Dr. Francis Everett Townsend (January 13, 1862 - September 1, 1960)

At the beginning of the Great Depression from 1929, Dr. Townsend Created and then publicly proposed that the United States Government create a revolving pension plan. This plan called The Townsend Plan was for a monthly pension of $200 per month, which when there was virtually no inflation in American monies came out to be more than the average wage (during the year 1931) of $154.17 per month. This pension was to be freely given to every American Citizen who had reached their 60th birthday, with the stipulation that each pensioner would be required to spend the money within 30 days.

This pension was to be paid for by a 2% federal tax on all business transactions (with NO exceptions to this rule).

The United States government and large Republican business consortiums chipped away at this structure and the rseult was the social security system that the United States has today.