Existing comment:
For God and Country:
-- "To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism." -- Preamble to American Legion Constitution -- 1919
Following World War I and the rapid demobilization of more than 5 million soldiers, the United States experienced its greatest influx of veterans to date. Many veterans required continued medical care, and most faced difficulty in finding employment in the post-war economic slump. In addition, they returned home to a climate of social unrest, fueled by the fear that Communism would spread to the U.S. following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
World War I veterans began organizing even before they left Europe. In Paris, a group of American Army officers, lead by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., organized the American Legion in February 1919. That May, the Legion drafted a constitution, and by November held its first annual convention. The Legion quickly became the largest veterans' association in the nation, despite limiting its membership to World War I vets.
After World War II, the American Legion admitted members from other wars, adopting the "evergreen" policy of the VFW. With its size and influence, the Legion became the true successor to the GAR, and remains the largest veterans' association in the nation, with more than 3 million members, including more than 70,000 in Wisconsin. |