Accounts for the origins of Social Security. This book tells the story of the Townsend Plan - a political organization that sought to alleviate poverty and end the Great Depression through a government-provided retirement stipend of $200 a month for every American over the age of sixty.

It also debunks the current view that America immediately embraced Social Security when it was adopted in 1935. And it sheds new light on how social movements that fail to achieve their primary goals can still influence social policy and the way people relate to politics.

Preface vii
Introduction: The Townsend Plan's Image Problem 1
Chapter One: Success or Consequences, and U.S. Social Movements 14
Chapter Two: How the West Was Won Over 35
Chapter Three: Behind the Townsend Plan's Rise and Initial Impact 62
Chapter Four: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security 81
Chapter Five: A National Challenger 105
Chapter Six: Dr. Townsend, Now at the Helm 130
Chapter Seven: The Rise of a Pension Movement 151
Chapter Eight: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security, Part 2 176
Chapter Nine: The Elusive Double Victory 197
Conclusion: A Hero for the Aged? 221
Acknowledgments 243
Notes 245
Index 311