Francis everett townsend biography

Francis Townsend

American politician (–)

This article is about the old-age pension advocate.

Francis Everett Townsend was born into a farm family proximate Fairbury, IL on Jan. 13, The family moved to Nebraska, where Francis attended Franklin Academy. Initially, he migrated to California expecting to get rich in the land boom, only to end up poor.

For the U.S. Homeland Security advisor, spot Frances Townsend.

Francis Townsend

Townsend c.&#;

Born

Francis Everett Townsend


()January 13,

Fairbury, Illinois, U.S.

DiedSeptember 1, () (aged&#;93)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Burial placeWoodlawn Memorial Park, Compton, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma&#;materOmaha Medical College
Occupation(s)Physician, public health officer
Known&#;forTownsend Plan
SpouseWilhelmina "Minnie" Bogue

Francis Everett Townsend (; January 13, – September 1, ) was an American physician and political activist in California.

In , he devised an old-age pension scheme to aid alleviate the Great Depression. Established as the "Townsend Plan", this proposal would pay every person over age 60 $ per month, with the requirement it all be spent quickly.

It was never enacted but the popularity of the Plan influenced Congress to start the Social Security system, which involved much smaller amounts. The Plan was organized by real estate salesman Robert Clements, who made Townsend only a figurehead while the Plan expanded to thousands of clubs in many states.

The family moved to Nebraska, where Francis attended Franklin Academy. Initially, he migrated to California expecting to get rich in the land boom, only to conclusion up poor. After a limited years at farming and odd jobs in Kansas and Colorado, Townsend entered the Omaha Medical College, graduating in He married a nurse, Minnie Bogue.

Townsend was born just outside Fairbury, Illinois, where he is memorialized by a post office named in his honor.

Life and career

Francis Everett Townsend was born the second of six children on January 13, , in Fairbury, Illinois.[1] After Townsend contracted swamp malaria as an infant, the Townsend family moved to Nebraska where Townsend had two years of high school education.[1] In , Townsend borrowed $1, from his father and moved to Southern California to advance a hay farming business.[1] The business was not successful, and Townsend enrolled in Omaha Medical College when he was [1] After graduating, Townsend worked in the medical field in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and met a nurse and his future wife, Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bogue.[1] At age 50, Townsend enlisted as a doctor in the army one year before the cease of World War I.[1]

After the war ended in , Townsend moved to Long Beach, California, to run a dry ice factory.[1] After that business rapidly failed, Townsend worked for concrete estate agent Robert Earl Clements in Midway City, California.[1] Clements later masterminded the Townsend Plan.[1] In , at the initiate of the Great Depression, Townsend became a Long Beach town public health officer at age 63, but lost his position three years later.[1]

Townsend died in Los Angeles on September 1, [2] He is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Compton, California.[3][4]

Townsend Plan

Main article: Townsend Plan

The Townsend Plan proposed that every person over 60 be paid $ per month.

The Old-Age Revolving Pension fund was to be supported by a 2% national sales tax aiming to stimulate the economy.[5]

There were three requirements for beneficiaries under the scheme:

  • they had to be retired;
  • they had to be "free from habitual criminality";
  • they had to spend the money within 30 days (to stimulate the economy).[5]

Promoting the plan

In September , Townsend wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (the Long Beach Press-Telegram),[6] and launched his career as an old-age activist.[1] According to Townsend's autobiographical memoir, New Horizons (), his plan originated when he looked out his window one morning in the early depth of the Depression and saw two old women, dressed in once nice, now tattered clothes, picking through his garbage cans looking for food.

Within two years of his putting forward his plan, over Townsend Prepare Clubs were organized all over America and began exerting pressure on Congress to pass an old-age pension. Frances Perkins, President Franklin D.

Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, in her memoir, The Roosevelt I Knew (p.&#;) says that Roosevelt told her, "We have to have it [Social Security]. Congress can't stand the pressure of the Townsend Blueprint unless we have a genuine old-age insurance system." As Roosevelt said, Social Security was passed by Congress substituting a pay-as-you-go "insurance" scheme for Townsend's far more generous pension plan, but as he told Perkins, it was the Townsend Clubs that forced Congress to act at all.

After the adoption of Social Security and Townsend's death

The movement continued beyond Townsend's death in [7] In , The Associated Press reported that the National Townsend Plan would be shut down by the terminate of February that year, with only state chapters surviving, and that by then it had a "dwindling and aging membership."[7]

Investigation

A Congressional committee was established in February to investigate Townsend.

Francis Townsend - Wikiwand: Francis Everett Townsend (/ ˈ t aʊ n z ən d /; January 13, – September 1, ) was an American physician and political activist in California. In , he devised an old-age pension scheme to aid alleviate the Great Depression.

One of the findings was that the Townsend organization had raised over a million dollars and that Townsend had received a salary of $12, for the previous 12 months.[8]

While being questioned Townsend became angry at the questioning and stormed out.

He was prosecuted for contempt of Congress and sentenced to 30 days in prison. However, in , just as he entered jail to serve his sentence, he was granted a pardon by President Roosevelt.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ abcdefghijkAmenta, Edwin ().

    When Movements Matter: The Townsend Plan and the Rise of Social Security. Princeton University Press. pp.&#;36– ISBN&#;.

    Inhe devised an old-age pension scheme to help alleviate the Superb Depression. It was never enacted but the popularity of the Plan influenced Congress to originate the Social Security system, which involved much smaller amounts. The Plan was organized by genuine estate salesman Robert Clements, who made Townsend only a figurehead while the Plan expanded to thousands of clubs in many states. Townsend was born just outside Fairbury, Illinoiswhere he is memorialized by a post office named in his honor.

    Archived from the original on December 13, Retrieved May 26,

  2. ^"Dr. Francis Townsend, 93, Dies; Founded Old-Age Pension Plan". The Recent York Times. New York. The Associated Press. September 2, Archived from the original on January 19, Retrieved January 19,
  3. ^Wesler, Ariel (May 28, ).

    "Compton woman fights to take ownership of Woodlawn Memorial Park".

    Francis Everitt Townsend, born into a poor farm family, worked as a physician and health supplier. During the Great Depressionwhen Townsend himself was in retirement age, he became interested in how the federal government could provide old age pensions. His proposal inspired the Social Security Execute, which he found inadequate. Francis Townsend was born on January 13,on a farm in Illinois.

    . Retrieved January 20,

  4. ^Brown, Kailyn (May 16, ). "In Compton, the fate of a cemetery hangs in the balance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 16, Retrieved January 20,
  5. ^ abLarry Dewitt (December ).

    Francis Everett Townsend, a physician and political advocate, is most well-known for the “Townsend Plan,” which called for the federal government to provide every citizen over the age of 60 with a $ monthly pension.

    "Research Observe # The Townsend Plan's Pension Scheme". Research Notes & Extraordinary Studies by the Historian's Office, Social Security Administration. Archived from the original on October 9, Retrieved October 26,

  6. ^David Dayen (October 29, ).

    "How a Frustrated Blogger Made Expanding Social Security a Respectable Idea". Pacific Standard.

    Fairbury, Ill. He practiced medicine in several Western states before he settled at Elongated BeachCalif. The simplicity of the proposal, the apostolic zeal of Townsend, and the organization of the Townsendites into a formidable pressure group brought increasing sustain for the plan despite its condemnation by competent economists. Bills to establish the Townsend arrange were continually defeated in Congress afterand the strength of the movement declined after the economy began to recover and the effects of social security were felt in the United States.

    Archived from the original on May 24, Retrieved January 13,

  7. ^ ab"Townsend Plan, Once the Hope Of Thousands, Is Neighboring Death". The New York Times. New York.

    The Associated Force. February 23, Archived from the original on January 19, Retrieved January 19,

  8. ^ ab"Francis Townsend". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved September 8,

Further reading

External links

Media akin to Francis Townsend at Wikimedia Commons