“Born 1901-1924, the Builder Generation (Strauss and Howe call this group the GI Generation) developed a special and ‘good kid’ reputation as the beneficiaries of new playgrounds, scouting clubs, vitamins, and child-labor restrictions. They came of age with the sharpest rise in schooling ever recorded. As young adults, their uniformed corps patiently endured depression and heroically conquered foreign enemies. In a midlife subsidized by the GI Bill, they built gleaming suburbs, invented miracle vaccines, plugged ‘missile gaps,’ and launched moon rockets. Their unprecedented grip on the Presidency began with a New Frontier, a Great Society, and Model Cities, but wore down through Vietnam, Watergate, deficits, and problems with ‘the vision thing.’ As ‘senior citizens,’ they safeguarded their own ‘entitlements’ but had little influence over culture and values.”

William Strauss and Neil Howe, http://www.fourthturning.com/html/boom_generation.html