Politics of Pain

From 1945 to 1960, number of veterans receiving disability payments and pensions climbed from just over half a million in 1945 to three million in 1960. “Here was the crux of the politics of pain. For liberals looking to the New Deal as a continuing model of governance, the veteran’s complaints could become a platform on which broader commitments could be built. But the topic split the Right, with the doctors and veterans squared off for an ideological fight” (Wailoo II, ).