Financial History Issue 114 (Summer 2015) | Page 39
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other New Deal initiatives unconstitutional.
While the Social Security Act may not
have been entirely successful in achieving
Roosevelt’s grand vision, it did establish
several lasting programs. In addition to
what we refer to today as Social Security,
the law also included such features as the
first national unemployment compensation program, grants to states for medical
and welfare programs and aid to dependent children. Many of the other benefits we now associate with the program,
including disability coverage and medical benefits, were not established until
decades later.
Kristin Aguilera is the Deputy Director of
the Museum of American Finance and the
editor of Financial History magazine. This
article was adapted from the blog post she
wrote for Bloomberg entitled, “How Social
Security Really Began.” For more information on the history of social security, please
visit www.socialsecurity.gov/history.
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yet relatively conservative approach. His
plan addressed the issue of economic security for retirees by establishing a system in
which workers would contribute to their
own future security in the form of taxes paid
while they were employed.
Upon signing the Social Security Act
in 1935, FDR stated, “We can never insure
100% of the population against 100% of
the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we
have tried to frame a law which will give
some measure of protection to the average
citizen and to his family against the loss of
a job and against poverty-ridden old age.”
Although FDR was able to garner considerable support for Social Security from
the American public, the Act did receive a
significant amount of opposition as well,
particularly within the business community. A major concern then, as now, was
the program’s mounting financial burden.
Many also believed it to be unconstitutional, although the Supreme Court upheld
the program in 1937 while ruling several
Top: President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social
Security Act on August 14, 1935. Right: 1936
Social Security information poster, displayed in
post offices and other public buildings.
www.MoAF.org | Summer 2015 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 37