In the summer of 1932, President Hoover says the Depression is over. But if he looks out the windows of the White House, he will see he is wrong. Thousands of World War I veterans and their families are camped in the center of Washington. Congress voted them a cash bonus for their war service, but the bonus is not due until 1945. They need it now. They call themselves the Bonus Army , and they build a Hooverville within sight of the Capitol. They march through the streets waving American flags and singing freedom songs like "My country 'tis of thee." Hoover asks the army to intervene. Ignoring the president's orders that he not use force, General Douglas MacArthur sends in tanks and machine gun units and armed cavalry—soldiers on horseback with bayonets, tear gas, and billy clubs . The shacks are torn down and set on fire . Two babies die from the tear gas. War veterans are wounded. When it is all over, many Americans hang their heads in shame. Hoover later says, "I did not wish them driven from the camps. Our military officers pushed them outside the District of Columbia." But the United States does not need presidential excuses. It needs a strong leader, someone who will be open to new ideas, someone who will take charge. And in November 1932 that is what we get. He is one of the most dynamic men in U.S. history. His name is Franklin Delano Roosevelt .