Officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the G.I. Bill was created to help veterans of World War II. It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. From 1944 to 1949, nearly 9 million veterans received close to $4 billion from the bill’s unemployment compensation program. The education and training provisions existed until 1956, while the Veterans’ Administration offered insured loans until 1962. The Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 extended these benefits to all veterans of the armed forces, including those who had served during peacetime. Show Bonus MarchersThe assimilation of World War I veterans back to civilian life didn’t go well. With so many men flooding the labor market, many couldn’t make ends meet, even with help from government programs. Congress stepped in and passed the Bonus Act of 1924, which promised veterans a bonus based on number of days served. But it wouldn’t be paid until 1945, almost 20 years later, much too late to help countless struggling veterans. By 1932, during the Great Depression, around 20,000 frustrated veterans—known as Bonus Marchers—marched on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., demanding their bonus money. The government didn’t capitulate, though, and President Herbert Hoover sent the Army to get them out, a move which pitted soldier against veteran. The confrontation would be an integral turning point in the crusade for veteran’s rights. The GI Bill is bornPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt was determined to do better for veterans returning from World War II. He also wanted to expand the middle class and help prevent economic turmoil. He started preparing for the veterans’ return well in advance of the end of the war. Congress tossed around various ideas, but they limited benefits to veterans who met specific criteria such as income. It was former American Legion National Commander and Republican National Chairman, Harry W. Colmery, who proposed extending benefits to all World War II veterans, male or female. His proposal became the first draft of the GI Bill. The bill went to Congress in January 1944 as the war still raged along the European and Pacific fronts. It was hotly debated in both Congressional houses but finally approved in mid-June. President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law on June 22, 1944. GI Bill BenefitsThe GI Bill gave World War II servicemen and servicewoman many options and benefits. Those who wished to continue their education in college or vocation school could do so tuition-free up to $500 while also receiving a cost of living stipend. As a result, almost 49 percent of college admissions in 1947 were veterans. The GI Bill opened the door of higher education to the working class in a way never done before. The bill provided a $20 weekly unemployment benefit for up to one year for veterans looking for work. Job counseling was also available. The government guaranteed loans for veterans who borrowed money to purchase a home, business or farm. These loans enabled hordes of people to abandon city life and move to mass-produced, “cookie cutter” homes in suburbia. This exodus from major cities would help shape America’s socioeconomic and political landscape for years to come. Medical care for veterans was also provided in the GI Bill. Additional hospitals were established for veterans and the Veterans Administration took over all veteran-related concerns. By 1956, almost 10 million veterans had received GI Bill benefits. The GI Bill and DiscriminationAlthough the GI Bill extended benefits to all veterans regardless of gender or race, it was easier for some people to collect than others. In many cases, benefits were administered by an all-white Veterans Administration at the state and local level. In an era of rampant racial and gender discrimination, African Americans and women struggled to receive higher education or loans. In some southern states, they were steered to menial jobs instead of college. Even if an African American received tuition money, their choices were slim since many colleges were segregated, especially in the southern states. African American veterans in the North fared somewhat better but still didn’t receive a higher education in numbers anywhere near their white peers. College choices for women were also slim since men almost always received enrollment preference. The discrimination didn’t end with education. Local banks in the south often refused to lend money to African Americans to buy a home, even with the government backing the loan. And many of America’s new, suburban neighborhoods prohibited African American’s from moving in. As a result, many African Americans remained in the cities as whites flocked to the suburbs. Post-9/11 GI BillMississippi Representative G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery proposed legislation in 1984 to make the GI Bill permanent. It insured that veterans of the Vietnam War could receive higher education. The Montgomery GI Bill is still in action today. It’s an opt-in program which offers help to veterans and service members with at least two years active duty. It also provides benefits to those in the Selected Reserve who meet specific criteria. In 2008, Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also called the Post-9/11 GI Bill. It gives veterans on active duty on September 11, 2001 or after greater educational benefits. It also allows them to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouse or kids. Forever GI BillIn 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also called the Forever GI Bill, into law. The bill further expanded veterans’ educational benefits by:
The GI Bill played an integral role in shaping post-World War II America. It enabled hundreds of thousands of men and women to get a higher education, many of whom could never have afforded it otherwise. The bill also helped build America’s middle class, although it left many minority veterans behind. It’s been decades since President Roosevelt signed the first GI Bill, yet it continues to empower and enable veterans and their families to reach their goals. SourcesBlack and white veterans and the GI Bill. Dartmouth College.
Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, this act, also known as the G.I. Bill, provided World War II veterans with funds for college education, unemployment insurance, and housing. It put higher education within the reach of millions of veterans of WWII and later military conflicts.
While World War II was still being fought, the Department of Labor estimated that, after the war, 15 million men and women who had been serving in the armed services would be unemployed. To reduce the possibility of postwar depression brought on by widespread unemployment, the National Resources Planning Board, a White House agency, studied postwar manpower needs as early as 1942 and in June 1943 recommended a series of programs for education and training. The American Legion designed the main features of what became the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act and pushed it through Congress. The bill unanimously passed both chambers of Congress in the spring of 1944. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law on June 22, 1944, just days after the D-day invasion of Normandy. American Legion publicist Jack Cejnar called it "the GI Bill of Rights,” as it offered Federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in the areas of hospitalization, purchase of homes and businesses, and especially, education. This act provided tuition, subsistence, books and supplies, equipment, and counseling services for veterans to continue their education in school or college. Within the following seven years, approximately eight million veterans received educational benefits. Under the act, approximately 2,300,000 attended colleges and universities, 3,500,000 received school training, and 3,400,000 received on-the-job training. The number of degrees awarded by U.S. colleges and universities more than doubled between 1940 and 1950, and the percentage of Americans with bachelor degrees, or advanced degrees, rose from 4.6 percent in 1945 to 25 percent a half-century later. Unfortunately, not all veterans were able to take advantage of the benefits of the G.I. Bill. Black vets were often unable to get bank loans for mortgages in Black neighborhoods, and they faced prejudice and discrimination that overwhelming excluded them from buying homes in "white" suburban neighborhoods. By 1956, when the G.I. Bill expired, the education-and-training portion had disbursed $14.5 billion to veterans—but the Veterans Administration estimated the increase in Federal income taxes alone would pay for the cost of the bill several times over. By 1955, 4.3 million home loans had been granted, with a total face value of $33 billion. In addition, veterans were responsible for buying 20 percent of all new homes built after the war. The results rippled through the rest of the economy; there would be no new depression—just unparalleled prosperity for a generation. The G.I. Bill has been extended several times. Nearly 2.3 million veterans participated in the program during the Korean War era and more than eight million during the Vietnam era. TITLE I SEC. 100. The Veterans' Administration is hereby declared to be an essential war agency and entitled, second only to the War and Navy Departments, to priorities in personnel, equipment, supplies, and material under any laws, Executive orders, and regulations pertaining to priorities, and in appointments of personnel from civil-service registers the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs is hereby granted the same authority and discretion as the War and Navy Departments and the United States Public Health Service: Provided, That the provisions of this section as to priorities for materials shall apply to any State institution to be built for the care or hospitalization of veterans. SEC. 101. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the Federal Board of Hospitalization are hereby authorized and directed to expedite and complete the construction of additional hospital facilities for war veterans, and to enter into agreements and contracts for the use by or transfer to the Veterans' Administration of suitable Army and Navy hospitals after termination of hostilities in the present war or after such institutions are no longer needed by the armed services; and the Administrator of Veterans Affairs is hereby authorized and directed to establish necessary regional offices, sub- offices, branch offices, contact units, or other subordinate offices in centers of population where there is no Veterans' Administration facility, or where such a facility is not readily available or accessible : Provided, That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $500,000,000 for the construction of additional hospital facilities. SEC. 102. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy are hereby granted authority to enter into agreements and contracts for the mutual use or exchange of use of hospital and domiciliary facilities, and such supplies, equipment, and material as may be needed to operate properly such facilities, or for the transfer, without reimbursement of appropriations, of facilities, supplies, equipment, or material necessary and proper for authorized care for veterans, except that at no time shall the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs enter into any agreement which will result in a permanent reduction of Veterans' Administration hospital and domiciliary beds below the number now established or approved, plus the estimated number required to meet the load of eligibles under laws administered by the Veterans' Administration, or in any way subordinate or transfer the operation of the Veterans' Administration to any other agency of the Government. Nothing in the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended, or any other Act, shall be construed to prevent the transfer or detail of any commissioned, appointed or enlisted personnel from the armed forces to the Veterans Administration subject to agreements between the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs: Provided, That no such detail shall be made or extend beyond six months after the termination of the war. SEC.103. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs shall have authority to place officials and employees designated by him in such Army and Navy installations as may be deemed advisable for the purpose of adjudicating disability claims of, and giving aid and advice to, members of the Army and Navy who are about to be discharged or released from active service. SEC. 104. No person shall be discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces until his certificate of discharge or release from active duty and final pay, or a substantial portion thereof, are ready for delivery to him or to his next of kin or legal representative; and no person shall be discharged or released from active service on account of disability until and unless he has executed a claim for compensation, pension, or hospitalization, to be filed with the Veterans' Administration or has signed a statement that he has had explained to him the right to file such claim: Provided, That this section shall not preclude immediate transfer to a veterans' facility for necessary hospital care, nor preclude the discharge of any person who refuses to sign such claim or statement: And provided further, That refusal or failure to file a claim shall be without prejudice to any right the veteran may subsequently assert. Any person entitled to a prosthetic appliance shall be entitled, in addition, to necessary fitting and training, including institutional training, in the use of such appliance, whether in a Service or a Veterans' Administration hospital, or by out-patient treatment, including such service under contract. SEC. 105. No person in the armed forces shall be required to sign a statement of any nature relating to the origin, incurrence, or aggravation of any disease or injury he may have, and any such statement against his own interest signed at any time, shall be null and void and of no force and effect. |
How did the servicemen’s readjustment act of 1944 affect the nation’s economy in the 1950s?
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