Larry Logue & Peter Blanck
2004
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This Article investigates the effects of the federal government's policies on postwar mortality of Union Army (“UA”) Civil War veterans. Decisions to raise a mass army, commission some soldiers as officers, and reject prisoner exchanges, among other policies, shaped the men's wartime experience and influenced their postwar lives; the decision to provide pensions for the war's survivors is another potential determinant of veterans' longevity. Using military, pension, and census records, the risk of dying was analyzed for a sample of roughly 19,000 UA veterans who were observed until pensions became universal in 1907. Among wartime variables, only the time spent in an army hospital consistently affected veterans' mortality; among postwar variables, the amount of a veteran's pension reduced his chances of dying, even when circumstances such as homeownership and place of residence are held constant. The findings illustrate the expansive and profound life and death effects of laws and policies affecting persons with disabilities, both historically and today.
Larry M. Logue, Peter Blanck. (2004). There is Nothing that Promotes Longevity like a Pension: Disability Policy and Mortality of Civil War Union Army Veterans. Wake Forest Law Review, 39(1), 49-67
Keywords: aging, pensions, veterans