prominent politicians, including Republicans such as John McCain and Chuck Hagel, both of whom were also veterans of the war in Vietnam. Post-Senate career Cleland was originally appointed to serve on the 9/11 Commission but resigned shortly after, having been appointed to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Before his resignation, he said that the Bush administration was "stonewalling" and blocking the committee's access to key documents and witnesses. A key figure in the widespread criticism of governmental opacity regarding 9/11, he was quoted as saying in November 2003: "I... cannot look any American in the eye, especially family members of victims, and say the commission had full access. This investigation is now compromised." In 2003, Cleland began working for the 2004 presidential campaign of Massachusetts senator John Kerry, also a Vietnam veteran; Kerry went on to win the Democratic nomination. Cleland often appeared at campaign events with Kerry and was considered by many to be one of his most important surrogates, partly as a symbol of the sacrifices made by soldiers for wars. On July 29, 2004, Cleland introduced Kerry with a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Cleland's official Senatorial papers are held by the University of Georgia's Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. His Veterans Administration papers are held in the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. In 2007, Max Cleland donated a large collection of Vietnam and personal political memorabilia to the library of his alma mater, Stetson University. The Cleland Collection includes more than 800 memorabilia items, more than 5,000 photos, and hundreds of CDs, DVDs, videos, and films. On May 21, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Cleland to serve as the next Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He was appointed Secretary on June 3, and served in the position until the end of Obama's second term as president. Retired Major General William M. Matz Jr., was appointed as his successor almost a year after he left the ABMC. Cleland died as a result of heart failure at his home in Atlanta on November 9, 2021, at age 79. Awards Cleland received an honorary degree in 2001 from Oglethorpe University in Doctor of Laws. Works Heart of a Patriot: How I Found The Courage To Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed, and Karl Rove by Max Cleland, with Ben Raines (Simon and Schuster, 2009). . Odysseus in America