Six days later, the Supreme Court upheld the old-age-insurance provisions of the Social Security Act.

NEWYORKER: Benched

Congress rejected this 1937 proposal and turned against further New Deal measures, but not before the Social Security Act creating old-age pensions went into effect.

NYTIMES: The Great Depression

In 1975 -- by no coincidence the first year that benefits were indexed to inflation -- Social Security's pension fund, whose formal title is Old-Age and Survivors Insurace (OASI), paid out more than it took in.

CNN: A Debt-Threatened Dream

Congress began trying to provide old-age insurance for something close to 100% of the population as early as 1939, before the first Social Security benefits were paid.

CNN: A Debt-Threatened Dream