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BOOK REVIEW Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream by Edward Humes Harcourt - October 2006
Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty There is no argument and little doubt on any knowledgeable person's part that the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights, which is the main subject of this book by Edward Humes, had the greatest impact on American life of any government program in the 20th century; indeed, one would have difficulty, I think, finding any comparable government program previously in American history that brought about such a fundamental and wide-sweeping social change as did the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (it's official title, by the way). This book relates the story of this piece of legislation: how it came about, what motivated its originators, and what happened as a result. It's about time this subject has been addressed to the depth that Humes explores it and, moreover, he has "personalized" the story with the experiences of some of those who benefited. As Humes rightly points out in his book, this was "the most far-reaching and egalitarian Big Government social program in the history of the nation." It allowed returning veterans financial aid in amounts previously unheard of to be used for educational purposes, as well as low-interest loans for homes and other investments. And it transformed the landscape of America. Almost twelve million veterans of World War II had taken advantage of the program by 1956. But, as Humes points out, the social returns actualized by this vast public legislation came about almost by accident. Furthermore it was, one could say, a good example of the "law of unintended consequences." No one anticipated what actually happened. The genesis of the G.I. Bill is not that difficult to understand. America had some sixteen million military personnel returning to civilian life in a country that was still in some ways recovering from the devastating depression of the 1930s and the perils and victories of a world war in Europe and the Pacific. What to do with all these Americans who would be looking for employment and a return to the other features of a "normal" life? A simple question arose in the minds of government officials: "Now what?" -- and understandably so. The general consensus seems to have been that America would most likely experience another depression because of a lack of economic resources to deal with all these returning veterans and the lack of opportunities immediately available in a country which had been running on a war economy but now had to transform itself into a peacetime economy. So -- "What to do?" The answer to this question was to pass the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which was signed by President Roosevelt just weeks after D-day. It wasn't an easy task to get this type of legislation passed. There were other programs that had been promoted, most of them limited in scale and economics and focused primarily on educational benefits of some sort. Then there was the political angle. Southern Democrats and anti-New Deal Republicans were not supportive of grand social schemes in the first place and, especially the Democrats from the southern states, were not about to support legislation that might allow the "colored" the same benefits as the "whites" and upset the culture of segregation which at that time existed there. Congress, however, was concerned about the massive influx of veterans and the possibility that they would roam about the nation aimlessly searching for employment or marching on Washington, D.C., as did the World War I "bonus army" vets in 1932 who set up "house" close to the Capitol grounds and had to be dispersed by, ironically, a contingent of the local military. Regardless of any Congressional reluctance, a G.I. Bill was passed for the W.W.II vets, resulting in a social and economic transformation, and the statistics are impressive. During the first few years, almost eight million veterans took advantage of the educational benefits and almost sixty-thousand of them became medical doctors. The Bill benefited three U.S. presidents, a dozen senators, and three Supreme Court justices, along with thousands of others in teaching, law, science, engineering, and other fields in both vocational and professional education. Furthermore, millions of returning veterans used their benefits to purchase homes, turning a nation of renters into homeowners. Truly, a remarkable achievement. At the end of his book, Humes raises the issue of a new "Bill of Rights," similar to the 1944 Bill described in his work, which would apply to all Americans and include benefits such as national health care and so forth. The author is much more optimistic than I am about "Big Government" being able to handle such an endeavor. Considering that virtually all the social programs implemented by the federal government over the past forty years or so have been less than successful (I'm being kind here since I think most have been failures), considering that the massive amounts of money poured into such programs has resulted in abuse, fraud, and bureaucratic idiocies, and considering that the current political climate within the United States is fraught with polarization and extremism and seems to lack any sense of reasonableness, I don't see how any similar universal social program on the federal level could be agreed upon, legislated, and successfully implemented. Mark me as a contemporary pessimist, I guess. The 1944 G.I. Bill, however, was a success and changed the nation as well as tens of millions of personal lives -- including mine, if only indirectly. Humes' history of this phenomenon is well written and vital to any understanding of how America came to be what it is today in social and economic terms. This is really a book for everyone to read, especially those whose parents or grandparents directly benefited from the landmark legislation. If only we could today recapture that spirit of those returning veterans who took it upon themselves to expand and improve America's horizons simply by deciding to take advantage of an opportunity presented to them by their government and, then, pass on the indirect benefits to the generations that followed them. I highly recommend Over Here to all readers. It is a valuable contribution to American history. 
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Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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