[etcb]

Instead he created a whole new federal department (Veterans Affairs) and grew the federal workforce by 200,000.

I have no comment on your basic argument, but point out that the Veterans Administration which had existed since the 1930's was upgraded to cabinet level and renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs on March 15, 1989. That was under the administration of President George H. W. Bush.

[moonshot925]

The Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-527) was signed into law by President Reagan on 25 October 1988.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d100:HR03471:@@@L&summ2=m&;