1935
FDR Signs Social Security Act
FDR Signs Social Security Act
On this day in 1935, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act. 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 (SSA) 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 safety net for
retirees and the disabled, and provides death benefits to taxpayer dependents.
The Social Security system has remained relatively unchanged since 1935.