“Do Something for the Soldier Boys”
“Do Something for the Soldier Boys”
Congress, the G.I. Bill of Rights, and the Contours of Liberalism
This chapter examines the fight in Congress over the creation of the G.I. Bill of Rights, placing the episode in the larger context of postwar reconversion. The chapter argues that the G.I. Bill, long celebrated as an important contribution to social welfare policy in the United States, represented a much more conservative approach than implementing a cradle-to-grave social security system that provided health care for all. Liberals in Congress fought for the latter at the same time the G.I. Bill was being considered. That they lost was no surprise but was in keeping with the important wartime shifts away from the New Deal welfare state and toward a less liberal warfare state.
Keywords: G.I. Bill of Rights, postwar reconversion, liberalism, Social Security, veterans’ benefits, New Deal, Congress
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