Aug. 14, 1935: FDR Signs the Social Security Act

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935.

Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act. Roosevelt had taken the helm of the country in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, the nation’s worst economic crisis.

The Social Security Act was in keeping with his other “New Deal” programs, including the establishment of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which attempted to hoist America out of the Great Depression by putting Americans back to work. In his public statement that day, FDR expressed concern for “young people [who] have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age” as well as those who had employment but no job security.

Although he acknowledged that “we can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life,” he hoped the act would prevent senior citizens from ending up impoverished. Although it was initially created to combat unemployment, Social Security now functions primarily as a powerful safety net for retirees and the disabled, and provides death benefits to taxpayer dependents. The Social Security system has remained popular and relatively unchanged since 1935. - Video, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-signs-social-security-act
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- SSA, Social Security Administration, ssa.gov, (1980s). - Ed.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Bill into law on August 14, 1935, only 14 months after sending a special message to Congress on June 8, 1934, that promised a plan for social insurance as a safeguard "against the hazards and vicissitudes of life." The 32-page Act was the culmination of work begun by the Committee on Economic Security (CES), created by FDR on June 29, 1934. The President transmitted the Committee's report to the 74th Congress on Jan. 17, 1935, almost equally dividing the 14 months spanning the work of the Committee and the work of the Congress.

50 years later, Wilbur J. Cohen, who was a 21-year-old research assistant to the Exec. Director of the CES and later served as Secy. of HEW writes: "If any piece of social legislation can be called historic or revolutionary, in breaking with the past and in terms of long run impact, it is the Social Security Act." Although the Congress modified many details of the Economic Security Bill introduced on behalf of the CES, most of the programs recommended by the Committee were adopted. Earlier installments in this series have discussed the changes as they occurred during the legislative process.

The Act established 2 types of provisions for old-age security: (1) Federal aid to the States to enable them to provide cash pensions to their needy aged, and (2) a system of Federal old-age benefits for retired workers. The 1st measure was designed to provide immediate assistance to destitute aged individuals. The 2nd was a preventive measure intended to reduce the extent of future dependency among the aged & to assure workers that their years of employment entitled them to a life income. For needy persons already aged 65 or older, old-age assistance was provided, by title I, through Federal grants-in-aid to pay half the costs of the pensions, provided that the Federal share did not exceed $15 a month per person.

In Mr. Cohen's judgment, the most significant long-range congressional modification of the original proposal was the deletion of the condition that States should provide a "reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health." For the working population under age 65, the Act created, in title II, an "Old-Age Reserve Account" and authorized payments of old-age benefits from this account to eligible individuals upon attainment of age 65 or on Jan. 1, 1942, whichever was later..
Other provisions of the Act included 4 programs recommended by the CES for promoting the health and welfare of children...

- More, https://www.ssa.gov/history/50ed.html