What was the bonus army and what was its effects on president Hoover public support?

Answer 1

The bonus army was made up of some 15,000 World War veterans and their supporters who , in 1932, wanted to collect their pensions immediately. Congress listened but voted down their request, so they camped out on the Capitol mall in protest. Eventually, President Hoover, after ample warning, called out the army to force them to leave.

One baby died,supposedly from tear gas. The group moved to a new location and Franklin Roosevelt, who was running against Hoover for president , sent his wife to the new camp to listen to their troubles. The Democrat press made a big show of comparing the way in which Hoover and Roosevelt treated veterans-- Hoover used force to drive them away and Roosevelt sent his wife to listen to them. It may well have cost Hoover some votes.

Answer 2

It reinforced the public image of him as aloof and unsympathetic to distressed people, and he became a symbol of the nation's failure to deal effectively with the economic crisis. I am not sure how much it tipped the election.

After the bonus seekers refused to leave, Hoover eventually ordered the army to forcibly remove them. The marchers collected in a single area and Hoover ordered the siege stopped, but Mac Arthur continued the assault. Eventually 55 were injured, one woman miscarried and one man who was already sick died.

Roosevelt milked the event for all its worth during the campaign of 1932 and suggested that he would have done better. ( The marchers were not actually owed any money, but hoped to pressure the government into giving them an advance on their pension. )

Answer 3

The bonus army was made up of some 15,000 World War veterans and their supporters who , in 1932, wanted to collect their pensions immediately. Congress listened but voted down their request, so they camped out on the Capitol mall in protest. Eventually, President Hoover, after ample warning, called out the army to force them to leave.

One baby died,supposedly from tear gas. The group moved to a new location and Franklin Roosevelt, who was running against Hoover for president , sent his wife to the new camp to listen to their troubles. The Democrat press made a big show of comparing the way in which Hoover and Roosevelt treated veterans-- Hoover used force to drive them away and Roosevelt sent his wife to listen to them. It may well have cost Hoover some votes.