Representative Aime Joseph Forand

Aime Joseph Forand (May 23, 1895 – January 18, 1972) was an American politician who represented Rhode Island in the United States House of Representatives for eleven terms between 1937 and 1961. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the representative for Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district from 1937 to 1939 and from 1941 to 1961, participating in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his constituents in Providence and the surrounding area.

Forand was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on May 23, 1895, and later grew up in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He attended the public and parochial schools of Fall River, then pursued business and higher studies at Magnus Commercial School in Providence, Rhode Island, and at Columbia University Extension in New York. This combination of commercial training and university-level coursework provided him with skills that would later support both his journalistic work and his legislative career.

During World War I, Forand served in France as a sergeant first class in the United States Army’s Motor Transport Corps under General John J. Pershing. His wartime service in a logistical and support role during the American Expeditionary Forces’ operations in Europe exposed him to the needs and concerns of servicemembers, an experience that later informed his work on veterans’ affairs and social welfare issues. After the war, he returned to Rhode Island and became active in public life.

Forand entered elective office as a Democrat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, serving from 1923 to 1926. Alongside his early political activity, he worked in journalism; from 1924 to 1930 he was a reporter for the Providence News and the News-Tribune, covering local and state affairs. He also gained experience in the federal legislative process as a congressional secretary, first to Representative Jeremiah E. O’Connell from 1929 to 1930 and then to Representative Francis B. Condon from 1930 to 1935. In 1935 and 1936 he served as Chief of the Rhode Island Division of Soldiers’ Relief and as Commandant of the Rhode Island Soldiers’ Home, positions that deepened his involvement with veterans’ issues and public assistance programs.

Building on this background, Forand was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island in 1936 and served his first term from January 3, 1937, to January 3, 1939. Although he lost his bid for reelection in 1938, he remained active in Democratic politics and returned to Congress after winning election again in 1940. He then won reelection nine consecutive times, serving from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1961. Over the course of these eleven terms, he participated in the major legislative debates of the New Deal, World War II, the early Cold War, and the postwar expansion of the American social safety net.

In the 1950s, Forand became particularly influential as a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxation and many social welfare programs. From this position he repeatedly introduced comprehensive legislation to reform public assistance and expand federal support for older Americans. Working with Representative Cecil R. King of California, he first proposed, in 1957, a national health insurance program for the elderly under Social Security. This proposal, widely known as the “Forand bill,” laid the conceptual and legislative groundwork for what later became Medicare, enacted in 1965 after his retirement from Congress. His advocacy for seniors and his role in shaping early Medicare proposals made him a key figure in the development of modern federal health policy for the aged.

After leaving Congress in 1961, Forand settled in Boca Raton, Florida, where he continued his work on behalf of older Americans. He was the founder and first president of the National Council of Senior Citizens, serving in that capacity from 1961 to 1972 and using the organization to promote improved pensions, health care, and living standards for retirees. Aime Joseph Forand died in Boca Raton on January 18, 1972, and was interred at Boca Raton Municipal Cemetery and Mausoleum, leaving a legacy closely associated with the expansion of federal social programs and the protection of senior citizens’ welfare.