In the middle of World War II President Franklin Roosevelt met with England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill to discuss common principles the two countries shared, one of which included a call for social insurance. This was a secret meeting, but eventually the meeting led to the creation of the Atlantic Charter. The common principles the two countries shared helped the two countries develop the close relationship we know it to be today. Below is a summary of the history of the Atlantic Charter and the importance in played in the development of Social Security and its programs.
The Atlantic Charter
In mid-August, 1941, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met secretly aboard a warship off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. On the sixth anniversary of the Social Security Act, they announced a joint-declaration known as the Atlantic Charter. The 383-word Charter was an expression of “certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world.” This brief charter would be the founding document of the United Nations and among its eight principles was a call for social insurance. Former Social Security Board Chairman John Winant was then serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. Although Winant did not attend the Conference, the social insurance provision was a suggestion he made from London which was instantly accepted by Churchill and FDR.
Although social insurance began in Germany in the 19th century, in the years following World War II the United States was the leading model for nations around the world who were interested in designing Social Security systems. This movement toward the internationalization of Social Security can be symbolically fixed with the issuance of the Atlantic Charter in 1941.
