Routing the Bonus Army in Washington

97.  The "Bonus Expeditionary Force" (BEF), consisting of about 20,000 veterans, converged on the capital in 1932, demanding the immediate payment of their entire bonus.  The Bonus Army constructed shacks on vacant lots, endangering public health, and many of them refused to leave after the bill failed to pass.  Hoover eventually ordered the army to evacuate the Bonus Army after riots that left two people dead.  General Douglas MacArthur evicted them with far more force than Hoover had planned, using tear gas and bayonets in the "Battle of Anacostia Flats."  This resulted in further deterioration of Hoover's already horrible reputation.

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