Hoover Orders Bonus Army Dispersed -- July 28, 1932
On July 28, 1932, President Herbert Hoover ordered the United States Army to remove a group of protesting veterans from federal buildings in Washington, D.C. The troops and the veterans clashed in a violent confrontation. The aggressive removal of the Bonus Army marchers damaged Hoover's popularity as he began a difficult reelection campaign.
During his administration, Hoover had provided significant programs in support of veterans. He established the Veterans Administration, providing an agency focused on veterans' issues. He supported significant benefits for housing and hospitalization, as well as support for the disabled. Hoover, however, refused to increase relief to able-bodied Americans, including veterans, as the Great Depression began.
Although Congress had passed a bill in 1924 to pay a bonus to World War I veterans, the bonus was not due to be paid out until 1945. In 1931, Congress passed a Bonus Loan bill, which allowed veterans to receive an advance on their bonus. Hoover vetoed the bill but Congress passed it over his veto. In 1932, as the Great Depression deepened, veterans' organizations began to lobby for an additional loan on the bonus.
In 1932, Hoover again refused to support the bonus. In May, a "Bonus Expeditionary Force" of eleven thousand veterans and their families arrived in Washington to display their dire economic needs and to agitate for the early payout of the bonus. However, Congress refused to authorize a second bonus loan. Hoover signed legislation providing $100,000 to transport the marchers back to their homes. Some chose to remain in Washington, blocking demolition of the federal buildings where they now resided. The District of Columbia police, unable to evict the marchers from the buildings, looked to the federal government for aid.
Hoover chose not to declare martial law over the city, but he did instruct Secretary of War Patrick Hurley to remove the marchers. Hurley, in turn, ordered Army Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur to evict the marchers from the city. MacArthur, with Major Dwight D. Eisenhower as his second in command, took control of the operation using troops, guns, and tear gas to drive the marchers from Washington. MacArthur exceeded his orders when he ordered the troops to cross the Anacostia River and drive the marchers from their main encampment. A fire broke out at the encampment, which was destroyed.
While the President clearly did not want brute force used against the marchers, he took full blame for the incident. The image of the Army attacking innocent bonus marchers haunted Hoover's reelection bid. Later, at the end of the campaign, the President attempted to gain support for the action, claiming that his was a government "that knows how to deal with a mob." For most Americans, however, the actions against the bonus marchers further detracted from an already unpopular President.
For more information, please visit the Herbert Clark Hoover home page or go to more Events in Presidential History.
