A History of Lying, 2008 to 2022: Stolen valor in political campaigns from Blumenthal to Bequette

Richard Blumenthal and Jake Bequette are case studies in a book on lies told by political campaigns about military service.

Voters hope for honesty from political candidates. Still, over the last twenty-four years, members of both major parties in the USA running for office have told lies about their military service. The book "A History of Lying, 2008 to 2022: Stolen Valor in Political Campaigns from Blumenthal to Bequette" carefully examines the issue by placing the campaign lies of today in context with several hundred years of stolen valor falsehoods in American politics.

The book will use contemporary examples of stolen valor from 2008 to 2022 to determine the motivations behind candidates who spread untruths. It will also discuss how these lies can affect the future candidacies of service members, along with the effects stolen valor lies have on political supporters and contributors.

Author Thomas "Jay" Martin uses six case studies to make his case that stricter laws are necessary to protect citizens from political candidates who lie about the scope and dates of their military service. Politicians featured in their own chapters include Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who lied about his military service in the Vietnam War leading up to his 2010 campaign.

Another chapter will discuss the book's most contemporary example of alleged stolen valor with the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign of Jake Bequette of Arkansas. His website published a lie about the dates of his military service - without an apology or explanation ever being offered. The lie made Bequette's time in the military appear much longer than it was while also covering up that he had chosen to move to the very Washington, DC "swamp" that his campaign alleged he despised.

A work of wide-ranging scholarship, Martin's study will provide readers with a deeper understanding of a uniquely partisan chapter in American history. It will reveal the cases of candidates from both major parties who appeared on the electoral landscape proclaiming military experience that was false.

The digital edition of "A History of Lying, 2008 to 2022: Stolen Valor in Political Campaigns from Blumenthal to Bequette" will be available for pre-sale on August 30, 2022, on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Google Play with a drop date of Tuesday, October 11, 2022. Physical copies will be available from Amazon on the same day. In addition, bookstores and libraries can obtain bulk copies of the book from Ingram Distribution.