Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) favored free enterprise and smaller government. During Reagan’s successful 1980 campaign for president of the United States, he said: “I happen to think that the best social program is a job.” The line was credited to Pete Wilson, then-mayor of San Diego, who had used it in a 1977 speech before the Century City Chamber of Commerce. (Both Wilson and Reagan served terms as governor of California.)
 
“The best social program” (or “the greatest social program”) in the early-mid 1970s had been defined as “a sound economy” (or “a healthy economy”). “The best social program is a job” continues to be used in political speech, usually credited to Reagan.
   
   
ConservativeBuys.com
Reagan Quote - Best Social Program is a Job.
Great Conservative T-shirt quote on many products such a s caps, hats, mugs and political buttons.
   
Zazzle.com
“The Best Social Program Is a Job”
Bumper sticker by cowboyannie
Ronald Reagan Quote
   
CafePress
I believe the best social program is a job
Sticker
From HodgePodge Designs
From the Designer
Ronald Reagan- boy don’t we wish he was here to lead today! This is a great quote from a great man!
     
Wikipedia: Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975).
     
Wikipedia: Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator (1983–1991), eleven years as Mayor of San Diego (1971–1982) and five years as a California State Assemblyman (1967–1971). On September 27, 2007,
 
Google Books
Hearings
By United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare
1972
Pg. 120:
I realize that the best social program we can have is a healthy economy.
     
Google Books
The State and Local Governments Conference on Inflation
One of a series of pre-summit sector conferences held prior to the summit Conference on Inflation, Washington, D.C., Sept. 27-28, 1974. 
v. 1 - 1974  
Pg. 323:
A sound economy is the greatest social program America ever had. As President Kennedy liked to say, a rising tide lifts all the boats.
 
2 June 1976, Idaho Falls (ID) Post-Register, “Factions split widely on economic issues,” pg. D1, col. 5:
He (William Seidman, assistant to the president for economic affairs—ed.) went on to say that “the best social program is to have a sound, productive economy.”
     
Google Books
Democratic Review
By Democratic Forum
v. 2, no. 1 - 1976
Pg. 23:
A sound economy is the greatest social program America ever had, and the key to all our other goals.
 
26 January 1977, Valley News (Van Nuys, CA), pg. 6, col. 3:
“The best social program yet devised by man is a job” he (San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson—ed.) said in a speech to the Century City Chamber of Commerce. “It permits each of us to enjoy the dignity of doing something useful each day in addition to putting bread upon the table.”
 
13 September 1980, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Brown Meets With Businessmen But Reagan’s Ideas Win Applause,” pg. A29:
He was applauded again when he said, “Gov. Reagan recognizes the truth, expressed by my friend Pete Wilson, mayor of San Diego, that the best social program yet devised by man is a job.”
 
Google News Archive
2 October 1980, Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), pg. 3, col. 2:
“I happen to think that the best social program is a job,” Reagan told an approving crowd of hard-hatted workers at a subway tunnel construction site Wednesday.
   
2 October 1980, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Reagan plays it safe in Northeast” by Jon Margolis, sec. 1,  pg. 2:
“A job, I’ve always believed, Is the best social program there is,” Reagan said, though as usual he did not say how he would produce more jobs,
   
Google News Archive
4 March 1992, Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), pg. A4, col. 6:
Harkin pitched himself as the one “true Democrat” in the race, but his message—“My father told me the best social program was a job”—struck voters as both simplistic and dated.     
 
New York (NY) Times
Defending State’s Jobs Is Priority, Dodd Maintains
By GEORGE JUDSON,
Published: Wednesday, October 28, 1992
Senator Christopher J. Dodd told labor and business groups today that his priority in a new term would be defending Connecticut jobs while working to restart the national economy.
(...)
Repeating a standard Dodd phrase, “the best social program ever invented is a job,” he called for personal responsibility.
     
New York (NY) Times
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST SIDE PROFILE; A Rising Star Looks Toward Congress
SAM ROBERTS
Published: Sunday, June 26, 1994
(...)
“All that leads you to think: ‘Great. Liberal Democrat,’” Mr. Millard said. “I don’t think liberal is an insult, but where I part company is on the solutions. I’m not a free-market ideologue, but if the best social program is jobs, I’m pro-jobs. And the private sector creates jobs better than government.”