Robert F. Wagner
1877-1953
 |
"Of what use are material resources...if the sum total
of human happiness enjoyed by all our people be not increased thereby?"
 |
From an impoverished
immigrant childhood to the exalted realm of the United States Senate where he
crafted laws on behalf of society's neediest, Robert F. Wagner embodied the
American dream. His pioneering legislation gave us hope during the depression
of the thirties -- emergency relief, employment assistance, jobless help, aid
for farmers, Social Security and, most importantly, labor's Magna Carta, the
Wagner Act, guaranteeing workers the right to organize and bargain
collectively. The author of early national housing legislation, he also fought
for civil rights laws in advance of his time.
|
