![Johnson signs Medicare bill.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/800px-Lyndon_Johnson_signing_Medicare_bill%2C_with_Harry_Truman%2C_July_30%2C_1965.jpg?itok=cuP5GsN5)
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare bill into law while former President Harry S. Truman looks on.
![Official White House portrait of Harry S. Truman.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/474px-HarryTruman.jpg?itok=cyKpKyvg)
The official White House portrait of former President Harry S. Truman
![Logo of the Federal Security Agency.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Fsa_gov_logo.png?itok=0XR9mrfC)
Logo of the Federal Security Agency, established in 1939, which administered Social Security pensions
![Oscar Ewing.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/72-4324.jpg?itok=e0J6C0IJ)
Oscar Ewing, who administered the Federal Security Administration under President Truman, navigated the political intricacies of creating a national health insurance program for select groups of people.
![President Lyndon B. Johnson.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/481px-Lyndon_B._Johnson%2C_photo_portrait%2C_leaning_on_chair%2C_color.jpg?itok=csYT4Yxy)
President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House
![Otto von Bismarck.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/200px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0057%2C_Otto_von_Bismarck.jpg?itok=2u-_Dkzz)
Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany from 1871 to 1890, initiated the first social insurance plan.
![Social Security card issued in 1943.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/541px-PD_social_security_card.png?itok=SnQMt8jw)
Social Security card of Clinton Lester Rooker (deceased), issued in 1943.
An old man in a Norwegian nursing home in 2012. Photo by Thomas Bjørkan.