G.I. Bill

Not to be confused with Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 or Forever GI Bill.

Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAN ACT To provide Federal Government aid for the readjustment in civilian life of returning World War II veterans
NicknamesG.I. Bill
Enacted bythe 78th United States Congress
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 78–346
Statutes at Large58 Stat. 284
Legislative history

The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, but the term "G.I. Bill" is still used to refer to programs created to assist American military veterans.

It was largely designed and passed through Congress in 1944 in a bipartisan effort led by the American Legion, which wanted to reward practically all wartime veterans. John H. Stelle, a former Democratic Governor of Illinois, served as the Chairman of the Legion's Executive Committee, which drafted and mobilized public opinion to get the G.I. Bill to President Roosevelt's desk on June 22, 1944. Stelle was rewarded for his efforts by the Legion which unanimously elected him its National Commander in 1945. He is commonly referred to as the "Father of the G.I. Bill." Since the First World War the Legion had been in the forefront of lobbying Congress for generous benefits for war veterans.[1] President Roosevelt initially proposed a much smaller program.[2] As historians Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart Blumin point out, FDR did not play a significant role in the contours of the bill. At first, Roosevelt shared with nearly everyone the idea that "satisfactory employment," not educational opportunity, was the key feature of the bill.[3] This changed in the fall of 1944, when Roosevelt's special representative to the European Theatre, Anna M. Rosenberg, returned with her report on the G.I.'s postwar expectations. From her hundreds of interviews with servicemen then fighting in France, it was clear they wanted educational opportunities previously unavailable to them.[4] FDR "lit up," Rosenberg recalled, and subsequent additions to the bill included provisions for higher education.[4]

The final bill provided immediate financial rewards for practically all World War II veterans, thereby avoiding the highly disputed postponed life insurance policy payout for World War I veterans that had caused political turmoil in the 1920s and 1930s.[5] Benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business or farm, one year of unemployment compensation, and dedicated payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school, college, or vocational school. These benefits were available to all veterans who had been on active duty during the war years for at least 90 days and had not been dishonorably discharged.[6]

President Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill into law on June 22, 1944.

By 1956, 7.8 million veterans had used the G.I. Bill education benefits, some 2.2 million to attend colleges or universities and an additional 5.6 million for some kind of training program.[7] Historians and economists judge the G.I. Bill a major political and economic success—especially in contrast to the treatments of World War I veterans—and a major contribution to U.S. stock of human capital that encouraged long-term economic growth.[8][9][10] It has been criticized for various reasons including increasing racial wealth disparities during the era of Jim Crow.

The original G.I. Bill ended in 1956. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 provided veterans with funding for the full cost of any public college in their state. The G.I. Bill was also modified through the passage of the Forever GI Bill in 2017.

  1. ^ Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin, The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans (2009), pp. 54-57
  2. ^ Suzanne Mettler, "The creation of the GI Bill of Rights of 1944: Melding social and participatory citizenship ideals." Journal of Policy History 17#4 (2005): 345-374.
  3. ^ Altschuler, Glenn C. (2009). The GI Bill : a new deal for veterans. Stuart M. Blumin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972042-2. OCLC 352900594.
  4. ^ a b GORHAM, CHRISTOPHER C. (2023). CONFIDANTE : the untold story of the woman who helped win wwii and shape modern america. [S.l.]: CITADEL PR. ISBN 978-0-8065-4200-3. OCLC 1322810779.
  5. ^ Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin, The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans (2009), pp. 54–57.
  6. ^ Altschuler and Blumin, The GI Bill (2009) p. 118
  7. ^ Olson, 1973, and see also Bound and Turner 2002.
  8. ^ Stanley, 2003
  9. ^ Frydl, 2009
  10. ^ Suzanne Mettler, Soldiers to citizens: The GI Bill and the making of the greatest generation (2005)