Nelson Cruikshank

Nelson Hale Cruikshank (June 21, 1902 - June 19, 1986) was known nationally in the United States as an expert on Social Security, Medicare and policy on aging. He was a Methodist minister, labor union activist and the first director of the Department of Social Security at the AFL-CIO before entering government service in his mid-60s.

Cruikshank is considered the most important non-legislator responsible for the enactment of Social Security Disability Insurance in 1956, which for the first time provided Social Security benefits to people with disabilities, and of Medicare in 1965. Later, as President Jimmy Carter's adviser and counselor on the aged and as chairman of the Federal Council on Aging, Cruikshank led successful efforts to preserve and expand Social Security benefits for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Cruikshank was born in Bradner, Ohio in 1902 to Jesse and Jessie (Wright) Cruikshank. His father was a grain dealer who modeled fair business practices and taught the young Cruikshank to respect the value of the labor of the farmers and workers with whom the family did business. The family eventually moved to Texas. Cruikshank worked as a deck hand on freighters on the Great Lakes and was a member of the Seafarers Union before attending Oberlin College. He transferred to Ohio Wesleyan University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and theology.

He married Florence Crane on August 30, 1928. They had one child, Alice, who went on to become a labor historian.

A devout Methodist, Cruikshank entered Union Theological Seminary in 1926 and obtained a Master of Divinity degree in 1929. During his time at Union Theological Seminary, Cruikshank became acquainted with the liberal theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr's teachings about the social gospel as well as his deep involvement in the labor union movement (he was an outspoken critic of Henry Ford and allowed union organizers to speak from his pulpit on union issues) were highly influential in forming Cruikshank's personal beliefs and life.

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