16. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944
The idea of rewarding all American servicemen who were on active duty during the Second World War was a liberal one for the United States, though it arose in the lobbies of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion. Neither was or is a liberal organization. It was debated in Congress, where it gained bipartisan support, in the form of a proposal submitted by President Roosevelt. During the debates, it was modified and expanded, though in the final form signed by FDR in 1944 it included benefits which would be realized by the housing construction industry, the mortgage industry, and in education around the United States.
In practice, the benefits realized by all veterans were often not equal. Schools in the Jim Crow south available to black veterans were limited, as were housing opportunities in segregated communities, where the practice of “separate but equal’ remained. “For profit” schools of less than acceptable academic certification and standards emerged to target veterans of all races, more interested in the VA’s money than in the veteran’s training. Still, the GI Bill of Rights, as it came to be called, led to an entire generation of Americans receiving government-funded education, purchasing government-subsidized homes, and receiving government assistance in establishing businesses.