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1936 › William Lemke (Union) › Old-age pensions and social insurance

The Townsend $200-a-month pension as a plank of the Union coalition

pledge_forwardvague_gesturereportedevidence C Relief, Welfare & Social Insurance⚡ Townsend old-age pension movement similar solutions · similar reasoning

Solution

Absorb the Townsend clubs into the Union ticket; Dr. Townsend endorsed Lemke at Cleveland in August.

Rationale

The Townsend, Coughlin and Share Our Wealth followings were the ticket's only mass base.

Statements (1)

1936-08-13 · G. Gould Lincoln, 'The Political Mill', Evening Star · generalreported ✓ verified

It looks at the present writing as though Dr. Townsend--$200-a-month old-age-pension planner--was Intent upon hooking up also with the Lemke O'Brien ticket.

Source: Evening Star editorial page, Aug. 13, 1936 (Union Party convention) (1936-08-13)

Follow-through

not_applicable

The Townsend plan never passed; the 1939 amendments raised early Social Security benefits partly in response to the movement.

Enacted by others

1939-08-10

Franklin D. Roosevelt

statute Social Security Act Amendments of 1939

Townsend pressure credited with spurring the 1939 benefit increases. source

Reception (1)

oppositioninvertedsalience medium Harold Ickes at the Good Neighbor League, Columbus (Evening Star report) 1936-10-09

Lemke was 'only a Coughlin-Landon stooge'; 'a vote for Lemke is a vote for Landon.'

Coughlin knows that a vote for Lemke is a vote for Landon.

Source: Lemke is termed stooge by Ickes (Evening Star, Oct. 10, 1936, p. 5)

Other positions on this issue

Old-age insurance under state laws — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 directional_stance
Old-age pensions for men and women sixty and over — Norman Thomas, 1932 specific_pledge
Build on the Social Security Act toward economic security for all — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 directional_stance

1936-lemke-townsend-old-age-pension-alliance · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed