Townsend, Francis E(verett) (1867-1960)

US physician and social reformer. Almost destitute as a result of ill health, he conceived of his old-age revolving pension plan for the elderly; its essential feature was that every American over 60 would be given a pension to be financed by a national sales tax. Within two years the so-called Townsend plan spawned a social movement with 2.25 million members throughout the USA and its own newspaper (1935). Several bills incorporating the Townsend plan were introduced in Congress in 1935-36, but his plans were later discredited by financial scandals

Townsend was born near Fairbury, Illinois. He moved to Belle Fourche, South Dakota, to practise medicine in 1903 and served as a physician in World War I. After an acute attack of peritonitis, he moved to Long Beach, California, with his family in 1919. Appointed assistant health officer of Long Beach, he remained in this position until he was ousted in a local political upheaval in 1933. His health remained a problem and he lost most of his savings during the Great Depression.