The early champions of the GI Bill probably never envisioned the
far-reaching impact the landmark legislation would have on American
society.
That millions of World War II veterans and their families would join
the middle class and fuel the largest economic expansion ever probably
did not occur to proponents of the bill. Instead, the GI Bill –
officially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – was
crafted largely to avert social calamity that political leaders feared
would erupt if millions of military personnel returned home to a
job-poor economy.
Since its enactment, no single public policy has garnered more
credit for the expansion of economic opportunity and higher education.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, the GI Bill
paid for vocational training, and college and graduate school tuition
for millions of World War II veterans. It is regarded as one of the
great social experiments of the twentieth century.
U.S. President Bill Clinton, on the fiftieth anniversary of the
signing of the landmark legislation, declared that “the GI Bill
arguably was the greatest investment in our people in American history.
It provided the undergirding for what has clearly been the most
successful middle class in all of history.”
Unexpected Benefits for Blacks
Thanks to the first GI Bill, an estimated 2.2 million veterans
received education at colleges and universities in the aftermath of
World War II. A total of 7.8 million veterans, or 50.5 percent of the
World War II veteran population, received training or education under
the bill.
But other benefits, which were not anticipated by its early
supporters, were the foundation the GI Bill provided for much of
today’s Black middle class and the education of the generation of
African Americans who helped spearhead the civil rights movement.
