Safety net
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Social Security Act (1935) created old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, AFDC predecessor (ADC), federal-state public assistance. CCC, WPA, FERA put millions to work. Era-defining 10-good anchor for the entire framework.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
The Social Security Act created the foundational federal old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and public-assistance systems that defined the US welfare state for the next 90+ years.
ssa.gov ↗
Food Stamp Act of 1964 made program permanent (was Kennedy pilot). Economic Opportunity Act 1964 (Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, Community Action). Major welfare state expansion.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Food Stamp Act and Economic Opportunity Act founded the War on Poverty institutional framework, reducing poverty rate from ~19% to ~12% in 5 years.
congress.gov ↗
1950 Social Security Amendments — major expansion: increased benefits 77%, added 10 million workers, created disability provisions. Housing Act 1949 funded 810,000 public housing units.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1950 amendments expanded Social Security coverage to ~10 million additional workers and increased benefits substantially; Housing Act 1949 authorized 810,000 public housing units (most never built but historic federal commitment).
ssa.gov ↗
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Act of 1972 replaced state-administered programs with federal program for elderly, blind, and disabled poor. Food Stamp Program nationalized. Social Security inflation indexing (1972).
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
SSI federalized welfare for elderly, blind, and disabled Americans, replacing widely varying state programs with uniform federal benefits; Social Security inflation indexing in the same Act protected retirees from 1970s inflation.
ssa.gov ↗
ARRA expanded EITC, Child Tax Credit, unemployment insurance. ACA Medicaid expansion. SNAP enrollment peaked. Strong safety-net expansion during recovery.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
ARRA expanded safety net substantially during Great Recession; ACA Medicaid expansion added ~12 million Americans to Medicaid coverage in states that adopted.
congress.gov ↗
Social Security Amendments of 1954 (added 10M workers) and 1956 (added disability insurance). Major expansion of welfare-state coverage.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1956 Amendments created Social Security Disability Insurance, expanding the federal disability safety net for working Americans under 65.
ssa.gov ↗
Modest expansion. Food Stamp Program pilot (1961). Aid to Families with Dependent Children expansion.
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- good·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
Kennedy launched Food Stamp pilot program that expanded substantially under LBJ and Nixon.
usda.gov ↗
Stagflation-era pressures on welfare programs. Food Stamps reformed. EITC enacted. Modest expansion overall.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
EITC creation was foundational anti-poverty policy innovation though small at inception.
congress.gov ↗
Modest expansion under fiscal constraint. EITC expansion. SSI growth.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Carter expanded safety-net programs modestly within stagflation-era fiscal constraints.
ssa.gov ↗
ARP CTC expansion halved child poverty temporarily. Permanent expansion failed. SNAP modest expansion. Eviction moratorium continued briefly.
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- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
ARP-era CTC expansion produced 46% reduction in child poverty (Census); expiration of expansion at end-2021 returned child poverty to pre-pandemic level.
census.gov ↗
EITC expansion 1990. Otherwise modest. Welfare reform pressures building.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1990 OBRA expanded EITC substantially as part of overall budget deal; continued growth of EITC framework.
congress.gov ↗
Modest changes. Failed Social Security privatization (2005). Some food stamp restrictions. SCHIP reauthorization vetoed twice (overridden by Obama).
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
GW Bush's Social Security privatization proposal failed amid bipartisan opposition; SCHIP reauthorization vetoed twice.
georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov ↗
TCJA partial expansion of Child Tax Credit. SNAP work requirement attempts (struck down). CARES Act emergency expansion. Reverted post-pandemic.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
CARES Act of 2020 provided unprecedented unemployment benefits expansion ($600/week federal supplement), direct payments, and Paycheck Protection Program; emergency response substantial.
congress.gov ↗
Welfare Reform 1996 (PRWORA) ended AFDC, replaced with TANF time limits and work requirements. EITC tripled. Mixed: reduced welfare rolls but increased deep poverty.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
PRWORA replaced AFDC with TANF time-limited block grants; welfare rolls fell ~60% within decade; deep-poverty (below 50% poverty line) families rose substantially.
congress.gov ↗
OBRA 1981 cut AFDC eligibility, food stamps, school lunch. Mental Health Block Grant Act 1981 ended CMHC Act, reducing federal mental-health spending. Social Security 1983 Amendments (Greenspan Commission) extended solvency.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
OBRA 1981 cut AFDC by ~$1B/year and removed several hundred thousand families from welfare rolls; Social Security 1983 Amendments raised retirement age, increased payroll tax to extend program solvency.
congress.gov ↗
SNAP work requirements expanded. Medicaid cut proposals. SSI processing delays. Welfare-state retrenchment pattern.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
House Republican budget proposals 2025 included substantial Medicaid cuts and SNAP restrictions; specific final-form legislation pending.
congress.gov ↗