Edwin E. Witte

Edwin E. Witte (January 4, 1887 - May 20, 1960) was an economist who focused on social insurance issues for the state of Wisconsin and for the Committee on Economic Security. He was responsible for developing the policies and the legislation that became the Social Security Act of 1935.

Early Life
Witte was born in the Moravian community of Ebenezer, Wisconsin, about four miles south of Watertown. He was recognized from an early age as having remarkable intelligence, such that his parents sent him to high school in Watertown. He graduated as the valedictorian of his class and, as such, also became the first person in his family to attend college.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1909 with a degree in history and immediately began graduate work. His adviser, Frederick Jackson Turner, left Madison in 1910 for Harvard, but recommended that Witte study history under John R. Commons of the economics department. This advice turned Witte to the study of economics. Because Commons at this time was heavily involved in advising Robert M. LaFollette Sr. and the government of Wisconsin (see Wisconsin Plan), Witte easily found work with the state upon completion of his coursework in 1911. Witte was soon overwhelmed with the work and did not come back to his dissertation studies until the mid-1920s. He finished his doctorate in 1927.

Witte married Florence Rimsnider a librarian at the Legislative Reference Library. They lived on Madison Street. They had one son and two daughters.

As Government Social Reformer
Witte's first job for the state of Wisconsin was a

As a government social reformer, David B. Johnson describe Witte as "neither a politician nor an activist. Rather he was a facilitator, a creative Joining the faculty at Wisconsin, he worked with Commons, and Selig Perlman, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Robert M. La Follette, Jr., E. A. Ross, and Arthur J. Altmeyer (who became the chairman of the Social Security Board) who were developing the Wisconsin progressive movement and working on public policy issues of the day.  From 1922 to 1933, he served as chief of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library, an agency now known as the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.

In addition to guiding the Social Security Act through the United States Congress, Witte also worked on other labor legislation including (with George William Norris and Fiorello H. La Guardia) the Norris La Guardia anti-injunction act.

He was the president of the Industrial Relations Research Association in 1948, and in 1955, he became the president of the American Economics Association.