. FDR Raised Taxes on the Rich Significantly
Partially true.
The top marginal income tax rate rose sharply under FDR. It went from ~25-63% in the early 1930s (Hoover era) to 79% by 1936, then 88% in 1942, and peaked at 94% on incomes over ~$200,000 by 1944 (during WWII).
Corporate tax rates also increased.
However, effective tax rates (what people actually paid after deductions, loopholes, and credits) were much lower than the headline marginal rates. Many wealthy individuals and corporations avoided the highest brackets.
Federal tax revenue as a share of GDP did rise, but much of the increase came from broad-based taxation (including middle-class wage earners via expanded income taxes) and especially from WWII mobilization, not just soaking the rich.
2. This Created Medicare, Social Security, a Jobs Program, and Built the American Middle Class
Mostly inaccurate or heavily overstated.
Social Security: Yes, created in 1935 under FDR via the Social Security Act. It was a major New Deal achievement providing old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. Funded primarily by payroll taxes on workers and employers, not solely by taxes on the rich.
Medicare: No. Medicare was created in 1965 under Lyndon Johnson as part of the Great Society programs — 30 years after FDR left office and nearly 20 years after his death.
Jobs program: Yes, the New Deal included major public works and employment programs (WPA, CCC, etc.) that employed millions during the Depression. Unemployment fell from ~25% in 1933 but remained high (often 14-20%) until World War II spending finally ended the Depression.
Built an American middle class: Heavily overstated.The broad, stable American middle class (homeownership, rising real wages, suburban growth, consumer economy) largely emerged in the post-WWII boom (1945–1970s). Key drivers included:WWII victory and global economic dominance.
GI Bill (education and housing benefits for veterans).
Strong manufacturing base.
Low immigration for decades.
Technological/productivity gains.
Union power and wage growth.
The New Deal provided important safety nets and infrastructure, but it did not single-handedly create the middle class. High marginal tax rates during/after WWII coincided with growth, but economists debate causation (Keynesian stimulus vs. other factors like war destruction of competitors, pent-up demand, etc.).
Bottom Line
FDR did raise top marginal tax rates dramatically and created lasting programs like Social Security plus Depression-era jobs relief. These were responses to the Great Depression and had real effects on relief and long-term institutions.
The meme is misleading on Medicare (wrong president/era), oversimplifies the middle class boom (mostly post-WWII), and ignores that broad-based taxes and WWII spending played bigger roles than just "tax the rich."
High taxes on the wealthy were part of the era, but the U.S. already had progressive taxation before FDR. Economic recovery and middle-class expansion involved many factors beyond tax policy alone.
Claims like this often serve partisan narratives. The New Deal had genuine achievements in relief and reform, but it didn't magically build the modern middle class or create Medicare, and attributing everything to "taxing the rich" skips important context and timelines.