President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act on
August 14, 1935. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR (above)
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.