The Great Depression brought special hardships to older Americans. The Townsend Plan, authored by California physician Francis Townsend, called for a guaranteed monthly pension (OARP) to every retired citizen age 60 and older, to be paid for by a form of a national sales tax, with the stipulation that each pensioner would be required to spend the money within 30 days. The plan had widespread support and influenced retirement policy at the national level. It was partly in reponse to Townsend's pension plan that Franklin Roosevelt proposed an old age annuity, what became modern Social Security.