When Social Security Had Only Five Employees

Social Security has released Volume 69, No. 2 of the Social Security Bulletin, its scholarly publication. One article that might be of interest is The Story of the Social Security Number which concerns an important part of the history of Social Security in the United States. A little excerpt:

... [C]reating the SSN scheme and assigning SSNs to U.S. workers was no easy task. Passage of the Social Security Act in August 1935 set in motion a huge effort to build the infrastructure needed to support a program affecting tens of millions of individuals. ...

Establishing the Social Security infrastructure was impeded for 3½ months by the lack of funds due to a filibuster of the 1936 Deficiency Bill (a government-wide appropriation bill similar to current Omnibus Budget Reconciliation bills) by Senator Huey Long (D–LA). ... As late as March 15, 1936, there were still only five employees of the Social Security Board's Bureau of Old-Age Benefits—including the director and his assistant ...