Last Saturday (January 31) marked the 75th anniversary of the first monthly Social Security check.
The first check was sent out on Jan. 1, 1940, to a retired schoolteacher named Ida May Fuller.
Her check totaled $22.54.
2015 is the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Social Security program, which was enacted by FDR in 1935.
One reason to celebrate these anniversaries, according to Philip Moeller of TIME Magazine, is to appreciate the sustained existence of a program that’s been “under attack” for most of its existence.
Moeller explains in TIME:
Whether we’re tooting the horn for Social Security’s 75th, 77th, or 80th anniversary, it’s worth noting that these are hard-won celebrations—the program has pretty much been under attack the entire time.
When he first proposed Social Security, FDR received blistering critiques from political and social-policy scolds, who denounced what they saw as redistribution of wealth and the creation of a large bureaucracy. The biggest threat may have been posed by Louisiana Senator Huey Long, known as The Kingfish, who was campaigning for the White House on his own populist plan. Long held up Senate funding for the new program for seven months, but before his attacks could derail Social Security, he was assassinated.
Fast-forward to today, and the battle continues. The program’s disability trust fund is projected to run out of reserves next year. Once the Republicans assumed control of the House of Representatives this year, they wasted little time in approving a measure trying to put Social Security reform back on the table as a precondition to shoring up program funding. This has placed the incomes of millions of disabled Americans at risk in another Washington game of political chicken.
Get your fill of Social Security history by clicking here.
Photo by Dafne Cholet via Flickr CC License
