MacArthur Uses Tanks and Tear Gas to Violently Suppress Bonus Army of 43,000 Veterans

On July 28, 1932, U.S. Army troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur violently disperse the Bonus Army—43,000 demonstrators including 17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who had marched on Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of service bonus certificates. MacArthur deploys 600 soldiers, cavalry, and six light tanks that use tear gas and set fire to the veterans’ makeshift camps, clearing the protesters from the nation’s capital in a display of military force against impoverished veterans that shocks the American public and dooms President Herbert Hoover’s reelection prospects.

The Bonus Army had assembled in Washington beginning in June 1932 after the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 awarded veterans “bonuses” in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. The onset of the Great Depression left many veterans destitute and demanding immediate payment. Led by Walter Waters of Oregon, approximately 15,000 veterans reached the capital by mid-June, with total demonstrators eventually reaching 43,000. On June 17, 1932, the Senate defeated the Wright Patman Bonus Bill 62-18, crushing hopes for early payment. Despite this legislative defeat, the Bonus Army remained encamped in Washington, constructing shantytown settlements on both sides of the Anacostia River.

Following a skirmish on July 28 that left two marchers dead and three policemen injured, Hoover orders the Army to remove the protesters. MacArthur’s troops throw tear gas grenades and burn the veterans’ encampments on both sides of the river. Secretary of War Patrick Hurley twice sends orders indicating that President Hoover, worried about harsh optics, does not wish the Army to pursue demonstrators across the bridge to their main Anacostia camp. MacArthur, according to his aide Dwight Eisenhower, ignores these orders, saying he was “too busy” and did not want to be “bothered by people coming down and pretending to bring orders,” sending his men across anyway. Hoover releases a statement on July 28 twice referring to “so-called bonus marchers” and falsely claiming “a considerable part of those remaining are not veterans; many are Communists and persons with criminal records”—though in fact nine out of ten were veterans and 20% were disabled.

The violent suppression, displayed across newspaper front pages and movie newsreels for weeks, produces swift public backlash. The Army is booed and Hoover excoriated for heartless treatment of suffering veterans. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democratic presidential candidate, reportedly remarks, “Well, this elects me”—and indeed Roosevelt defeats Hoover in a landslide that November. In 1936, Congress votes to pay the veterans’ bonus over President Roosevelt’s veto. The Bonus Army suppression demonstrates the government’s willingness to deploy military force against citizens exercising their right to petition for relief during economic crisis, while MacArthur’s deliberate insubordination in exceeding orders prefigures his later conflicts with civilian authority during the Korean War.