The World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or Bonus Act, [1] was a United States federal law passed on May 19, 1924, that granted a benefit to veterans of American military service in World War I.
The World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or Bonus Act, [1] was a United States federal law passed on May 19, 1924, that granted a benefit to veterans of American military service in World War I.
The act awarded veterans additional pay in various forms, with only limited payments available in the short term. The value of each veteran's "credit" was based on each recipient's service in the United States Armed Forces between April 5, 1917, and July 1, 1919, with $1.00 awarded for each day served in the United States and $1.25 for each day served abroad. It set maximum payments at $500 (approximately $8,000 in 2021 dollars) for a veteran who served stateside and $625 for a veteran who served overseas. [1] Most officers and anyone whose service began after November 11, 1918, were excluded. [2]
It authorized immediate payments to anyone due less than $50. [3] The estate of a deceased veteran could be paid his award immediately if the amount was less than $500. [4] All others were awarded an "Adjusted Service Certificate," which functioned like an insurance policy. Based on standard actuarial calculations, the value of a veteran's certificate was set as the value of a 20-year insurance policy equal to 125 percent of the value of his service credit. Certificates were to be awarded on the veteran's birthday no earlier than January 1, 1925, and redeemable in full on his birthday in 1945, with payments to his estate if he died before then. [5] Certificate holders were allowed to use them as collateral for loans under certain restrictions. [6]
The American Legion was a principal proponent of the legislation on behalf of World War I veterans, and it objected to the term bonus, because "bonus has come to mean 'full payment plus,' and there has not yet been full payment, or anywhere near full payment, so there cannot be any plus." [7] The Legion said that the government needed to "restore the faith of men sorely tried by what they feel to be National ingratitude and injustice." The Legion pointed out that the Wilson administration had made additional payments to government workers in 1917–18 to help offset the effects of inflation, without making any comparable provision for members of the military. [8]
The Legion fought President Warren G. Harding as his position changed from supporting payments if paired with a revenue measure, to supporting a future pension system. [9] Harding felt so strongly about the issue that he visited the Senate to make his case against one version of the bill in 1921, and the Senate voted it down 47–29. [10] Harding vetoed another version of the Adjusted Compensation Act on September 19, 1922, and the House overrode his veto 258–54 but the Senate failed to override by four votes on a vote that split both Democrats and Republicans. [11] [12] Harding's veto of the popular measure particularly alienated the Senate Republicans, who thought the President's defense of fiscal integrity endangered the party's electoral prospects. [12]
Harding died before the issue was taken up again by Congress. In preliminary negotiations between Congress and President Calvin Coolidge, it became clear that the President would veto any law that proposed immediate cash payments to veterans and that the Senate would sustain that veto. The legislation, popularly called the Insurance Bill, provided the veteran instead with a variety of future payment scenarios rather than cash in the short term. [13]
On May 15, 1924, Coolidge vetoed a bill granting bonuses to veterans of World War I saying: "patriotism ... bought and paid for is not patriotism." Congress overrode his veto a few days later. [14]
The act was amended with respect to minor details on July 3, 1926. [1]
Veterans were able to take out loans against their certificates beginning in 1927. By June 30, 1932, more than 2.5 million veterans had borrowed $1.369 billion. [15]
In 1936, the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act (January 27, 1936, ch. 32, 49 Stat. 1099) replaced the 1924 Act's service certificates with bonds issued by the Treasury Department that could be redeemed at any time.
Calvin Coolidge was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of Massachusetts. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action. The next year, he was elected the 29th vice president of the United States, and he succeeded to the presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative and also as a man who said very little and had a dry sense of humor, receiving the nickname "Silent Cal". He chose not to run again in the 1928 election, remarking that ten years as president was "longer than any other man has had it – too long!"
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th president of the United States serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. He was a member of the Republican Party and one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. After his death, a number of scandals were exposed, including Teapot Dome, as well as an extramarital affair with Nan Britton, which diminished his regard.
The 1924 United States presidential election was the 35th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1924. In a three-way contest, incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge won election to a full term.
Bonus Bill may refer to:
Charles Gates Dawes was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. For his work on the Dawes Plan for World War I reparations, he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.
The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – made up of 17,000 veterans of the United States in World War I, together with their families and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates. Organizers called the demonstrators the "Bonus Expeditionary Force" (B.E.F.), to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Forces, while the media referred to them as the "Bonus Army" or "Bonus Marchers". The demonstrators were led by Walter W. Waters, a former sergeant.
The Economy Act of 1933, officially titled the Act of March 20, 1933, is an Act of Congress that cut the salaries of federal workers and reduced benefit payments to veterans, moves intended to reduce the federal deficit in the United States.
Veterans of Future Wars (VFW) was a satirical political organization initially created as a prank by Princeton University students in 1936. The group was conceived as a parody of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the movement for early payment of a bonus to veterans of World War I that had been originally scheduled for disbursement in 1945 when the World War Adjusted Compensation Act was passed in 1924. The group jokingly advocated the payment of a similar $1,000 "bonus" to future veterans of a coming European conflagration while the recipients were young enough—and alive—to enjoy it.
The Adjusted Compensation Payment Act was a piece of United States legislation that provided for the issuance of US Treasury Bonds to veterans who had served in World War I as a form of economic stimulus and relief. The act is sometimes considered to be part of the "New Deal" though it was not supported by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the law was one of several pieces of United States legislation popularly known together as the "Bonus Act," which was enacted after Congress overrode President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto on January 27, 1936.
Title 2 of the United States Code outlines the role of Congress in the United States Code.
Warren G. Harding's tenure as the 29th president of the United States lasted from March 4, 1921 until his death on August 2, 1923. Harding presided over the country in the aftermath of World War I. A Republican from Ohio, Harding held office during a period in American political history from the mid-1890s to 1932 that was generally dominated by his party. He died of an apparent heart attack and was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge.
Charles Robert Forbes was a Scottish-American politician and military officer. Appointed the first Director of the Veterans' Bureau by President Warren G. Harding on August 9, 1921, Forbes served until February 28, 1923. Caught for army desertion in 1900, he returned to the military and was a decorated World War I veteran. He first became active in politics in the Pacific Northwest. In 1912, Forbes moved to Hawaii and served as chairman on various federal commissions. While Senator Warren G. Harding was on vacation in Hawaii the two met by chance and became friends. After the 1920 U.S. Presidential election, President Harding appointed Forbes director to the newly created Veterans' Bureau, a powerful position in charge of millions of dollars in government expenditures and supplies.
Frank Thomas Hines was a United States military officer and head of the U.S. Veterans Bureau from 1923 to 1945. Hines took over as head of the Veterans Bureau after a series of scandals discredited the agency. He was considered a "man of stern honesty." In response to the scandals, the field service was "centralized to establish strict controls and accountability."
The Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 is a federal statute in the United States that increased the disability compensation rate for American veterans and their families. The rate increased by the same amount as the cost of living increase that was applied to Social Security. The bill passed the United States Senate and House during the 113th United States Congress, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on November 21, 2013.
The following events occurred in May 1924:
The following events occurred in January 1936:
Calvin Coolidge's tenure as the 30th president of the United States began on August 2, 1923, when Coolidge became president upon his predecessor's death, and ended on March 4, 1929. A Republican from Massachusetts, Coolidge had been vice president for 2 years, 151 days when he succeeded to the presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding. Elected to a full four–year term in 1924, Coolidge gained a reputation as a small-government conservative. Coolidge was succeeded by former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover after the 1928 presidential election.
The presidency of Calvin Coolidge began on August 2, 1923, when Calvin Coolidge became the 30th president of the United States upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding, and ended on March 4, 1929.
The presidency of Warren G. Harding began on March 4, 1921, when Warren G. Harding was inaugurated as the 29th president of the United States and ended when he died on August 2, 1923, a span of 881 days. During this time, Harding organized international disarmament agreements, addressed major labor disputes, enacted legislation and regulations pertaining to veterans' rights, and traveled west to visit Alaska. This timeline includes notable events that took place during Harding's presidency, including the president's travels, speaking engagements, and meetings with notable figures, as well as major government actions and other historical events that affected the presidency.