Surmounting a national--indeed global--recession in the wake of war is not new to America or its leaders. Born out of one of the nation's darkest moments of the 20th century were bold initiatives to empower those who served their country as well as all who sought to enter the American middle class. The GI Bill of Rights was one such measure, as…

The 1944 GI Bill provided fully for postsecondary education, democratizing ambition and access to American higher education, and providing the idea of attending college and the financial means for doing so to a previously largely-unserved segment of the national population. The GI Bill, along with the civil rights movement and the women's…

Senators James H. Webb Jr. and Chuck Hagel, in their eloquent call for a new GI Bill for today's veterans, convincingly argue that troops deserve more educational support than the government provides. The senators, both Vietnam veterans themselves, point out that today's educational benefits cover only 13 percent of the cost of attending Columbia…