National politics is irksome and makes us think we are in the worst of times. History tells us otherwise, though, since problems have rotted and festered ever since this country was established. A few days ago we visited my parents in the retirement home. I took along my recorder and got them started talking about their younger days; therefore an interesting conversation commenced. Topics of world wars, depression, drought, etc. often arise. I’ve recently been reading articles about the veterans’ Bonus Army, and read closely in Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States how disgustingly they were treated.
The problem arose after the first world war during the depth of the depression when so many people found themselves without jobs. Congress had seen fit to legislate a bonus to the returning veterans but seemed to be reneging on paying up. Desperate veterans wanted the money to see them through the hard times and began gathering in large numbers in Washington to persuade Hoover to open up the purse. A large city of tents and cardboard shanties arose to house them; Zinn said over 20,000 people gathered. Hoover ordered troops to clear the rabble out and clean up the mess. Some big military names glorified in history took part in the debacle: MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton. They burned them out and spread tear gas to disperse the protesters, which alone injured a thousand of the veterans in addition to several deaths. The election of 1932 was influenced by this affair, and FDR moved into the Presidency.
Rebellion was rampant throughout the country, but FDR treated the downtrodden with a certain respect, and things finally settled down. By the way, the veterans’ bonus got paid. Here, I asked my parents if they remembered that episode. Sure they did. My mother remarked that her dad received either $200 or $300, she couldn’t remember exactly, but whatever it was, she said it sure helped out. Dad knew of one person who bought a team of horses with his bonus and could then start his farming operation, something he did well at.
Zinn recently died, but his work as a historian looks at the grass roots of history, not so much the big movers and shakers that much historical writing does. A People’s History of the United States contains many stories of the common people.
