The+Bonus+Army

= The Bonus Army =

In the summer of 1932, 12,000-15,000 veterans of WWI went to Washington D.C. to ask for money. These veterans were unemployed due to the economic depression and wanted an advance on a bonus that was to be paid in 1945. The veterans hoped that the Congress and President Hoover would either give them the bonus or part of the bonus. The veterans had set up a camp in Washington but when the Senate and President voted down the bill that would have given them their bonus most went home. There were a few thousand of the veterans that stayed behind to protest the actions of the government. Near the end of July of 1932 President Hoover instructed General MacArthur to make the Bonus Army move out of Washington. MacArthur used the army to force the group to move from the camp. It was this use of force (tanks, tear gas and bayonets) that cause a negative image of Hoover's administration. This action influenced the Presidential election of 1932 allowing Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win over Hoover.