when crises arose, such as the hostage taking in Iran and the electoral threat of the Christian Right. Despite his success at Camp David, invoking religious values can complicate situations already fraught with sacred symbolism. Ultimately, this dissertation points to the benefits and limits of foreign policy shaped by a president with strong public religious convictions as well as the advantages and pitfalls of scholars examining the impact of religion on presidential decision making.

The Second World War has been portrayed as the central event for understanding the history of America in the 20th Century. This dissertation will examine the acts of commemoration and remembrance by veterans who served on the escort carriers, USS Block Island, CVE-21 & CVE-106. Acts of remembrance and commemoration, in this case, refer to the authorship of memoirs, the donation of symbolic objects that represent military service to museums, and the formation of a veteran's organization, which also serves as a means of social support. I am interested in the way stories of the conflict that fall outside the dominant narratives of the Second World War, namely the famous battles of land, sea, and air, have been commemorated by the veterans who were part of them. Utilizing primary source material and oral histories, I examine how acts of remembrance and commemoration have changed over time. An analysis of the shifting meanings sheds light on how individual memories of the war have changed, in light of the history of the larger war that continues to ignore small ships and sea battles.