{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124290"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/124290","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"\"The Veteran Problem''? The American WWII Veteran","abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I conduct a textual analysis and apply frame theory to structure my study of 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct frames that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One frame suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another frame indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third frame claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that could undermine democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has character- ized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time.","abstract_html":"The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I conduct a textual analysis and apply frame theory to structure my study of 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct frames that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One frame suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another frame indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third frame claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that could undermine democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has character- ized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McDonald, Todd Allen"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Public Administration/Public Affairs","degree_department":"Government and International Affairs","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Dull, Matthew Martin"],"committee_members":["Hult, Karen M.","Roberts, Patrick S.","Pencek, Bruce"],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-21","date_published":"2025-01-21","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:53Z","subjects":["WWII veterans","framing","postwar","Second World War","veteran policy"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:41743"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:41743","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124290","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Dull, Matthew Martin"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Hult, Karen M.","Roberts, Patrick S.","Pencek, Bruce"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Government and International Affairs"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McDonald, Todd Allen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-01-22T09:00:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-01-22T09:00:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-01-21"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Public Administration/Public Affairs"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["WWII veterans","framing","postwar","Second World War","veteran policy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:41743"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124290"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I conduct a textual analysis and apply frame theory to structure my study of 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct frames that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One frame suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another frame indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third frame claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that could undermine democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has character- ized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I examine 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct arguments that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One argument suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another argument indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third argument claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that undermines democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has characterized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"The Veteran Problem''? The American WWII Veteran"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Dull, Matthew Martin"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Hult, Karen M.","Roberts, Patrick S.","Pencek, Bruce"],"dc:contributor.department":["Government and International Affairs"],"dc:creator":["McDonald, Todd Allen"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-01-22T09:00:39Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-01-22T09:00:39Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-01-21"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I conduct a textual analysis and apply frame theory to structure my study of 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct frames that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One frame suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another frame indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third frame claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that could undermine democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has character- ized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific dimension of the veteran policy discourse in academic and news articles published during the Second World War. I examine 45 academic articles taken from JSTOR and 314 news articles taken from ProQuest. My findings reveal three distinct arguments that represent veterans themselves as a social problem and/or threat. One argument suggests that a mass influx of WWII veterans into the US economy would cause an economic catastrophe similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Another argument indicates that veterans have been indoctrinated into military life and that they had values and beliefs that were incompatible with American society and democracy. The third argument claims that policies which provide public benefits to veterans exclusively could create a privileged political class that undermines democracy and meritocracy. My research adds value to current studies of American veterans by emphasizing the extreme fear that has characterized elite political discourse on WWII veteran reintegration and how that discourse related to veteran policy proposals during that time."],"dc:description.degree":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:41743"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10919/124290"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["WWII veterans","framing","postwar","Second World War","veteran policy"],"dc:title":["\"The Veteran Problem''? The American WWII Veteran"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Public Administration/Public Affairs"],"thesis:degree_level":["doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:53Z"}