Instapundit notes:

"In a written statement to Congress in 1935, Roosevelt said that any Social Security plans should include, 'Voluntary contributory annuities, by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age,' adding that government funding, 'ought to ultimately be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans.'"

Sounds like a "risky gamble" -- that would have benefited Americans immeasurably.

Update: More at GOP.com