What the U.S. government has given us Slide Show MarketWatch

Photo: Dorothea Lange, Department of Agriculture President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act in 1935. Helping Americans retire in dignity ranks as one of the greatest accomplishments of our government. Photo: Social Security Administration Many of us owe our lives ? literally ? to the government. A county meat inspector (center) and an FDA inspector (right) watch a butcher prepare meat for packaging. Photo: U.S. Food and Drug Administration The government has provided crucial funding for almost all of our transportation systems. In 1869, crews from the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah, to complete the federally subsidized transcontinental railroad.