First offical person to receive a social security card in 1936, didn't get a dime back! Sure, his wife got 8 years of his benefits, but do you think it added up? Hell no!
[url]ftp.ssa.gov/history/firstcard.html[/url]
John David Sweeney, Jr. is the closest thing we have to the first person to have received a Social Security card--although his status is more symbolic than actual.
[img]http://ftp.ssa.gov/history/pics/sweeney.gif[/img]
John David Sweeney, Jr.
Mr. Sweeney was the son of a wealthy factory owner, and had grown up in a 15-room Westchester County home staffed with servants. In an effort to learn the family business, Mr. Sweeney was working as a shipping clerk for his father at the time he filled out his application for a social security card. The Sweeneys were Republicans and the whole family voted for Landon in 1936, although John Jr. allowed that he liked the new Social Security program even though he didn't think much of the New Deal. John Sweeney died of a heart attack in 1974 at the age of 61 without ever receiving any benefits from the social security program; however, his widow was able to receive benefits based on his work until her death in 1982.