Social Security

SOCIAL SECURITY WAS a social insurance program created in 1935 as part of the second stage of the New Deal during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. Social Security was created in response to the more radical proposals by Senator Huey Long and Francis Townsend. Social Security has three main provisions: It provides aid to those with disabilities, survivor insurance, and a pension for the elderly and retired. Social Security is one of the most popular federal government programs and is considered so sacrosanct that has been dubbed the “third rail” (untouchable; derived from the electrified third rail of a railway) in American politics.

For decades, public officials advocated the creation of a social insurance program. As president, Theodore Roosevelt advocated the adoption of a social security program. He cited the fact that Germany, which implemented social insurance legislation in 1889, possessed more advanced social insurance laws than the United States. In 1909, the first old-age pension legislation was introduced in Congress. When Theodore Roosevelt ran for president as the head of the Progressive Party, he supported a social insurance program for those who were retired or with disabilities. In 1912, Isaac Rubinow wrote Social Insurance, which influenced Roosevelt. In 1915, old-age pension legislation was enacted in Alaska. In 1923, old-age pension legislation was enacted in Montana and held to be constitutional. In 1930, California enacted old-age pension laws.

It was not until 1935 that pensions for the elderly and retired were enacted at the federal level in the form of the Social Security Act of 1935. The bill passed with wide margins in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It became law on August 14, 1935. The Social Security Act of 1935 set up a system of compulsory saving in which both the employers and employees would pay a 3 percent payroll tax. The money would be paid to the employee once he or she turned 65. The Social Security Act also created a Social Security Board, whose members would be appointed by the president.

Social Security was attacked by critics on both the left and right. Franklin D. Roosevelt's opponent in the 1936 presidential election referred to the new program as a “cruel hoax.” On the left, critics such as Townsend, who had a more radical pension plan of his own, believed that Social Security did not go far enough.

In 1937, Roosevelt proposed a number of amendments to the Social Security Act. In 1939, Congress amended the Social Security Act. Social Security now included both survivors' and dependent benefits. It also moved the date of dispensing monthly benefits to 1939. In 1940, Ida Fuller entered the history books as the first person to receive monthly benefits under Social Security. She received a check for $22.44, having paid $24.75 between 1937–39.

In 1946, the Social Security Act was again amended. Social Security was expanded to include monthly benefits to the families of deceased World War II veterans. In 1950, the Social Security Act was amended to include 10 million more people under the umbrella of Social Security. It also eased eligibility requirements as well as increased the amount of benefits. In 1952, Social Security benefits were increased and the requirements were eased further.

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