13. The introduction of Social Security
During the Great Depression, the number of senior citizens living beneath the poverty level in the United States exceeded 50% in 1934. Many had no employer-based pension, and many more had seen their savings erased by the banking failures in 1932 and 1933. Although preceding American presidents had encouraged the nation to provide assistance to the poor and infirm, FDR became the first to obligate the government to do so when he signed the Social Security Act in August 1935. It was one of the most ferociously opposed acts of Congress in American history. It was widely decried by conservatives as socialism.
Initially, Social Security bore little resemblance to the program as it exists today. More were excluded than included in its provisions. Employees of state governments were exempt because the federal government could not impose taxes on state governments. Most women were excluded, other than receiving the pension earned by their husbands. Minorities were excluded. Conservatives howled that the entire idea was unconstitutional. Communists complained it was intended “to provide security for the rich who dominate the country”.