Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt reacted to the "Bonus Armies" that marched on Washington during their presidencies by A. Hoover sent in troops to break up their camp; Roosevelt sent his wife to their camp to meet with the marchers.
On July 28, 1932, President Hoover ordered the Secretary of War to disperse the protesters and also ordered the Army to clear the marchers' campsite, this contributed in Hoover losing the election to Roosevelt in a landslide victory.
Roosevelt used a different approach, he greeted them quite differently than Hoover, even though he didn't support their march, his (Roosevelt) administration did set up a special camp for the marchers at Fort Hunt, Virginia, providing forty field kitchens serving three meals a day, bus transportation was provided to and from the capital, and entertainment in the form of military bands, he also arranged for his wife, Eleanor, to visit the site unaccompanied and she had lunch with the veterans and listened to them sing, it was recorded that one of the veterans had commented, "Hoover sent the army, Roosevelt sent his wife."
