History of The American Legion
The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization. Focusing on service to veterans, servicemembers and communities, the Legion evolved from a group of war-weary veterans of World War I into one of the most influential nonprofit groups in the United States. Membership swiftly grew to over 1 million, and local posts sprang up across the country. Today, membership stands at over 1.6 million in more than 12,000 posts worldwide. The posts are organized into 55 departments: one each for the 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Latin America and the Philippines.
Over the years, the Legion has built its identity by achieving hundreds of benefits and services for veterans, supporting the U.S. Armed Forces and instilling the values of responsible citizenship among young people. From the nation-changing of The American Legion-drafted GI Bill to relief for veterans exposed to toxic contamination in the service, veterans of The American Legion have worked for over a century to improve and strengthen the nation they swore with their lives to defend.
Following is a chronology of significant dates in Legion history:
1919
March 15-17
Members of the American Expeditionary Force convene in Paris for the first American Legion caucus.
May 8-10
At its stateside St. Louis Caucus, The American Legion adopts its official name, and the preamble to the organization’s constitution is drafted.
June 9
The National Executive Committee adopts The American Legion emblem.
Sept. 16
Congress charters The American Legion.
Nov. 10-12
Minneapolis is home to the first American Legion National Convention, attended by about 15,000. Membership at this point exceeds 684,000. Among the delegates are 140 women veterans of World War I, and The Constitution and Preamble are adopted. Delegates consider 350 resolutions but approve only 50, including equal treatment for women who served in the war, employment programs for veterans, fair government benefits for those who came home disabled from service, support for the Boy Scouts, mandatory patriotic exercises in schools and the establishment of an air branch of service.
Dec. 16
Relentless lobbying by The American Legion results in an increase of disability compensation for war-wounded veterans, from $30 per month to $80 per month.
1920s
Sept. 27, 1920
The poppy is named the official flower of The American Legion during the organization’s second national convention in Cleveland.
Dec. 16, 1920
With more than 5,500 war veterans hospitalized nationwide with neuropsychiatric conditions, The American Legion raises awareness of the condition later to be defined as post-traumatic stress disorder.
July 7, 1921
The American Legion and the National Education Association enter into a formal relationship that calls for more stringent qualifications for teachers and curriculum in civics education.
Aug. 9, 1921
The Legion's efforts result in the creation of the U.S. Veterans Bureau, forerunner of the Veterans Administration.
Nov. 11, 1921
American Legion leaders join Allied generals and President Warren G. Harding in ceremonies to dedicate the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The tomb was the culmination of Legion-supported legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Hamilton Fish, Jr., a founder of the organization.
June 15, 1923
The first Flag Code is drafted during a Legion-organized conference in Washington, with 68 organizations participating. The code is adopted a year later and in the decades ahead is applied throughout the states and schools until Congress adopts it as U.S. Flag Code in 1942.
Oct. 17, 1923
The American Legion National Convention in San Francisco passes a resolution (still in effect) that expresses its firm support of equal rights and opportunities “without distinction as to race, color, creed or class.” The resolution condemns any individual, group or organization that “creates or fosters racial, religious or class strife among our people, or which takes into their own hands the enforcement of law, determination of guilt, or infliction of punishment, to be un-American, a menace to our liberties and destructive to our fundamental law.”
Oct. 18, 1923
The American Legion National Convention passes a resolution calling for “Congress to immediately enact a law providing for the erection of a suitable Archives Building” to house documents, artifacts and, emphatically, world war military records. This becomes the National Archives in 1934.
March 21, 1924
American Legion uniform caps are introduced.
Sept. 19, 1924
The American Legion launches a successful campaign to raise $5 million – more than $83 million in today’s dollars – to support disabled veterans and war orphans. This becomes the American Legion Endowment Fund, now doing business as the American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation.
June 17, 1925
The American Legion formally accepts its first permanent national headquarters home in Indianapolis.
June 17, 1925
First proposed in Milbank, S.D., American Legion Baseball is born, adopted as an official national program in October that year.
Oct. 15, 1926
Yonkers, N.Y., Post 321 defeats Pocatello, Idaho, 23-6 in the first American Legion Baseball World Series.
Nov. 9. 1926
The American Legion School Award Program, first established in Pennsylvania, becomes national and continues to operate today.
April 1 – May 30, 1927
American Legion posts along the Mississippi River provide assistance, relief, housing and food for some 400,000 residents left homeless by historic flooding.
1930s
June 30, 1930
The federal Veterans Administration is established after tireless lobbying from The American Legion.
Sept. 12-15, 1932
The Sons of The American Legion is founded and officially recognized during the 1932 National Convention in Portland, Ore.
June 23, 1935
The first American Legion Boys State convenes in Springfield, Ill., to help high school boys gain an understanding of the structure and operation of the federal government.
Jan. 19 – March 11, 1937
The American Legion raises over $250,000 and delivers it to the Red Cross to help victims of floods on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
June 1, 1938
The final round of the Legion's first annual National High School Oratorical Contest is conducted in Norman, Okla.
1940s
Aug. 22, 1941
The U.S. Navy commissions the USS American Legion, and her World War II career begins, including landing some of the first troops at Guadalcanal, supplying a hospital, conducting rescue missions and training exercises.
Dec. 7, 1941
Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, brings the United States into World War II. Soon, more than 150,000 members of The American Legion (World War I veterans and career officers) return to wartime service. In addition, nearly 400,000 Legionnaires serve as air-raid wardens, 300,000 as volunteer police officers and 50,000 as volunteer firefighters to fill wartime needs in their communities.
May 1, 1942
The American Legion Blood Donor Program is established.
June 22, 1942
Congress passes U.S. Flag Code, adapted from the rules of flag respect established at the Legion-led flag conferences of 1923 and 1924.
Sept. 19-21, 1942
The Preamble to the Constitution of The American Legion is changed for the first time since it was written in 1919. The word “war” is changed to “wars,” and “association” to “associations.”
Dec. 15, 1943
Past National Commander Harry W. Colmery starts to write in longhand, on Mayflower Hotel stationery in Washington, the first draft of what will later become the “GI Bill of Rights”– considered the Legion's single greatest legislative achievement.
June 22, 1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the original GI Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act, ushering in monumental changes in U.S. society. Higher education becomes democratized after more than 8 million veterans go to school on the GI Bill, get better jobs, buy houses, finance businesses and raise families. For every dollar spent on educating veterans, the U.S. economy eventually gets $7 back.
June 27, 1944
The American Legion-backed Veterans Preference Hiring Act is signed into law.
April 8, 1946
Gen. Omar Bradley, head of the Veterans Administration, establishes an advisory council, led by The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and Veterans of Foreign Wars to develop a massive new volunteer network for VA health-care facilities, which becomes the VA Volunteer Service (VAVS).
May 29, 1946
The Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary present a small, struggling organization called the American Heart Association with a $50,000 grant. The grant inaugurates a nationwide program for the study, prevention and treatment of rheumatic heart disease.
Aug. 9, 1946
The American Legion Boys Forum of National Government, later renamed American Legion Boys Nation, is conducted for the first time at American University in Washington, D.C.
1950s
May 4, 1950
The Legion votes to contribute funds to the field of mental health, thereby playing a key role in launching the National Association for Mental Health.
Aug. 20, 1950
A new American Legion National Headquarters building is dedicated in Indianapolis. The 100,000-square-foot $2.5 million structure greatly expands capacity for the nation’s largest veterans organization, on State of Indiana property known as “American Legion Mall.”
Aug. 14, 1951
A new seven-story American Legion National Headquarters building in Washington D.C. is dedicated by President Harry Truman.
July 9, 1954
The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation is formed to provide grants for organizations that help children facing severe challenges.
1960s
March 30, 1960
U.S. Highway 281 – stretching from the Canada border to Mexico, though North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas – Is formally dedicated as the national “American Legion Memorial Highway.”
July 23, 1962
Pitching phenomenon Bob Feller of Iowa – known as the “heater from Van Meter” – is the first alumnus of American Legion Baseball inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
July 24, 1963
Future U.S. President Bill Clinton, then a 16-year-old student at Hot Springs, Ark., High School, famously meets and shakes hands with President John F. Kennedy at the White House during American Legion Boys Nation.
March 15, 1969
The U.S. Postal Service officially issues a 6-cent commemorative stamp to honor The American Legion’s 50th anniversary. Sales of the stamp begin on March 17, the 50th anniversary of the end of the Paris Caucus that formed the organization.
Aug. 24, 1969
The Legion's National Executive Committee establishes the National Emergency Fund as a result of the effects of Hurricane Camille.
1970s
May 1, 1972
The Legion implements a Halloween safety program for children.
April 1, 1975
The Legion-sponsored Freedom Bell traverses the nation aboard the Freedom Train during its tour of the country in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. Six years later, the bell is dedicated at its permanent home in Columbus Plaza, opposite Union Station in Washington.
April 1978
The “American Legion Study of the Psychosocial Adjustment Among Legion Veterans” by Purdue University Dr. Charles R. Figley reveals psychosocial challenges faced by Vietnam War veterans adjusting to civilian life and, ultimately, formal diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
July 18, 1979
Long promoted by The American Legion, National POW/MIA Recognition Day is accepted, to be recognized annually on the third Friday of September.
Nov. 27, 1979
Orville E. Kelly, a member of American Legion Post 52 in Burlington, Iowa, announces that he has been approved for VA disability compensation for lymphatic cancer related to radiation exposure in 1957 and 1958 during 22 atomic tests he witnessed in the Marshall Islands. The approval of his claim, with help from an American Legion service officer, opens the door for VA disability benefits for hundreds of conditions caused by toxic exposure in the military in the years to come.
1980s
February 1980
After decades of American Legion pressure and proof, post-traumatic stress disorder is recognized as a psychological diagnosis.
Aug. 26, 1982
The Legion presents a $1 million check to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund for construction of the Wall in Washington, becoming the largest single contributor to the project.
July 21, 1983
The Legion announces its sponsorship of an independent study on the effects of exposure to Agent Orange on Vietnam War veterans. Congress receives the results of the "American Legion-Columbia University Study of Vietnam-era Veterans" in 1989.
Jan. 1, 1989
The Veterans Administration is elevated to Cabinet-level status as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Legion fought hard for the change, arguing that veterans deserve representation at the highest levels of government.
Aug. 31, 1989
In just 60 days, The American Legion completes the collection of more than 1 million signatures on a petition supporting a constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag from deliberate acts of desecration, in the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision ruling that such acts are protected under the First Amendment.
Oct. 16, 1989
The long-standing objective of the Legion to improve adjudication procedures for veterans claims is achieved when the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals becomes operational.
Oct. 19, 1989
The American Legion National Executive Committee officially re-establishes its Disaster Relief Fund, later the National Emergency Fund, a permanent endowment to provide disaster relief for veterans and American Legion posts.
1990s
Aug. 2, 1990
The Legion files suit against the federal government for failure to conduct a Congress-mandated study about the effects of Agent Orange on veterans who served in Vietnam.
Oct. 11, 1990
The Legion creates the Family Support Network to assist families of servicemembers deployed for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Middle East. Through local posts, the network offers a wide range of assistance, including financial assistance, mowing lawns, baby-sitting and more.
June 15, 1991
The Legion hosts its first Junior Shooting Sports National Air Rifle Championships at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Fall 1993
In Garden City, Mich., Chuck “Tramp” Dare and Bill “Polka” Kaledas, commander of American Legion Post 396, start an association to bring all American Legion Family members together to share a common love for motorcycles; this evolves into the national American Legion Riders.
Aug. 24, 1994
The Legion announces the creation of the Citizens Flag Alliance, a coalition of organizations and individual citizens united to work for a constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag from physical desecration.
July 26, 1995
Electronics giant Samsung chooses The American Legion to administer a scholarship fund of $5 million, as a gesture of appreciation for U.S. military personnel who came to South Korea’s aid to fight communist forces in the Korean War. The first 10 scholarships are awarded on Sept. 16, 1996, the anniversary of The American Legion’s federal charter approval.
June 11, 1997
The National Emergency Fund surpasses the $1 million mark in cash grants given to flood victims who belong to the Legion family. Most grant recipients reside in the flood plains of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Minnesota and North Dakota.
Sept. 3, 1997
The Legion presents its first National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award at the 79th National Convention in Orlando, Fla.
2000s
Sept. 5, 2000
The American Legion presents the first “Spirit of Service” Awards to active duty service members for their off-duty volunteer activities.
Aug. 28-30, 2001
The American Legion passes a resolution to rekindle Blue Star Service Banner program.
Sept. 12, 2001
The American Legion reactivates the Family Support Network following terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Oct. 10-11, 2001
The American Legion creates the American Legacy Scholarship Fund for children of military members killed on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001.
Sept. 11, 2002
The American Legion takes lead in conducting “A Day To Remember” events to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the nation.
November 2002
The Legion launches the national "I Am Not A Number" campaign to identify and document the delays veterans face in obtaining medical care from VA.
Sept 19, 2004
The American Legion launches a national program, the Blue Star Salute, where posts across the country hold public events to recognize troops, their families and local businesses on Armed Forces Day.
August 2005
Delegates at the 87th National Convention in Honolulu unanimously voice their support for the global war on terrorism with Resolution 169.
September 2005
The American Legion National Emergency Fund disburses more than $2 million grants to provide relief after Hurricane Katrina.
May 2007
Operation Landstuhl is launched after National Commander Paul Morin finds broken televisions and inadequate comfort items for U.S. troops recovering from wounds at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany; the campaign raises $257,000 in less than six weeks to purchase the items.
Oct. 17-18, 2007
American Legion Riders becomes a national program of The American Legion.
June 30, 2008
President George W. Bush signs into law the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, a next-generation GI Bill strongly supported by the Legion.
December 2008
Operation Landstuhl expands to help recovering troops at military facilities elsewhere and is renamed Operation Comfort Warriors.
Oct. 22, 2009
President Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2009, guaranteeing “advance funding” for VA appropriations, a formula that The American Legion has strongly supported for many years. The new law sets funding for VA one year in advance.
2010s
May 5, 2010
Shelby, N.C., is officially selected to be the long-term site of The American Legion Baseball World Series.
Sept. 1, 2010
Marcus Haynes of the Valdosta, Ga., Fire Department receives the first American Legion Firefighter of the Year Award.
October 2010
The Legion forms a PTSD-TBI Ad Hoc Committee to examine current methods by VA and the Department of Defense of treating the two signature wounds of the Post 9/11 generation – post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and investigate potential alternative treatments.
December 2010
The Legion officially begins a relationship with United Services Automobile Association (USAA), making the veteran-founded insurance company "The American Legion's preferred provider of financial services."
May 5, 2011
The American Legion National Executive Committee passes a resolution formally establishing the Junior Law Cadet Program under the national Americanism Commission.
August 2011
The American Legion Baseball World Series is held for the first time in the tournament's new permanent home, Shelby, N.C. Prior to this, the tournament had rotated to different cities. Total paid attendance at the Shelby contests soars to an all-time high of 86,000 total.
Aug. 30, 2013
National Commander James E. Koutz announces that the American Legion family raised more than $1.1 million for Operation Comfort Warriors during the 2012-2013 fundraising year, surpassing the original goal by over $500,000.
May 5, 2014
In the midst of a VA waiting-list scandal that reached up to the deaths of veterans waiting for care, The American Legion calls for the resignations of several top officials, including VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who leaves office before the end of the month.
June 9-13, 2014
The American Legion conducts the first in a 15-month nationwide series of town hall meetings and assistance efforts to help veterans facing difficulties with VA.
Aug. 16, 2017
The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 – also known as the “Forever GI Bill” because it removes time limits for veterans who wish to use it for college – is signed into law by President Donald J. Trump. The legislation is named for The American Legion past national commander who in the winter of 1943-44 drafted the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act that changed the nation after World War II.
Aug. 23, 2017
President Donald J. Trump signs the Veterans Appeals and Modernization Act of 2017 onstage at the 99th American Legion National Convention, in Reno, Nev.
Aug. 24, 2017
Denise H. Rohan of Wisconsin is elected national commander, the first woman to hold the role in the Legion's history.
June 6, 2018
President Trump signs into law the sweeping VA MISSION Act – officially the John McCain III, Daniel K. Akaka and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Outside Networks Act – which includes a number of American Legion resolutions to improve VA health-care services.
Jan. 31, 2019
The American Legion’s Temporary Financial Assistance program completes a record-breaking month of cash-grant disbursements. Of the $1,030,163 delivered to military and veteran families, most is distributed to U.S. Coast Guard families with children at home who were affected by the 35-day federal government shutdown.
March 15-17, 2019
The American Legion celebrates its 100th birthday in Paris, France, throughout the United States and around the world.
June 20, 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court rules 7-2 in favor of The American Legion in its case to allow a 40-foot cross-shaped World War I memorial in Prince George’s County, Md., to stay on public property.
July 30, 2019
President Trump signs the Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service – the LEGION Act – which extends recognized wartime service to cover previously unrecognized periods of U.S. military conflict, back to World War II.
2020s
March 16, 2020
American Legion National Headquarters staff begin a period of social distancing and work-from-home procedures amid the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. American Legion posts, departments and facilities worldwide are forced to temporarily close their doors to members and the public. The organization responds with hundreds of Buddy Check activities to assist older veterans; dozens of blood drives as need increases; food-delivery services; supplies for parents suddenly forced to home-school their children; protective mask making and distribution; and hundreds of other acts of community support. The pandemic leads to cancellation or postponement of national meetings, including the 101st National Convention, American Legion Baseball World Series and American Legion Boys Nation.
Aug. 4, 2020
American Legion National Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford launches the 100 Miles of Hope challenge that asks registrants to walk, run, bicycle, ride, paddle, swim or transport themselves however they like 100 miles by Veterans Day 2020, 100 days away.
Dec. 1, 2020
The American Legion and Chip Ganassi Racing announce plans for a multi-year sponsorship relationship in support of the Legion’s Veterans & Children Foundation; the relationship soon shifts gears to promote veteran suicide prevention through the Be the One mission.
June 16, 2021
The American Legion conducts a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol calling for the urgent evacuation of some 18,000 Afghan translators and others who assisted coalition forces during the war.
Aug. 10, 2022
President Joe Biden signs into law the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act, a historic move strongly supported and promoted by The American Legion, to provide health-care service and disability compensation to some 4 million additional veterans, mostly post-9/11, who were exposed to toxic contamination in the military.
Oct. 1, 2023
American Legion accredited service officers secure what is believed to be an all-time one-year high in VA benefits for disabled veterans, with $18.8 billion. Claims related to the PACT Act account for a $4 billion increase in benefits between 2020 and 2023.