Francis
Townsend, the son of a farmer, was born in Fairbury, Illinois, on
13th January, 1867. When he was a child the family moved to Nebraska.
After leaving school Townsend worked as a farm labourer in Kansas
and Colorado.
Townsend
eventually attended Omaho Medical College and graduated in 1907. He
set up as a doctor in the Black Hills of South Dakota but joined the
Army Medical Corps when the United States entered
the First World War in 1917.
After
leaving the army Townsend worked in Long Beach, California. His medical
practice was not a success and he obtained employment as assistant
city health director. Townsend lost his job during the Great
Depression and
was forced into retirement.
In
1933 Townsend witnessed three old women rummaging through the garbage
cans in his alley for food. He was horrified by what he saw and decided
to get involved in politics. Later that year he proposed a scheme
whereby the Federal government would provide every person over 60
with a monthly pension of $150 (later increased to $200). Townsend
argued that the pensioners would immediately spend the money and would
therefore create new jobs and bring an end to the Great
Depression.
Townsend
suggesed that his Old Age Revolving Pension Plan could be financed
by a Federal tax on all sales (wholesale and retail).The plan obtained
a great deal of public support and by 1935 his Townsend Club had over
5 million members.
In
1935 Townsend handed in to President Franklin
D. Roosevelt a petition supporting the Old Age Revolving Pension
Plan that had been signed by over 20 million people. In response to
the petition, Congress passed the Social
Security Act.
Townsend
claimed that Roosevelt's social security legislation was completely
inadequate and in 1936 joined with Father Charles
Coughlin, Gerald L. K. Smith and
followers of the late Huey Long, to form
the National Union of Social Justice.
William
Lepke was selected as the party's candidate in the 1936 presidential
election but won only 882,479 votes compared to Franklin
D. Roosevelt (27,751,597) and Alfred Landon
(16,679,583).
In
1936 Townsend was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice for
contempt of Congress. However, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt commuted Townsend's 30 day prison sentence. Francis
Townsend died in Los Angles on 1st
September, 1960.
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