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To Forgive Or Not to Forgive? a Reappraisal of Vietnam War Evaders and Deserters in President Gerald Ford's Clemency Program

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To Forgive Or Not to Forgive? a Reappraisal of Vietnam War Evaders and Deserters in President Gerald Ford's Clemency Program University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations Dissertations and Theses Summer 8-6-2018 To Forgive or Not to Forgive? A Reappraisal of Vietnam War Evaders and Deserters in President Gerald Ford's Clemency Program Courtney Carver University of New Orleans, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Part of the Legal Commons, Military History Commons, Political History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Carver, Courtney, "To Forgive or Not to Forgive? A Reappraisal of Vietnam War Evaders and Deserters in President Gerald Ford's Clemency Program" (2018). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2523. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2523 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To Forgive or Not to Forgive? A Reappraisal of Vietnam War Evaders and Deserters in President Gerald Ford’s Clemency Program A Thesis Submitted to the Department of History University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Courtney Carver BA, Georgia Southern University, 2013 August 2018 Dedication To my parents, David and Jamica Carver. ii Acknowledgments This thesis was possible because of the amazing guidance and support of many people around me. First, I have to thank the faculty of the History Department at the University of New Orleans, most notably Dr. Connie Atkinson who had been an incredible mentor to me. I also have to thank all the other professors who have inspired me through their classes and supported me through the thesis process; Dr. Andrea Mosterman, Dr. John Fitzmorris III, Dr. Günter Bischof, Dr. James Mokhiber and Dr. Robert Dupont. I also have to thank the President Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland for being incredibly helpful in my research. I also have to give credit to God and my family. Without their support I would not be here today. My parents, David and Jamica Carver, deserve special recognition for igniting my love of history and always supporting my dreams. Finally, to Céline Dion whose music kept me motivated to finish this thesis. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................v Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Historiography .....................................................................................................................5 Announcement of the Clemency Program ...........................................................................7 The Charge of the Clemency Board...................................................................................11 The Public’s Response .......................................................................................................14 Congressional Response ....................................................................................................24 Clemency Board Procedures ..............................................................................................27 Participation in the Clemency Program .............................................................................30 Motivations for Desertion and Evasion .............................................................................35 Final Statistics of the Program ...........................................................................................44 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................47 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................49 Vita .....................................................................................................................................50 iv Abstract In 1974, President Ford began the arduous task of healing the wounds sustained by the United States during the Vietnam War. His controversial clemency plan gave those who had either deserted the military or those who evaded the draft the chance to earn their way back into American society. President Ford was willing to face this opposition to move the country closer to resolving an issue that was tearing the nation apart. In the applications to Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board, thousands of deserters and evaders reveal their motivations, and in doing so present a large body of evidence that contradicts the usual perception of the Vietnam “draft- dodger” and deserter. In the transition between the hardline anti-clemency position of President Nixon, and the full clemency position of President Carter, Ford took strong measures to achieve resolution, and the evidence herein could suggest a reappraisal of the Ford presidency. Keywords: President Gerald Ford, Clemency, Vietnam, Draft Evaders, Deserters, President Ford’s Clemency Board v Introduction In Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is granted the power to issue pardons.1 At least one third of America’s commanders-in-chief have utilized these powers either by granting pardons or by granting amnesty.2 Pardon and amnesty are often used interchangeably, but they do not share the same meaning. A pardon, as mentioned in the Constitution, usually favors one person or a small group of offenders. Amnesty, which is not mentioned in the Constitution, falls under the blanket of pardoning power and usually favors a large group of people. There are two types of amnesty: absolute and conditional. An absolute pardon is forgiveness without penalty and a conditional pardon has conditions that must be met. Both pardons and amnesties have been granted from President George Washington to the present day.3 In 1974, after taking office, one of President Gerald R. Ford’s first goals was to heal the divided United States. However, he was unsure of what steps to take to start the slow process of healing after a long, unpopular war and the Watergate Scandal that had resulted in his presidency. Secretary James R. Schlesinger suggested he “do something about the fifty thousand draft evaders and deserters.”4 Both Presidents Lincoln and Truman had used their presidential pardon power to heal divides in the country after the Civil War and World War II. The programs of these two presidents would become blueprints for The President Ford Clemency Program. President Ford knew that his program would be met with resistance from a large sector of the American public. He looked first to the pardon strategy of President Lincoln, who was also met 1 U.S. Const. art. II § 2. 2 Charles Shanor and Marc Miller, “Pardon Us: Systematic Presidential Pardons,” Federal Sentencing Reporter 13, no. 3-4 (November/December 2000-January/February 2001): 139. 3 “A Review of Related U.S. Actions: 1795-1974,” Congressional Digest 53, no. 10 (October 1974): 228. 4 Gerald R. Ford, A Time to Heal the Autobiography of Gerald Ford (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 141. 1 by resistance. In his autobiography, A Time to Heal, President Ford wrote that Lincoln was “criticized for being too lenient, but his was probably the right decision at the time.”5 The Ford Clemency Program would echo Lincoln’s program and his reasons for pardoning. On December 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a “Declaration of Amnesty and Reconstruction.”6 In this document, Lincoln offered conditional pardons to those who had participated in the southern rebellion, with the exception of members of the Confederate government and those who had served as officers above the paygrade of colonel in the Confederate military. A condition of the pardon was that everyone who chose to take advantage would have to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and uphold it to the best of their abilities Lincoln, in an effort to assuage criticism about his amnesty policy, made two points. The first was making it clear that it was within his rights under the Constitution to implement this policy. Second, he emphasized that no one would be forced to affirm loyalty to the Union.7 Many of the circumstances faced by Lincoln in 1863 would be echoed in 1974 with the implementation of the Ford Clemency Program. Lincoln and Ford would both face mixed reactions toward their programs and both programs would prove to be difficult to administer.8 President Lincoln’s program was based upon a conditional amnesty policy, and Ford could relate to and take pointers from Lincoln. However, it would be President Truman’s Amnesty Board that would more closely serve as a general template for the Ford Clemency Board. On December 23, 1946, soon after the end of World War II, Truman announced Executive Order 9814. This order created a three-person
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