The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans. By Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv, 246 pp. $24.95, ISBN 978-0-19-518228-6.)

Hani Morgan, The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans. By Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv, 246 pp. $24.95, ISBN 978-0-19-518228-6.), Journal of American History, Volume 97, Issue 1, June 2010, Page 238, https://doi.org/10.2307/jahist/97.1.238

Extract

Creating educational opportunities for World War II veterans, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, often referred to as the G.I. Bill, had a prodigious impact on many Americans. But those opportunities were just part of the boon created by this law; it also allowed those returning from the war to receive home loans and paved the way for more members of minority groups to enter elite universities. The G.I. Bill, however, was not a panacea for problems relating to discrimination on college campuses, and for this reason it has been criticized by such scholars as Lizabeth Cohen and Ira Katznelson for reproducing the status quo.

This study of the G.I. Bill explores veterans' benefits before and after the legislation was enacted, Franklin D. Roosevelt's influence on the law, the effects it had on college campuses, the opportunities and inequalities it stimulated, and its benefits for veterans not interested in academics. Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin proclaim that politicians such as Bill Clinton and authors of earlier books on the topic have lauded the G.I. Bill, exaggerating its benefits. Although the Servicemen's Readjustment Act deserves recognition for its tremendous influence, the authors contend that it is easy to praise the G.I. Bill without exploring whether its benefits are overstated, and they promise to undertake that exploration in this historiography.