"This policy-oriented biography surveys the history of Social Security from 1950 to the present through the eyes of the public servant most crucial to its development. Drawing on exclusive access to Robert Ball's papers and Ball's own extensive oral memoir created for this project, Edward D. Berkowitz explains how Social Security came to be America's most important social welfare program. Ball's role in expanding coverage to more workers during the period between 1950 and 1972, as well as in supporting the indexing of benefits to the rate of inflation, directly affected the lives of senior citizens and the overall U.S. economy." "Berkowitz tells the inside story of Social Security politics, including controversies during the 1970s, Congressional rescue of the program in 1983, and the ongoing debates about structure and solvency that have enveloped the program since the 1990s. He looks at how the Social Security Administration gained and nearly lost a reputation for administrative competence, how Medicare was put into operation, and why campaigns to create national health insurance have failed."--Jacket.