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Bonus Army Timeline

(May–July 1932)

The Bonus Army was a 1932 protest by World War I veterans seeking early payment of compensation promised for their military service. Their peaceful encampment in Washington, D.C., was forcibly removed, creating a major political crisis during the Great Depression. Less

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Veterans’ benefits history

The wartime military-bonus tradition began

1776

The practice of wartime military bonuses began in 1776. These payments compensated soldiers for the difference between military earnings and what they might have earned had they not enlisted.

Land and money became military-service bonuses

1776 - 1855

Before World War I, military-service bonuses were commonly provided as land and money, adjusted for rank. A Continental Army private received 100 acres and $80 at the war’s end, while a major general received 1,100 acres.

Image source: Veteran

Land and money became military-service bonuses

First national pension law adopted

Aug 1776

In August 1776, Congress adopted the first national pension law, providing half pay for life to disabled veterans.

Image source: Veterans Benefits Administration

First national pension law adopted

Continental Army was demobilized

1781

In 1781, most of the Continental Army was demobilized. The veterans’ benefits tradition continued through later congressional pension and bonus legislation.

Image source: Continental Army

Continental Army was demobilized

Congress expanded veterans’ pensions and bonuses

1788 - 1836

Beginning in 1788, Congress progressively passed legislation covering veterans’ pensions and bonuses. Eligibility was eventually extended to widows in 1836.

Image source: Pension

Congress expanded veterans’ pensions and bonuses

Congress expanded land-grant eligibility

1855

In 1855, Congress raised the minimum land grant to 160 acres and reduced eligibility requirements to fourteen days of service or participation in one battle. The bonus also applied to veterans of any Indian war.

Image source: Land grant

Congress expanded land-grant eligibility

The land-grant program was abandoned

1860

By 1860, 73.5 million acres had been issued. A lack of available arable land led to abandonment of the land-grant program and its replacement with a cash-only system.

Image source: Bounty jumper

The land-grant program was abandoned

Spanish–American War veterans received no bonus

1898 - 1918

Breaking with the earlier tradition, veterans of the Spanish–American War did not receive a bonus. After World War I, the issue became politically contentious when veterans received only a $60 payment.

Image source: Spanish–American War

Spanish–American War veterans received no bonus

Bonus legislation

The American Legion was created

1919

Created in 1919, the American Legion led a political movement seeking an additional bonus for World War I veterans.

Image source: American Legion

The American Legion was created

The bonus payment formula was established

1924

Under the 1924 arrangement, veterans were to receive one dollar for each day of domestic service, up to $500, and $1.25 for each day of overseas service, up to $625.

Image source: World War Adjusted Compensation Act

The bonus payment formula was established

Adjusted Service Certificates were issued

1924

The government issued 3,662,374 Adjusted Service Certificates with a combined face value of $3.64 billion.

The World War Adjusted Compensation Act was enacted

1924

The World War Adjusted Compensation Act awarded U.S. World War I veterans bonuses through certificates that could not be redeemed until 1945.

The veterans’ bonus trust fund was established

1924

Congress established a trust fund funded by 20 annual payments of $112 million. With interest, the fund was intended to finance the veterans’ $3.638 billion disbursement in 1945.

Coolidge vetoed the veterans’ bonus bill

May 15, 1924

President Calvin Coolidge vetoed a bill granting bonuses to World War I veterans, declaring that “patriotism... bought and paid for is not patriotism.” Henry Cabot Lodge and Charles Curtis endorsed the Bonus Bill.

Bonus-certificate loans were expanded

1931

Veterans could initially borrow up to 22.5 percent of a certificate’s face value. In 1931, during the Great Depression, Congress increased the maximum loan to 50 percent.

The Wright Patman Bonus Bill passed the House

Jun 15, 1932

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Wright Patman Bonus Bill by a vote of 211–176. The measure sought to move forward the date when World War I veterans would receive their cash bonuses.

Image source: Bonus Army

The Wright Patman Bonus Bill passed the House

Congress paid the veterans’ bonuses early

1936

With Democrats holding majorities in both houses, Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act in 1936. It authorized immediate payment of $2 billion in World War I bonuses, and Congress overrode President Roosevelt’s veto.

Bonus Army marches

Eric Carlson died after the Washington march

1932

Eric Carlson, a 1932-deceased veteran from Oakland, California, had fought in the trenches of France during World War I. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Cox’s Army marched on Washington

Jan 1932

In January 1932, 25,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians known as Cox’s Army marched on Washington, D.C. It was the largest demonstration in the capital to that point and set a precedent for later marches by unemployed people.

Image source: James Renshaw Cox

Cox’s Army marched on Washington

William Hushka died during the Bonus Army crisis

1932

William Hushka, an immigrant from Lithuania, had sold his butcher shop in St. Louis and joined the U.S. Army when the United States entered World War I in 1917. He died in 1932 in connection with the Bonus Army events.

Communists urged veterans to march

May 31, 1932

The Daily Worker, the central organ of the Communist Party in the United States, urged worker-veteran delegations to go to Washington on June 8. The Communist Party also undertook an organized campaign to encourage radicals to join the movement.

The Bonus Army gathered in Washington

Jun 1932 - Jul 1932

The Bonus Army, consisting of about 43,000 demonstrators—including 17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—gathered in Washington, D.C., to demand early cash redemption of their service-bonus certificates.

Conrad Lanza reported on the Bonus Army

Jul 5, 1932

Conrad H. Lanza produced a report in upstate New York on July 5, 1932. The report was not declassified until 1991.

William Mitchell ordered the veterans removed

Jul 28, 1932

On July 28, 1932, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property.

A second Bonus March was planned

Mar 1933 - May 1933

After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in March 1933, the National Liaison Committee of Washington planned a second, smaller Bonus March. It demanded that the federal government provide housing and food for marchers during their stay in the capital.

The second Bonus March was defused

May 1933

The second, smaller Bonus March was defused in May 1933 when the administration offered jobs with the Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Hunt, Virginia. Most of the group accepted the offer.

Roosevelt offered CCC jobs to veterans

May 11, 1933

On May 11, 1933, President Roosevelt issued an executive order allowing 25,000 veterans to enroll in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The order exempted them from the normal requirements that applicants be unmarried and under age 25.

Image source: Civilian Conservation Corps

Roosevelt offered CCC jobs to veterans

Political and cultural impact

Hoover defended orderly Bonus Army members

1932

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover stated that most Bonus Army members behaved reasonably. He attributed much of the unrest to a minority he described as communists and career criminals while emphasizing that many marchers were honest veterans entitled to present their views to Congress.

Hoover lost the presidential election

Nov 8, 1932

The Bonus Army incident proved politically disastrous for President Herbert Hoover and contributed to his losing the 1932 election in a landslide to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Image source: 1932 United States presidential election

Hoover lost the presidential election

Gabriel Over the White House was released

Mar 1933

MGM released the film Gabriel Over the White House in March 1933, the month Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in as president.

Image source: Gabriel Over the White House

Gabriel Over the White House was released

Lanza’s report was declassified

1991

The report written by Conrad H. Lanza on July 5, 1932, remained classified for decades and was not declassified until 1991.

The Bonus March appeared in In Pursuit of Honor

1995

The opening scenes of the 1995 film In Pursuit of Honor depict a fictionalized version of the Bonus March.

Image source: In Pursuit of Honor

The Bonus March appeared in In Pursuit of Honor

The Bonus Army appeared in Polostan

2024

Neal Stephenson’s 2024 novel Polostan features a main character who travels with communists within the Bonus Army to Washington and becomes involved in the army’s intervention.

Image source: Polostan

The Bonus Army appeared in Polostan

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Key Facts

  1. The Bonus Army consisted mainly of World War I veterans and their families who demanded immediate payment of bonus certificates originally scheduled for 1945.
  2. Thousands of veterans traveled to Washington, D.C., in spring and summer 1932 and built camps, including one near the Anacostia River.
  3. Congress rejected the Patman Bonus Bill, which would have authorized early payment of the veterans’ bonuses, in June 1932.
  4. On July 28, 1932, U.S. Army troops commanded by General Douglas MacArthur forcibly evicted the protesters, destroying parts of their encampment.
  5. The government’s harsh response damaged President Herbert Hoover politically, and Congress eventually authorized early bonus payments through the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act of 1936.

Source

This Bonus Army timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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