The Social Security Act

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Letters from an American

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A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

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August 14, 2026

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to
build his White House Ballroom, The National Trust of Historic
Preservation has sued to stop construction, Asking to spend
taxpayer money on a vanity project is a stark contract to the
actions of the government 91 years ago, On August 14, 1935,
FDR signed the Social Security Act into law, The Social
Security Act permanently changed the nature of the American
government, It enabled a federal system of benefits, providing a
basic social safety net, The force behind the law was Frances
Perkins, FDR’s secretary of labor, A witness to the Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire, she knew voluntary organizations would not be
sufficient to improve worker’s lives, The Social Security Act was
hugely popular, The Act wrote into the law a longstanding
political impulse that stood in contrast to the 1920s philosophy
of rugged individualism, recognizing that pooling resources to
take care of everyone was deeply seated, She asserted that Social
Security was so firmly embedded in America’s psychology that no
one could destroy it.

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