He is mainly remembered for his Old Age Revolving Pension scheme, known as the Townsend Plan, that was meant to help the elderly and assist the USA out of the Great Depression. The plan called for payments of $200 a month to all aged 60 or more. The funds were to be provided by a federal tax on commercial transactions. The popularity of this and other programmes (he secured at least ten million signatures to his petitions) may have persuaded Franklin D. Roosevelt to adopt more far‐reaching social policies.