GOP Anti-Vets in 1932 & Today: Why — Oh, Yeah, Too Costly

WW I Vets Protest in DC for Promised Bonus Checks (c. 1932)

Nearly 83 years ago this occurred in Washington, DC.

On June 15, 1932, the U.S. House (DEM-majority) approved a $2.4 billion World War I veterans’ bonus bill — which would be approximately $32 billion in today’s dollars — sponsored by REP. Wright Patman (D-TX). It passed by a vote of 211-176. 

BACKGROUND TO THE VOTE – WHY THAT VOTE?  This from U.S. History here:  

In 1924, Congress rewarded veterans of World War I with certificates to be redeemed in 1945 for $1,000 each. By 1932, however, many of those former servicemen had lost their jobs and fortunes in the early days of the Great Depression. Vet groups asked Congress to redeem the Bonus certificates early.

Led by a man named Walter Waters from Oregon, their group was named the “Bonus Expeditionary Force.”  They set out for the nation's capital, hitching rides, hopping trains, and hiking and reaching the capital in early June 1932 – now called the “Bonus Army” was about 15,000 strong.

 President Herbert Hoover refused to address them, but the veterans found an audience with a congressional delegation, and soon they convinced them to meet the demonstrators' demands and pass a bill to get the early payments rather than waiting until 1945.  

As deliberation continued on Capitol Hill, the Bonus Army built a shantytown across the Potomac River in Anacostia Flats. When the Senate rejected their demands on June 17, 1932 *vote of 62-18 (strong GOP-majority – they supported President Hoover) and most veterans dejectedly returned home. But several thousand remained in the capital with their families. Many had nowhere else to go. The Bonus Army conducted itself with decorum and spent their vigil unarmed. However, many in the public and congress believed them to be a threat to national security.

On July 28, Washington police began to clear the demonstrators out of the capital. Two men were killed as tear gas and bayonets assailed the Bonus Marchers. Fearing rising disorder, President Hoover ordered an army regiment into the city, under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur (Army Chief). That regiment consisted of infantry, cavalry, and tanks. They rolled into Anacostia Flats forcing the Bonus Army to flee. MacArthur then ordered the shanty settlements burned. Many Americans were outraged. How could the real Army treat veterans of the Great War with such disrespect people asked?  

President Hoover maintained that political agitators, anarchists, and communists dominated the mob and thus presented a threat (actually he and his GOP majority didn’t want to pay due the impact of the Depression). However, the facts contradict Hoover and others’ claims. Nine out of ten Bonus Marchers were indeed veterans, and 20% of them were disabled. Despite the fact that the Bonus Army was the largest march on Washington up to that point in history, Hoover and MacArthur clearly overestimated the threat posed to national security. 

As Hoover campaigned for reelection that summer, his actions turned an already sour public opinion of him even further bottomward as the country sank deeper into the Great Depression!!!

During the House debate on the bill, REP. Edward Eslick (D-TN) died of a heart attack on the House floor while delivering an impassioned speech on behalf of the bill. A day later, when the measure passed, hundreds of veterans jubilantly celebrated in the House Gallery.

The GOP-run Senate, however, subsequently rejected the Patman Bonus Bill by a wide margin, and several thousand veterans refused to leave the capital. Thus some marchers clashed with police on the orders of President Hoover conducted by GEN. MacArthur.

After the 1932 election, FDR beat Hoover by an overwhelming landslide.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered members of the Bonus Army work building the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys. In 1936, Congress, overriding a Roosevelt veto, approved early issuance of the veterans’ payments.