As the smoke clears from the Bonus Riot, Vice President Charles Curtis is quickly sworn in as President. He declares martial law, names George Marshall as Army Chief of Staff and orders him to put down the rebellion. Marshall gathers all the available Army troops who can be readily deployed to the Washington area, cordons off the area to prevent the escape of the rioters, and two days after the Bonus Riot, his troops move on Hooverville, the shantytown on the Washington Mall where the Bonus Rebels are encamped. Speaking through a megaphone, Marshall orders the rebels to surrender, but is answered with catcalls, and many of the rebels begin throwing rocks at the Army troops, who despite this provocation, hold their fire. But then a pistol shot rings out...nobody knows from where or fired by whom...and all hell breaks loose. Many of the Bonus Rebels are armed, and a general gunfight erupts between them and the Army troops. Marshall orders the tanks forward...and the bloodiest massacre in American history results. Over 3,000 Bonus Rebels are killed, and almost twice that many wounded. The surviving ringleaders of the Bonus Riot are captured, and will eventually face the electric chair. Congress, although expressing some concerns about the severity of the Army's actions, in the end supports the President. The public, outraged over the senseless murders of President Hoover and, most especially, Mrs. Hoover (who is seen as an innocent victim), completely supports President Curtis and the Army in their response to the Bonus Riots, and Curtis (with George Marshall as his running mate) defeats the Democratic ticket of FDR and Jack Garner in the general election later that year.