On January 3, 1946, President Harry Truman established the forerunner of today’s Veterans Health Administration when he signed Public Law 79-293, creating the Department of Medicine and Surgery within the Veterans Administration. The bill was the handiwork of three men: General Omar Bradley, the VA Administrator; Dr. Paul Hawley, his chief medical advisor; and Dr. Paul Magnuson, the chair of Northwestern’s Department of Orthopedics. This landmark legislation cemented sweeping changes to Veterans’ health care. The bill exempted medical personnel from the Civil Service hiring regulations, which allowed for doctors and nurses to be selected and appointed more quickly. Additionally, it linked the nation’s medical schools to the VA and initiated a program to construct new VA hospitals.
While the bill was popular with Congress and the public, a last-minute veto push from the U.S. Civil Service Commission threatened to derail its passage. Bradley and Hawley countered the Commission’s objections with their own high-pressure tactics to sway the president. Both threatened to resign on New Year’s Eve if Truman did not sign the legislation. The president chose to side with them and ignore the commission’s entreaties. When the bill became law, Dr. Hawley enthused: “With the signature of the Medical Department Act, our objective is clear, a medical service for the Veteran that is second to none in the world.” He added a promise: “[W]e shall build an outstanding service.”
Equipped with a $500 million budget, Bradley and Hawley set out to make good on that promise and reshape VA health care services. They launched many key initiatives, including the recruitment of 4,000 full-time VA physicians, nurses, technicians, and other medical personnel. They also established the VA Voluntary Service and the Veterans Canteen Service and hired the first 10 female physicians to care for women Veterans. These actions not only improved VA care and increased training opportunities for U.S. physicians but also set the stage for significant growth in VA’s medical research program.
View the Public Law 79-293 (PDF, 5 pages).
By Katie Rories
Historian, Veterans Health Administration
Share this story
Related Stories
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 84: Gettysburg Address Tablet
President Abraham Lincoln is one of the most revered figures in American history. Rankings of U.S. presidents routinely place him at or near the top of the list. Lincoln is also held in high esteem at VA. His stirring call during his second inaugural address in 1865 to “care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan” embodies the nation’s promise to all who wear the uniform, a promise VA and its predecessor administrations have kept ever since the Civil War.
Ever since Lincoln first uttered those memorable words in November 1863, the Gettysburg Address has been linked to our national cemeteries. In 1908, Congress approved a plan to produce a standard Gettysburg Address tablet to be installed in all national cemeteries in time for the centennial of President Lincoln’s birth on February 12, 1909.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 83: First Liver Transplantation at VA Hospital
Prior to the 1960s, liver failure always ended in death. In May 1963, however, Dr. Thomas E. Starzl made medical history at the VA hospital in Denver, Colorado, when he performed the first liver transplantation on a patient who survived the operation.
Starzl's continued to refine his procedure, becoming a leading expert on liver transplants. The success rate for early transplants wasn't optimal, but that didn't stop him from researching new techniques and post-care practices. These innovations, coupled with new medications, improved the effectiveness and life-saving measures of that vital transplant surgery.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 82: LGBTQ+ Monument in Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer monuments adorn cemeteries across the United States, but only two are in national cemeteries maintained by VA. At Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Ellwood, Illinois, a four-foot-tall monument bears witness to the honorable service of LGBTQ+ Veterans. A smaller monument in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix recognizes all persons who have served their country with “courage and pride” throughout American history.
