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.
"The GI Bill was one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed that has helped young Black males," says Dr. William Hytche, former president of the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. "They used it as a resource to secure their growth and their future."
