In the spring and summer of 1932, former army sergeant, Walter Waters, led the Bonus Army
composed of World War I veterans and their families on a march on Washington, D.C. Veterans
were demanding immediate payment of their World War I pensions. Service Certificates had been
issued because of the 1924 Adjusted Service Certificate Law. With this legislation Congress had
voted to give $3.5 billion to World War I veterans. The former soldiers also wanted the interest that
had accrued on the funds in the eight years since the Certificate Law had passed. These funds,
however, were not scheduled to be issued until 1945.
Texan John Patman had developed the idea of the Veteran’s Bonus Bill at the beginning of
1932. The bill would allow the veterans to receive their compensation from World War I immediately.
The Bonus Army, with 15,000 ex-soldiers, began the march on Washington in May 1932. They
wanted to convince Congress to pass the Patman’s Bonus Bill. The Bonus Army stopped at the
Anacostia Flats, which was a former recruiting center for the United States Army. They made camp
and built shelters. They threatened to stay until the federal government gave them monetary
compensation.
Congress began discussing the Patman Bonus Bill. It passed the House of Representatives
209 to 176, but was defeated in the Senate 62 to 18. At this point, the government ordered the
veterans to leave Washington. The veterans protested, saying they wanted their money immediately.
Many veterans and their families were in dire financial straits because of the Great Depression. They
could not wait twenty years for their pension payment.
Fearing that the Bonus Army might become hostile, President Herbert Hoover ordered General
Douglas MacArthur’s 12th Infantry Regiment to clear the Bonus Army’s camp. Normally, using the
United States Army in this sort of situation was forbidden. The Posse Comitatus Act forbids use of
the American military in normal law enforcement situations. However, this event occurred in
Washington, D.C., which was under the control of the United States Congress. Some military and
political leaders had reservations about the army physically moving into the campsites of the
veterans. Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the army officers there, and President Hoover wanted to
ensure the safety of the veterans. General MacArthur, however, known for his stubbornness and
fear of communism, believed the veterans were attempting a communist revolt. He ordered the
soldiers to move against the veterans’ campsite with rifles, fixed bayonets, tear gas, and mounted
cavalrymen with drawn sabers. Major George S. Patton led a group of tanks against the veterans
and their families. In the melee, two veterans were killed, and others were injured. The Bonus
Army’s campsite was burned.
Newsreel films of American soldiers moving against jobless World War I veterans and their
families in Washington was a shameful sight to Americans suffering through the Depression. These
images hurt President Hoover’s popularity and helped Franklin D. Roosevelt defeat Hoover in the
presidential election of November 1932.
John Patman attempted to move his bill through Congress once President Roosevelt took
office. This time Patman gained the support of popular political figures Father Charles Coughlin and
Huey P. Long. Roosevelt was in office when the Bonus Army began to mobilize its troops again.
They were preparing for another march on Washington. Because Roosevelt did not want the same
disastrous results as before, he approached the crisis differently. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
talked to the veterans about their concerns. She encouraged them to take jobs on a highway
construction project along the Florida Keys, but did not promise them pension money. Many of the
veterans took Mrs. Roosevelt’s advice and worked on the highway construction. Sadly,
approximately two hundred sixty of them were killed when a hurricane swept the region.
Because of the hurricane, public opinion began to favor the Bonus Army’s original demand for
immediate government pensions. In 1936 Congress voted to grant the veterans their immediate
pensions, and the legislation passed despite President Roosevelt’s veto
1. Why did the Bonus Army march on Washington, D.C.?
2. Because of the Adjusted Services Certificate Law, when was the full amount of the veterans’ checks to be
paid?
3. What was Patman’s Bonus Bill?
4. Why did many veterans need money in 1932?
5. Why was it unusual for the United States military to intervene in the Bonus Army’s eviction?
6. Why did the United States Army destroy the Bonus Army’s campsites?
7. What casualties occurred?
8. What did First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt encourage the veterans to do?
9. How did this suggestion lead to tragedy?