John Sweeney Misses Social Security

The first official Social Security record belonged to John David Sweeney Jr., a 23-year-old shipping clerk from New Rochelle, New York. On December 1, 1936, an official selected Sweeney's record from the first block of 1,000 processed applications and designated it as the symbolic first, although many cards had already been issued elsewhere. Sweeney contributed to the program but died of a heart attack in 1974 at age 61, before receiving any retirement benefits. His widow later collected survivor benefits based on his contributions until her death in 1982.

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