The high tide of G.I. optimism and power came in 1964 with their so-called “Great 89th Congress.” In the next year, after the G.I.s’ legislative triumphs—everything from civil rights enforcement to the founding of Medicaid and Medicare—their cohesion and power seemed unstoppable. “Americans today bear themselves like victory-addicted champions,” said Look magazine in 1965. “They’ve won their wars and survived their depressions. They are accustomed to meeting, and beating, tests.”
