After World War I, the mass cancellation of government contracts had thrown many Americans out of work. Demobilization of millions of soldiers made the unemployment problem even worse. After World War II, American leaders took steps to try to ease the difficult transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy.
G.I. Bill Of Rights
In September 1942, three years before the end of the war, President Roosevelt was already planning for the peace. In a radio broadcast heard by American soldiers abroad, Roosevelt spoke of the economic crisis that followed World War I. He promised, “When you come home, we do not propose to involve you, as last time, in a domestic economic mess of our own making.”
One year later, Roosevelt asked Congress to pass the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the GI Bill of Rights. This bill provided federal funds to help returning GIs make the transition to civilian life. Those funds would make it easier for many war veterans to continue their education and to buy a home. Congress passed the GI Bill by unanimous vote in the spring of 1944. Five months after the war ended, the armed services had released 8.5 million men and women from duty. Several million more came home in the next year. Many veterans took advantage of the GI Bill to enhance their prospects in civilian life. |
Education and training opportunitiesFor most WWII Veterans, the educational opportunities were the most important part of the G.I. Bill of Rights. WWII veterans were entitled to one year of full-time training plus time equal to their military service, up to 48 months. The Veterans Administration paid the university, trade school, or employer up to $500 per year for tuition, books, fees and other training costs. Veterans also received a small living allowance while they were in school.
Thousands of veterans used the GI Bill to go to school. Veterans made up 49 percent of U.S. college enrollment in 1947. Nationally, 7.8 million veterans trained at colleges, trade schools and in business and agriculture training programs. With the bill’s help, some 2.3 million veterans attended college and 7 million received vocational or on-the-job training. The middle class expanded, as veterans became doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other professionals. Bank LoansVeterans also took advantage of low-interest federal loans to buy homes. By 1955, the government had granted 4.3 million home loans through the GI Bill. These loans enabled millions of Americans to move out of central cities into outlying neighborhoods. Instead of being renters, they became homeowners.
Job Assistance and UnemploymentVeterans were also entitled to receive other benefits under the GI Bill. For instance, they could receive unemployment pay of 20 dollars a week for up to 52 weeks. Despite earlier worries about encouraging slothful behavior, this part of the program caused few problems. In fact, less than 20 percent of the funds set aside for the so-called "52-20 Club" were actually used. Instead, most veterans were either working or in school. Still, the program did have safeguards to protect against abuse. Thus, a veteran could be disqualified "if he leaves suitable work voluntarily, without cause, or for misconduct, if he fails to accept suitable work when offered" or for other related reasons. Self-employed veterans could qualify for payments under certain circumstances. Other GI Bill provisions included offering veterans help finding jobs, setting up military review of dishonorable discharges, and giving top priority for building materials to Veterans Administration hospitals.
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Personal Accounts of the G.I. Bill
Don Geery"The GI Bill, they provided me with all kinds of training and stuff from international correspondence school. And I started that – It was started through the Veteran's Educational System, and you could subscribe to this any time you were in the service. And, it was, well, it was a tremendous education. And on top of that education, if you stayed in the program, you got $120 more a month off the government, you see. Not only that, but the first house I told you about that we built, the interest rate was 2½ percent through the GI Bill…
"There was, I think six or seven of us, young guys that came out of the service that subscribed to this and took these courses. And I remember we received a lot of help from people in York College as far as teaching us was concerned. We'd meet at different peoples' houses and that's the way we got through it. It took me 3½ years, myself. Some of them took longer. Not that I was smarter than the rest of them, I just didn't have anything to do. I was married, so I had to stay at home and study… I started to work for the [Consumer's Public] Power Company for 65½-cents an hour… And I moved up and up and up, and I ended up as transmission department manager after 38½ years." |
Jim Chenault"I decided that I would leave the military, and, I did. And I came back here to York and worked as a flight instructor for – We had a flying school right here in York [owned by] Don Bair. And I worked as a flight instructor there for about a year. We had quite a few students. In fact, we had six flight instructors, and we probably had, oh, 20 training airplanes…
"We got a lot of students from the GI Bill of Rights. Guys that had gone through the military and always wanted to fly. They could go and receive flight training through places like our base there. We had a lot of ex-servicemen that we were teaching to fly." Question: "What did they do with the training?" "Nothing. After they were done, why, for the most part, why, that's about all they ever flew. Some of them went on to buy airplanes. And we had several air strips around York County that were called Archer Oil Strips, which was an oil company and they would have a dedication, or they'd put them right on the farm. They just set a strip of land aside for a runway and build a hanger for their airplane. We had several of those here in this county." |
Inflation causes strikes
War time price controls were lifted in 1946, and as a result inflation had risen drastically. Prices also rose because the demand for consumer goods after the war far out-stripped the supply.
As inflation gradually increased, workers demanded more money. But when employers refused, this cause the largest strike wave in U.S. history. In the spring of 1946, both coal miners and railroad workers staged nationwide strikes. President Harry Truman decided that the unions had gone too far, and after the railroad workers rejected a settlement, he seized control of the railroads. Despite the government takeover, the workers continued with their strike plans. As a result, on May 24, 1946, Truman issued an ultimatum declaring that the government would operate the railroads and use the army as strikebreakers. |
Rail Strike Paralyzes Entire US
The following video shows how the railroad worker strikes effected the entire United States.