In 1932, the worst year of the Great Depression, more than twenty thousand mostly homeless World War I veterans trekked to the nation's capital to petition Congress to grant them early payment of a promised bonus. The Hoover Administration and the local government urged Washington, DC, police chief Pelham Glassford to forcefully drive this "bonus army" out of the city. Instead, he defied both governments for months and found food and shelter for the veterans until Congress voted on their request. Glassford's efforts to persuade federal and local officials to deal sympathetically with the protesters were ultimately in vain, but his proposed solutions, though disregarded by his supervisors, demonstrate that compassion and empathy could be more effective ways of dealing with radical protests than violent suppression.
Harvey Ferguson is an independent historian and the author of The Last Cavalryman: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.
List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Beginnings Chapter 2. Monastery on the Hudson Chapter 3. A New Officer for a New Army Chapter 4. On the Border, Prelude to France Chapter 5. The German Spring Offenses and the Allied Defenses Chapter 6. St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offenses Chapter 7. Soldiering in Peacetime Chapter 8. The New Police Chief Chapter 9. Walter Waters: Glassford's Friendly Enemy Chapter 10. The Bonus Veterans Arrive Chapter 11. The Anacostia Flats Camp Chapter 12. Painting the Bonus Army Red Chapter 13. Pretext for Expulsion Chapter 14. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Chapter 15. Whitewashing the Expulsion Chapter 16. Aftermath Chapter 17. Factories in the Field and Communists on the Horizon Chapter 18. Sob Sisters and Busybodies Chapter 19. Ranching, Policing, and Politics Chapter 20. The Later Years Afterword Notes References
"In admirably clear, direct, and lucid prose, Ferguson invites us to join him on a journey through Pelham Glassford's life and career. . . . Glassford has much to teach us about life, leadership, empathy, and integrity." - Rory McGovern, author of George W. Goethals and the Army: Change and Continuity in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era "General Pelham Glassford, a colorful and compassionate Army general, found himself charged with defusing some of the most dramatic protests of the 1930s. In both the Bonus Army March and the California farm labor strikes, Glassford demonstrated his concern for the underdog." - Kathryn S. Olmstead, author of Right Out of California: The 1930s and the Big Business Roots of Modern Conservatism
