William C. Gibbons *61

William Gibbons, the author of a highly acclaimed four-volume history of the Vietnam War for the Library of Congress, died July 4, 2015, at 88.

Gibbons graduated from what is now Randolph College in 1949. Then he earned a master’s degree in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1961 in politics from Princeton. In the late 1950s, he worked in the House and Senate, and in 1960 became an assistant to Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson.

Gibbons worked for the Agency for International Development on its legislative staff from 1962 to 1968. In 1969, he joined Texas A&M University, and in 1972 became a senior analyst in the Foreign Affairs Division of the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service.

In 1978, at the request of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gibbons began to write a complete history of the war in Vietnam. Starting in 1984, his work was published in four volumes. He retired in 1989, but continued his work as a visiting professor at George Mason University. A fifth volume was in progress.

Gibbons was married five times and is survived by Patricia, his wife of 29 years; and six children. His brother, John (President Bill Clinton’s science adviser from 1993 to 1998), died July 17.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.