After trying since 1920, millions of organized World War veterans demanded their bonus. They never convinced FDR but New Deal liberals in Congress passed the Bonus Bill of $1.5 billion to 3 million veterans over FDR's veto.[5]
Liberals strongly supported the new direction, and formed the long-term voter New Deal Coalition of union members, big city machines, the white South, and ethnic minorities to support it. In reaction, conservatives—typified by the American Liberty League—were strongly opposed but not as well organized at the grass roots. Big business took the lead in opposition.[6] Few liberal programs were enacted after 1936; liberals generally lost control of Congress in 1938.[7] Old programs continued for a while. Many were ended during World War II because unemployment was no longer a problem. These included the WPA, NYA and the Resettlement Administration. Social Security and the Wagner Act, however, survived.
Most of the major laws had been under consideration by New Dealers for years. However, agitators on the left, especially Huey Long of Louisiana, were gaining strength and may have forced Roosevelt's hand.[8][9] Other historians point to the influence of millions of organized World War veterans who wanted their bonus.[10]
^Edwin Amenta, Kathleen Dunleavy, and Mary Bernstein. "Stolen thunder? Huey Long's 'Share our wealth,' political mediation, and the second New Deal." American Sociological review (1994): 678-702. online
^Stephen R. Ortiz, Beyond the Bonus March and GI Bill: how veteran politics shaped the New Deal era (NYU Press, 2010).
Further reading
Amenta, Edwin, Kathleen Dunleavy, and Mary Bernstein. "Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's" Share Our Wealth," Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal." American Sociological Review (1994): 678–702. in JSTOR
Best, Gary Dean. "Stuart Chase and the Second New Deal." in Peddling Panaceas ( Routledge, 2017) pp. 145–168.
Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (2001)
Leuchtenburg, William. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: 1932-1940 (1963). online
Marty, Frédéric, and Thierry Kirat. "The late emerging consensus among American economists on Antitrust laws in the second New Deal (1935-1941)." in The late emerging consensus among American economists on Antitrust laws in the second New Deal (1935-1941) (2021): 11–51. online
Ortiz, Stephen R. Beyond the Bonus March and GI Bill: how veteran politics shaped the New Deal era (NYU Press, 2010).