Deseret News archives: FDR sets Social Security program in motion 89 years ago

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, ensuring income for elderly Americans and creating a federal unemployment insurance program.

Now, 89 years later, many Americans can wonder where would we be without the program, and perhaps crucially, where it is going.

Former Utah Gov. Calvin Rampton was there in Washington when FDR signed the legislation into law.

According to a Deseret News archives story, “Rampton was working as a congressman’s administrative aide in Washington, D.C. He was 21 years old and fully aware of groundbreaking legislation passing through Congress that year, in the midst of the Great Depression.

“One measure called for creation of a ‘social security’ program. While his parents never received what would become known as Social Security checks, Rampton — later to become a three-term governor of Utah, from 1965 to 1977 — remembers the impact of that law on aging neighbors.

“The program offered a chance at stability and independence. It stretched budgets.

“‘I knew many elderly people that would not have had adequate means and were really dependent,’ says Rampton, who was 91 when interviewed.

“‘I was quite cognitive of what was going through Congress. I was supportive of the dealmakers.’”

Passed by Congress, the law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was part of Roosevelt’s somewhat controversial New Deal domestic program.

The program has faced its challenges through the years, and is often part of campaign rhetoric.

Here are some additional stories from the Deseret News archives about the program:

“ Social Security program turns 70 today ”

“ Sen. Mitt Romney says Congress has a ‘moral responsibility to act’ to shore up Social Security ”

“ Opinion: Care about the national debt? Start with Social Security ”

“ Opinion: Is this America’s Swedish moment for Social Security? ”

“ Social Security: Beware of the panic peddlers”

“ On the brink ”