The President and Protest Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus March [Paperback]

Lisio re-examines the events surrounding the 1932 Bonus March on Hoover's White House by outraged veterans. Included is an incisive look at the protective motives of Hoover himself and how the president came to be vilified for the actions of MacArthur. The general's retaliation against the veterans was based on a supposed communist threat - which subsequent investigation failed to confirm - yet Hoover could never extract himself politically from the storm of controversy following the event. . . . [the] usual picture of Hoover as a villain who provoked the riot is replaced here by one in which Hoovers humanitarian intentions were countered because General MacArthur exceeded his orders. Lisio has used newly opened manuscripts and evaluated old ones more carefully than previous authors. His chapters on how the historical conspiracy arose are superior.