The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 History Essay Example

In 1944, the Roosevelt Administration passed an extremely unique bill into law. This bill, called the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, or more well known as the GI Bill of Rights, is heralded as a perfect success in modern day America. The truth however, is much less black and white. When it was first created, the GI Bill was semi-successful. Nonetheless, the GI Bill was unlike anything seen before in American history and helped many veterans — including women and African Americans — receive higher education, go to vocational school, and buy houses. 

Contrary to popular belief, the United States did have programs to assist veterans previous to World War II and the GI Bill. These government programs, however, majority of the time, were decidedly lackluster for many veterans. Because of this, the GI Bill had much significance to U.S. Veterans’ rights. The first acts of the American government after the Revolutionary War were simply to aid wounded soldiers and war widows and her children. These were often in the form of a pension, and then were adjusted accordingly. In wars thereafter, a disabled veteran's home opened, but were almost strictly for those in the Union Army during the United States Civil War. Sometimes, even, the pensions that were promised to soldiers in certain wars were not always given what the government told them they would receive.  

The importance of the GI Bill of Rights is most prominently shown due to the previous assistance programs put in place. It was also much more successful than prior government attempts because of its uniqueness. The nature of the GI Bill was more than a small pension. It included mortgage loans, allowed soldiers to go to college or vocational school virtually for free, and gave a job seeker’s weekly allowance. However, this bill was not successful because of this, but because U.S. citizens were now accustomed to government assistance due to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies of the past decade-and-a-half. As the authors of The GI Bill wrote, “...the New Deal may have altered the climate of policymaking by making vigorous and multifaceted public action much more commonplace...” (39), which explained why Americans were okay with such an act, unlike how they may have responded before the New Deal policies were put in place. Although the bill had great impact because of FDR’s policies and its distinctiveness, the true most successful aspect of the GI Bill of Rights was the college fund. 

So, the most significant advance of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act was the allowance for veterans to seek higher education after serving. While the majority of GI’s who benefited from the bill were white men, the increasing number of veterans – including minorities – who received a college education changed future demographics for university acceptance. Institutes began passing anti-discriminatory legislation, such as the New Jersey Fair Educational Practices Act; New York and Massachusetts also passed equality acts. Additionally, many of the GI’s who went to college, would not have attended if not for the bill’s assistance. A significant number of veterans did not have a high school diploma before starting service. Altshuler and Blumin mention a survey by Norman Fredrickson and William Shrader, which gathered, “About 10 percent of veterans... would not have enrolled without title II. Another 10 percent ‘probably would not have’.” (106) Ergo, approximately 20 percent of World War II veterans would not have gone to school without the GI Bill, which is an extremely large number. This however, is not what makes this portion of the act successful, but the fact that most of the soldiers who benefited from it, were not simply mooching off of the government’s generosity. Many veterans did extremely well in school - having good grades and attended class – and it allowed veterans to stay in school longer to ensure that they earned high status degrees.  

Caucasian men were not the only beneficiaries of the GI Bill of Rights; in college, some women were more successful than ever before. Although, that did not imply that they did not face discrimination and hardship. At the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II, women were encouraged to apply for roles in student government and editor positions in publications that were previously filled by their male peers. This led to the inclusion of women in degree programs they were not able to enter before. By the end of the war and the release of the GI Bill, forty percent of female veterans applied for college. While not a bombastic number, many GI Janes already had a high school diploma or college degree due to the lower need for them in the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, the GI’s success for women ends there. As the authors of the GI Bill write, “the nine-year limitation on GI Bill benefits also fell disproportionately on women.” (123) This is because most women had to put aside higher education in favor of raising a child, while their husbands were freely able to attend school. The difference between the experience of men attending trade schools and college and women was astronomical. Many women were not even informed of the benefits that they could receive from the bill. 

Moreover, women were not the only individuals who had a difficult time receiving their earned benefits from the bill. Despite its supposed nature of being anti-discriminatory, multiple factors kept African Americans from reaping their rewards. Both demographics endured notable obstacles when trying to get VA loans, some directly by military loan officers, and some by racist and sexist bankers.  Blumin and Altshuler said, “only 1 of every 36 VA loans went to African American veterans in the second half of 1946.” (198) This however did not demonstrate and overarching issue within not only the American South, but the entirety of the United States. Due to the long-standing income inequality among black people, even some non-racist loan officers had to deny poor African Americans. The disparity of accepting GI Bill properties between male white veterans and other groups who served in the military during World War II was one of the major failures of the bill, which furthered the inequality and discrimination they faced.  

Furthermore, the success of the GI Bill is mostly attributed to the number of veterans who attended college because of it. However, there were less-major aspects that were not quite as gainful. To begin with, many veterans who took out loans to buy a house or start a business used conventional loans, versus those who used VA backed loans. Therefore, even the fruitfulness of the bill to take out mortgages among white men cannot be fully traced back to the GI Bill as it often is. Many white veterans were not eligible for VA mortgage loans, so even they had to find alternative ways to buy a house. Lastly, the number of veterans who took out business or farm loans was nominal, as proven by The GI Bill, “the number of business loans under title III of the GI Bill was tiny.” (177) The GI Bill failed to encourage a majority of soldiers to start their own businesses, which in part, was entirely the point.  

In conclusion, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, or GI Bill, was only partly successful during the first years after its introduction. The passing of the bill itself was only triumphant because of Roosevelt’s extending progressive policies. For Caucasian men, choosing to go to university with the bill was widely lucrative. However, attempting to attend school as a woman was much less so, and VA mortgage, business, and farm loans were not nearly as broadly utilized as expected. Women and African Americans faced many obstacles that are not hugely talked about when discussing the success of the bill, which fabricates it to look more successful than it truly was at the time of its inception.  

Finally, if one were to have the opportunity to use the GI Bill, it would be recommended to only utilize certain aspects. When the GI Bill was first conceived, it was mainly white males who chose to attend college who benefited, and on a much smaller scale, women and racial minorities. In the modern day, the GI Bill does not allow for nearly as much discrimination, so nearly any military veteran could benefit from it. Despite this, there are many other assistance programs in place for veterans, such as tuition assistance (which is a separate entity from the GI Bill). Conclusively, it may be useful for most veterans in the 21st century, but after World War II, the bill and societies ideals, needed to be shifted forward for it to truly be advantageous for everyone.