Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944)

On June 22, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. Informally known as the G.I. Bill, the law proved to be one of the most significant [Page 1917]pieces of legislation in American history. The provisions not only changed the lives of millions of veterans who directly benefited from them but it also reshaped the nation socially and economically. Although race- and gender-neutral in intent, in reality, the law supported sexism and racism. Institutions involved in implementing services, particularly at the state and local levels, privileged white males.

The American Legion, the most powerful veterans’ organization at the time, strongly advocated a benefits package for veterans, and the president, well aware that his victory in 1932 owed a considerable debt to Herbert Hoover's disastrous management of the Bonus Army of World War I veterans who marched on Washington, D.C. was equally adamant that benefits would be provided. With congressional estimates at $3 billion or more, some were concerned about the cost of such a program. Others feared that opening colleges and universities to the masses would destroy the quality of higher education. The Veterans of Foreign Wars and several other veterans’ organizations argued that benefits should be extended only to those wounded in battle.

Even after the bill was introduced in Congress, it took six months for it to reach the president for his signature. Representative Harry W. Colmery of Kansas, a veteran of World War I and a former national commander of the American Legion, wrote the first draft of the bill. It was introduced in the House on January 10, 1944, and into the Senate a day later. Both houses passed a version of the bill, but it deadlocked in conference committee over unemployment benefits of $20 a week for 52 weeks. Representative John Rankin, a white supremacist from Mississippi, refused to cast the proxy vote of Representative John Gibson of Georgia and break the deadlock. A herculean effort by the bill's supporters got Gibson back to Washington in time to cast his vote. On June 12, 1944, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous vote; the House followed on June 13. Nine days later, the president signed it into law.