Douglas MacArthur’s lobbying saves army pensions during Roosevelt’s 1933 budget cuts, later receives a grateful missive from a famous benefactor!

>[MacArthur](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/MacArthur_Manila.jpg)’s lobbying succeeded; he was able to restore some $30 million to the army budget, but he’d had to enlist conservative pressure groups, veterans organizations (including some veterans who, as a result of the Bonus March, were his most outspoken critics), and newspaper editorialists to win his fight. When the battle was won (a half victory, MacArthur thought, but better than no victory at all), the army’s senior leadership praised him for his triumph – as did retired and ailing [General John Pershing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/General_John_Joseph_Pershing_head_on_shoulders.jpg), whose own pension had been saved. Pershing even sent MacArthur a note of thanks. _______________________ **Source:** Perry, Mark. “The White House.” *The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur*. Basic Books, 2014. 14. Print. _______________________ **Further Reading:** [Douglas MacArthur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur) [Bonus Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army) [General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Pershing)