June 22nd...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

FDR signs G.I. Bill 1944

 

On this day in 1944, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed services–known as G.I.s–for their efforts in World War II.

As the last of its sweeping New Deal reforms, Roosevelt’s administration created the G.I. Bill–officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944–hoping to avoid a relapse into the Great Depression after the war ended. FDR particularly wanted to prevent a repeat of the Bonus March of 1932, when 20,000 unemployed veterans and their families flocked in protest to Washington. The American Legion, a veteran’s organization, successfully fought for many of the provisions included in the bill, which gave returning servicemen access to unemployment compensation, low-interest home and business loans, and–most importantly–funding for education.

By giving veterans money for tuition, living expenses, books, supplies and equipment, the G.I. Bill effectively transformed higher education in America. Before the war, college had been an option for only 10-15 percent of young Americans, and university campuses had become known as a haven for the most privileged classes. By 1947, in contrast, vets made up half of the nation’s college enrollment; three years later, nearly 500,000 Americans graduated from college, compared with 160,000 in 1939.

As educational institutions opened their doors to this diverse new group of students, overcrowded classrooms and residences prompted widespread improvement and expansion of university facilities and teaching staffs. An array of new vocational courses were developed across the country, including advanced training in education, agriculture, commerce, mining and fishing–skills that had previously been taught only informally.

The G.I. Bill became one of the major forces that drove an economic expansion in America that lasted 30 years after World War II. Only 20 percent of the money set aside for unemployment compensation under the bill was given out, as most veterans found jobs or pursued higher education. Low interest home loans enabled millions of American families to move out of urban centers and buy or build homes outside the city, changing the face of the suburbs. Over 50 years, the impact of the G.I. Bill was enormous, with 20 million veterans and dependents using the education benefits and 14 million home loans guaranteed, for a total federal investment of $67 billion. Among the millions of Americans who have taken advantage of the bill are former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, former Vice President Al Gore and entertainers Johnny Cash, Ed McMahon, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1775 Congress issues Continental currency

• Automotive

• 2001 Blockbuster hit movie “The Fast and the Furious” released

• Civil War

• 1864 Lee strikes back at Petersburg

• Cold War

• 1989 Cease-fire established in Angolan civil war

• Crime

• 2011 Notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger is arrested

• Disaster

• 1962 Mysterious crash in Guadeloupe

• General Interest

• 1611 Hudson set adrift by mutineers
• 1937 Louis becomes champ
• 1945 Battle of Okinawa ends

• Hollywood

• 2008 George Carlin dies

• Literary

• 1906 Anne Morrow Lindbergh is born
• 1964 Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is born

• Music

• 1950 Bernstein, Copland, Seeger and others are named as Communists

• Old West

• 1876 General Santa Anna dies in Mexico City

• Presidential

• 1944 FDR signs GI bill

• Sports

• 1986 Hand of God helps out Maradona

• Vietnam War

• 1971 South Vietnamese fight for Fire Base Fuller
• 1972 New troops sent to An Loc

• World War I

• 1898 Erich Maria Remarque born

• World War II

• 1941 Germany launches Operation Barbarossa—the invasion of Russia