American Veterans Committee

Created by liberal World War II servicemen and women as an alternative to more conservative veterans’ groups like the American Legion, the American Veterans Committee (AVC) became a prominent veterans’ organization in the immediate postwar years. Although it was never able to match the numbers or influence of other national veterans’ organizations, the AVC worked for decades to provide a progressive voice for the nation's fighting men and women.

The AVC had its origins in an informal correspondence group of UCLA alumni who were serving in the armed forces. In 1943, they began to publish a bulletin that showcased a wide range of soldiers’ opinions about the war and the home front. They also debated the shape of postwar America and what the role of the veteran might be upon return. Many correspondents hoped to create a new veterans’ group that would be made up of vets from World War II and focused on furthering progressive ideas in civilian life. In February of 1944, with much of the group's membership in the service and abroad, Charles Bolté, an American veteran of the Canadian Army, coordinated efforts to create a liberal veteran's organization.

In July of 1944, Bolté and other like-minded veterans officially formed the American Veterans Committee, which immediately appealed to progressive, college-educated soldiers. Armed with the motto Citizens First, Veterans Second, the AVC distanced itself from groups like the Legion, which it viewed as exploiting its members’ war service for political and economic gain. Instead, AVC members [Page 41]looked for ways to integrate vets back into civilian life, and they championed many liberal causes in the immediate postwar years. The group promoted efforts at international peace, lobbied Congress to address the postwar housing crunch that veterans faced, and organized campaigns on labor and civil rights issues. The AVC picked up the endorsement of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and was the only national veterans’ organization that required its chapters to be racially integrated.

At its peak in 1946, the AVC claimed to have 100,000 members, including such prominent veterans as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr.; Oren Root, Jr., the son of a former secretary of state; World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin; and war hero Audie Murphy. Political figures, including Richard Bolling, Warren Magnuson, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Medger Evers, were also members. The AVC even included Hollywood stars—John Huston, Douglas Fairbanks, Melvyn Douglas, and Ronald Reagan were all members.

Even with its substantial growth and name recognition, the AVC faced difficulties achieving its goals because of the growing threat of the Cold War during the years immediately following World War II. From the group's beginning, conservatives and other veterans’ organizations had charged that the AVC was a front for communist activity. Communist veterans did, in fact, join the group in substantial numbers, and they were a particularly important part of the group's membership in New York and California. The accusations soon became so damaging that opponents in Congress banned the group from testifying before the House Committee for Veterans Affairs. This dramatically reduced the AVC's ability to act as a national voice on veterans’ issues.

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