When did Veterans Affairs become a cabinet-level department?
The Veterans Administration had been around since 1930, dealing with everything from hospital care to disability benefits for America's former service members. But for nearly six decades, the agency remained just an independent government outfit, not quite important enough to get a seat at the president's main table. When did the Veterans Administration officially become the cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs?
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Correct Answer: 1989
(Source)Ronald Reagan blindsided his own White House staff when he announced his support for the idea on Veterans Day weekend in 1987. His advisors had been fighting against the proposal for months, but Reagan called a meeting with veteran organization leaders and basically said "surprise, we're doing this now." Politicians finally realized that an organization serving millions of veterans and employing hundreds of thousands of people might deserve a little more respect. The House immediately passed the bill 399-17 because nobody wanted to argue with the president who just declared veterans deserved better treatment. Reagan signed it into law in October 1988, but the effective date meant George H.W. Bush got to officially welcome the new Department of Veterans Affairs into existence a few months into his presidency in 1989.
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