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Dec 4, 2019

Former Commissioner Hardy Passes


From: ^Commissioner Broadcast <Commissioner.Broadcast@ssa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2019 1:59 PM
Subject: The Passing of Former Commissioner Dorcas Hardy

A Message to All SSA and DDS Employees 

Subject: The Passing of Former Commissioner Dorcas Hardy

I regret to inform you that former Commissioner Dorcas R. Hardy passed away on Thanksgiving Day after a long illness.   

Dorcas had a long and distinguished career in both the private and public sector.  In 1986, President Reagan appointed Dorcas as the Commissioner of Social Security.  She was the first woman confirmed to this role.  Just prior to leading SSA, Dorcas served in the Reagan Administration as Assistant Secretary for Human Development Services at the Department of Health and Human Services.  She had previously served as Assistant Secretary for Health of the California Health and Welfare Agency during Reagan’s governorship and had begun her career as a legislative assistant to former New Jersey Senator, Clifford Case.
During her tenure as Commissioner, Dorcas spearheaded several significant initiatives, including the launch of SSA’s National 800 Number, the Enumeration at Birth program, and the Personal Earnings and Benefits Estimate Statement (now known as the Social Security Statement).  She continued her commitment to SSA through her 14 years on the Social Security Advisory Board, where she offered her considerable expertise on programmatic and policy matters.
 
I appreciate Dorcas’ legacy at SSA and invite you to join me in keeping her loved ones in our thoughts.

Andrew Saul
Commissioner

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, considering that she was the commissioner who headed Reagan's attempt to destroy the program, Saul probably considers her to be a role mode.

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  2. Haters gonna hate I guess. While Reagan did favor private accounts he had the good sense, or good advice from others, not to press the issue. He endorsed the recommendation of the bipartisan Commission reforms at the time that helped stabilize SS through tax increases and rising the retirement age. Ms. Hardy did good things as a commissioner as noted by Mr. Saul. Unfortunately bipartisanship is dead and gone as reflected by 6:12 comments.

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  3. I remember Dorcas. Mostly I remember she had lots of photos of herself in our monthly SSA magazine. Once i noticed the trend, I would count the photos in each issue, inform my coworkers, and toss it in my circular file.

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  4. I wholeheartedly agree with the comment about how Commissioner Hardy tried turning the easygoing, morale-boosting, worker-friendly _Oasis_ monthly in-house magazine into one unending self-promo. Nauseating. I once counted her in 17 pictures in an issue. I took to calling the magazine "The Dorcas Hardy Monthly". It was serving HER, not US. An anti-SSA Republican flunkie, she was bested when she visited our Field Office and the union rep kept pressing her on various issues. She eventually just shut down the Q&A since she obviously was not used to anyone questioning her on anything. God Rest Her Soul and all, but as an SSA Commissioner she was loathed pretty much universally.

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