Less than three years after stepping down as the College's 16th president in 2009, President Emeritus James Wright has written and released a book chronicling nearly three centuries of history concerning United States veterans who have fought in American wars.
The book, titled "Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America's Wars and Those Who Fought Them," is available for purchase on Amazon.com and will be in stock at local bookstores across the nation in the coming weeks, according to Wright.
"It's a history book, but it's one with a bit of an edge," Wright said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "It's a book with a little bit of advocacy, personal experience and personal reflections."
The book discusses how America's treatment of its veterans has evolved over time, from the Revolutionary War to current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Before World War II, military service was perceived as an act of citizenship, and most people felt the country was not obligated to help veterans, Wright said. The G.I. Bill of 1944, however, led to a range of benefits granted to veterans, including medical support for those who were injured.
Wright said that although veterans are given adequate medical support after they return from duty, they are not provided sufficient support in other areas.
"They deserve and want more than medical support," Wright said. "They want to be seen as young people with dreams and want support to enable them to reach their dreams."
History professor Robert Bonner, who read and edited the manuscript, said that Wright places the ideal of the citizen soldier at the "heart" of the book.
"To capture this ideal in all of its complexity is quite an achievement," he said.
Wright said the idea for the book came to him after he delivered a lecture on the history of war veterans and America's treatment of them at the University of California, Berkeley in February 2009.
After speaking with veterans in hospitals, Wright began to perform "large amounts" of historical research for his book with the help of James Reed '12, Michael Stinetorf '11 and James Shin '11.
"Books were stacked up on my bookshelves and the floor," he said.
After nearly two years of research and writing, the book underwent its final round of editing last fall and was submitted to Public Affairs Books in New York for publication, Wright said.
"It is a very time-consuming project," Wright said. "I never regretted being involved in it. I enjoyed being a historian again."
Since stepping down from the position of College president, Wright has traveled with his wife, Susan Wright, to Korea, Italy and France, as well as cities across the United States, he said. He has also been involved in the Rauner Special Collections Library Oral History project, which seeks to "document events and issues that have shaped Dartmouth College," according to the project's website.
Wright will be teaching a history seminar that follows the themes of his book next winter, he said.
"I came in here as a historian in 1969, so I thought I would go out as a historian," Wright said.
Susan Wright continues to serve as an active member of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center advisory board, she said. In June 2010, she joined the Board of Trustees at Colby-Sawyer College, which "allows her to keep her hand in the matters of higher education," James Wright said.
James Wright said that although he does not regret stepping down as president of the College, he misses many aspects of being on campus.
"I have missed my colleagues, missed the people I've worked with and the energy of the campus," Wright said. "I miss students a lot. I don't think you students realize how great it is to hang around with you."
