August 14, 1935, The Social Security Act

August 14, 1935, 80 years ago: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law. It becomes the keystone of his domestic program, the New Deal.

By the 1930s, America was the only modern industrial country without any national system of pensions for older people. In the depths of the Great Depression, a physician named Francis Townsend rallied support for a proposal to issue direct payments to the elderly.

Responding to that movement, Roosevelt organized a committee led by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins -- an ally of his from his tenure as Governor of New York, in 1933 he had made her the 1st woman appointed to any post in the President's Cabinet -- to develop a major social welfare program proposal. Roosevelt presented the plan to Congress in January 1935.

The actual bill was written by Senator Robert F. Wagner, a fellow New Yorker who would write another key piece of New Deal legislation, the National Labor Relations Act. He was not related to the actor Robert Wagner, but his son, Robert F. Wagner Jr., would serve as Mayor of New York City from 1954 to 1965.

The program was expanded to provide payments to widows and dependents of Social Security recipients. Job categories that were not covered by the act included workers in agricultural labor, domestic service, government employees, and many teachers, nurses, hospital employees, librarians, and social workers.

As a result, 65 percent of the African-American workforce, and 27 percent of white workers, were excluded from the initial Social Security program. Many of these workers were covered only later on, when Social Security was expanded in 1950, and again in 1954.

The program was funded through a newly-established payroll tax, which later became known as the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA). Social Security taxes would be collected from employers by the states, with employers and employees contributing equally to the tax.

In addition to creating the program, the Social Security Act also established a state-administered unemployment insurance system and the Aid to dependent Children, which provided aid to families headed by single mothers.

As with many other American "reforms," compared with the social security systems in Western Europe, the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative. However, it was the first time that the federal government took responsibility for the economic security of the aged, the temporarily unemployed, dependent children, and the handicapped.

It's important to note that, in 1935, the average life expectancy for an American man was 67 years -- two years past the age when Social Security kicked in. This was a time before antibiotics, seat belts in cars, the prohibition of lead in paint, most environmental regulations, and the Surgeon General's warnings about the dangers of smoking. FDR himself didn't even live to be 65, due in large part to his constant smoking. (Senator Wagner lived to be 75, Secretary Perkins to be 85.)

Today, with men and women just about equally in the workforce, the average life expectancy at around 79, and living to be 100 or more becoming less of a novelty, the Social Security age has been raised to 67.

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August 14, 1935 was a Wednesday. It was the off-season for the NFL and the NHL, and the NBA hadn't been founded yet. But there was a full slate of Major League Baseball games played, and then some:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 7-6 at League Park in Cleveland. The Yankees trailed 5-2 going into the 8th, then took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the 9th, but the normally reliable reliever Johnny Murphy blew it.

* The New York Giants split a doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds. The Jints won the 1st game 6-4, as King Carl Hubbell outpitched Paul "Daffy" Dean. But the defending World Champions struck back in the 2nd game, winning 3-0. Bill Hallahan allowed 10 hits and 4 walks, and Daffy had to step in and get the last 2 outs, but the Cards got the shutout. Daffy's brother Jay "Dizzy" Dean did not appear in either game. (It's worth noting that Diz didn't mind his nickname, but Paul hated his. He was a very smart and stable guy, not daffy in the slightest.)

* The Brooklyn Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field. Dem Bums took the 1st game 9-5, and the 2nd game 3-2.

* The Boston Braves swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds at Braves Field in Boston. The Braves won the 1st game 8-1, and the 2nd game 11-5. This may have been the highlight of the worst season in the Braves' 150-season history: They went 38-115.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Bucs won the opener 8-1, and the nightcap 7-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 18-2 at Navin Field in Detroit. That ballpark would be renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938 and Tiger Stadium in 1961.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Browns, 8-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.