The GI Bill: The New Deal for Veterans

Pivotal Moments in American History

by Glenn C. Altschuler, Stuart Blumin

On rare occasions in American history, Congress enacts a measure so astute, so far-reaching, so revolutionary, it enters the language as a metaphor. The Marshall Plan comes to mind, as does the Civil Rights Act. But perhaps none resonates in the American imagination like the G.I. Bill.

In a brilliant addition to Oxford's acclaimed Pivotal Moments in American History series, historians Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin offer a compelling and often surprising account of the G.I. Bill and its sweeping and decisive impact on American life. Formally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944, it was far from an obvious, straightforward piece of legislation, but resulted from tense political maneuvering and complex negotiations. As Altschuler and Blumin show, an unlikely coalition emerged to shape and pass the bill, bringing together both New Deal Democrats and conservatives who had vehemently opposed Roosevelt's social-welfare agenda. For the first time in American history returning soldiers were not only supported, but enabled to pursue success--a revolution in America's policy towards its veterans.

Once enacted, the G.I. Bill had far-reaching consequences. By providing job training, unemployment compensation, housing loans, and tuition assistance, it allowed millions of Americans to fulfill long-held dreams of social mobility, reshaping the national landscape. The huge influx of veterans and federal money transformed the modern university and the surge in single home ownership vastly expanded America's suburbs. Perhaps most important, as Peter Drucker noted, the G.I. Bill "signaled the shift to the knowledge society." The authors highlight unusual or unexpected features of the law--its color blindness, the frankly sexist thinking behind it, and its consequent influence on race and gender relations. Not least important, Altschuler and Blumin illuminate its role in individual lives whose stories they weave into this thoughtful account.

Written with insight and narrative verve by two leading historians, The G.I. Bill makes a major contribution to the scholarship of postwar America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Education, American History, American, World War II

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2009

About the author

Glenn Altschuler is an American writer and university-level educator and administrator. At Cornell University, he is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies and a Weiss Presidential Fellow. An animating force in American Studies, Altschuler taught large lecture courses in American popular culture and has been a strong advocate for the value of humanities and for high-quality undergraduate teaching and advising. He is a subject-matter expert on Popular Culture, Politics, and Higher Education in the United States.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The G. I. Bill by Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin is a recent addition to the pivotal moments in American history series which seeks out to explain the major paradigm shifts in United States History that significantly changed the course of history. The authors are after four points in this very detailed account of how the G. I. Bill changed America.
The first is that this was truly a departure from past veterans benefits and greatly expanded and really created not only a way to care for wounded veterans but really looked at how they would readjust to society. The authors take great care to outline what happened to veterans in past wars and look at the growth of the Veterans Administration (VA) system following the Civil War and World War I showing how the G. I. Bill was far more comprehensive.
The second point is the focus that with the election of a Republican congress in the final two years of the war the ability to carry out New Deal proposals was becoming harder and more limited. If democrats led by FDR wanted to continue rapid social change legislation it was going to have to come in the form of veteran's benefits that could later be added to non veterans after showing their success with veterans. The authors take a great deal of care in explaining how Congress was oriented and what each change meant.
The third point and probably the most important is the G. I. Bill's ability to pay for college for returning veterans and provide them with a supplement to live on while attending. Many would follow through with this newfound ability and obtain college degrees shifting heavily the knowledge base of our post war economy and setting up the Baby Boomer generation with the desire to continue attending colleges. The G. I. Bill gave rise to the private school since government money allowed for expanding enrollments anywhere and many elite schools were flooded with veteran's applications. The authors' pull on many personal stories from veterans to illustrate their points bringing out a great side to the story that shows how the bill really affected people. They also spend some time on the race relations and how the G. I. Bill was more beneficial for white America than black America but African Americans still made significant improvement under a bill that was largely color blind.
The final point was on the housing part of the bill that allowed for low interest loans to be obtained and housing to be purchased. As the post war economy exploded and building materials became available suburbs grew quickly and the ability for veterans to move to them grew with it. This was where the Bill's color blind nature fell short. Blacks were not able to purchase homes in the suburbs and the great disparity that would bubble to the top in the 1960's began to crystallize with blacks left in urban centers and whites flooding to the suburbs.
Overall it is a fantastic and detail oriented book that really shows how the G. I. Bill changed America. It is truly a pivotal moment in American history and transformed multiple generations and left the lasting legacy of the New Deal through the bills actions. Very detailed and well worth the time to read.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historians Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin published the book entitled The G.I. Bill: A New Deal for Veterans in 2009. I read the book on the Kindle. The book is part of the Pivotal Moments in American History series. The book contains black and white photographs. The book also contains a section of notes and an index. Glenn C. Altschuler is a professor of American Studies at Cornell University in New York State. Altschuler also wrote All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America which is also part of the Pivotal Moments in American History series. Stuart Blumin was a professor of American History at Cornell University. The G.I. Bill was a bill that provided various benefits to veterans returning from World War II. The G.I. Bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. The book covers the history of American benefits to veterans until 1944. The creation and passage of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 which is popularly known as the G.I. Bill is also covered in the book. The book covers the effects of the G.I. Bill on American Society including different parts of the American population, including women, African Americans, Jewish Americans, Catholic Americans, and other segments of the American population. The book has an “Epilogue” that covers the benefits that Congress passed for veterans of wars from the Korean War until the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq of the 2000s (Altshuler & Blumin 205-211). G.I. Glenn C. Altschuler’s and Stuart M. Blumin’s book The G.I. Bill was an interesting book on the history of the passage of the G.I. Bill and the effects of the G.I. Bill on American society.
Works Cited:
Altschuler, Glenn C. 2003. All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated.

[Gregory Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully written, definitive history of the GI Bill. It's really well put together, too. I was interested in the topic, of course, but I was impressed with the concise way that the book was organized as well. It discussed how the Bill came to be, why it was needed, some of the ways it solved problems, and then some of the weaknesses of the legislation. I appreciate that it really captured the time, both with WWII itself, but also the relatively recent legacy of the New Deal. This book is an exemplar of how to write history with a direct, significant, and meaningful topic.

The book also had a fair amount of balance to it. It would have been easy to write a hagiographic take on the GI Bill and all of the good it accomplished. However, the authors here took great measure in capturing different perspectives and sides toward the Bill and its effectiveness.

I would probably not assign this for a survey class, but I certainly think it's "readable" for the undergraduate level. It would work well for a course on post-WWII society. I think it would be ideal for an upper division or an MA course on 1950s American society. I could see myself pairing this with Lizbeth Cohen's book *Consumer's Republic* for a nice connection in this era.

[Larry Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone interested in the history of the GI Bill. It's a reminder that we need to continue learn about the deals and decisions that went into the legislation (and its updates) to not repeat history in the next interation of the GI Bill.

Thank you to the Military and Veteran Resource Center at Souther Illinois University Edwardsville for a copy of the book.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stuff. A worthy inclusion to the Pivotal Moments series.