It was never enacted but the popularity of the Plan influenced Congress to start the Social Security system, which involved much smaller amounts.

[1] After graduating, Townsend worked in the medical field in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and met a nurse and his future wife, Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bogue.

[1] After that business quickly failed, Townsend worked for real estate agent Robert Earl Clements in Midway City, California.

[1] In 1930, at the start of the Great Depression, Townsend became a Long Beach city public health officer at age 63, but lost his job three years later.

[5] There were three requirements for beneficiaries under the scheme: In September 1933, Townsend wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (the Long Beach Press-Telegram),[6] and launched his career as an old-age activist.

[7] In 1978, The Associated Press reported that the National Townsend Plan would be shut down by the end of February that year, with only state chapters surviving, and that by then it had a "dwindling and aging membership.