Dwight D. Eisenhower on Abolishing Social Security
Netlore Archive: A quote attributed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower stating that any political party attempting to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, labor laws, and farm programs would never be heard of again in our political history.
Description: Forwarded email
Circulating since: Feb. 2005 (in this form)
Status: Authentic
Example:
Email text contributed by an AOL user, May 8, 2005:
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"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." President Dwight D. Eisenhower, l952----- |
Analysis: This is one of several abridged versions circulating online of an actual statement by President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961). The original passage, from a letter Eisenhower wrote to his brother Edgar on November 8, 1954, went as follows:
Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.Eisenhower, a committed if comparatively moderate Republican, might well object to the way his words have been appropriated if he were alive today. Those who quote the passage clearly mean to imply that it represents current Republican luminaries such as President George W. Bush, whose proposals for Social Security reform have included reducing future benefits. As it happens, Bush is also a "Texas oil millionaire."
He has never proposed abolishing Social Security, however, nor eliminating unemployment insurance, labor laws, or farm programs. Hence, the tacit suggestion that Bush and fellow-traveling Republicans ought to be counted among those described as "stupid" by Eisenhower is a transparent, if deft, example of partisan hyperbole.
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Sources and further reading:
Letter from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Edgar N. Eisenhower, 8 Nov. 1954
The Presidential Papers of Dwight D. EisenhowerBush Social Security Plan Would Cut Future Benefits
Washington Post, 29 April 2005
Last updated: 05/09/05
