The GI Bill: The New Deal for Veterans

Description

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 brining 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.