Franklin Roosevelt: On Polio and His Political Career
By: Chris Bradley
Pro- Seminar
4/11/2011
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Although Franklin Roosevelt had many problems in his life regarding politics as well as
health issues he seemed to use the same method to tackle both aspects. Roosevelt was a man
determined to succeed in everything that might challenge him. Franklin believed that there was
always a solution to any problem that he encountered along the way. Nothing in his perspective
would go unsolved. “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly
and try another. But above all, try something.”
1
Franklin Roosevelt had endured many physical ailments leading up to his combat with
polio. These included: scarlet fever, measles, lumbago, acute appendicitis, throat infections,
double pneumonia, typhoid fever, and severe cases of the flu. The fact that he was born unto
wealthy parents made his concern for sickness quite distant. Since his family was so wealthy it
was very easy for them to have doctors come to their house. This was a luxury many other
citizens of the time could not afford. Franklin Roosevelt grew up in a mansion at Hyde Park,
New York. Roosevelt‟s parents loved to travel, and they did so every summer with him.
According to biographer John Gunther, young Franklin traveled a good deal; his father took him
to see the World‟s Fair in Chicago, in his private railway car, and he crossed the Atlantic for the
first time at the age of two. Every year between the ages of seven and fifteen he went to Europe
with his parents; he even attended a Volkschule in Nauheim for a time, where his father took the
cure, and began to learn German.
2
As many people could imagine he entered a private school
academy, Groton, by the age of fourteen. After his time at Groton, he attended Harvard.
1
2
Franklin Roosevelt
John Gunther, Roosevelt in Retrospect: A Profile in History (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950) , 169
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Franklin met Eleanor during his stay at Harvard in 1903. While at Harvard he became
the chief editor to the “Crimson”, which is the school‟s newspaper. Even in his early years he
was remembered by fellow classmates as taking a stance towards better student government
elections among other political issues. In 1905 Franklin married Eleanor despite his mother‟s
objection. At the time of this wedding Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, gave
away Eleanor, his niece. Franklin would not have known it then, but he had just acquired a
lifelong partner in politics as well as marriage.
Theodore‟s assent up the political ladder was as follows: State Senate of New York,
Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy, Governor of New York, and President of the
United States. Franklin admired his distant cousin greatly, and wanted to follow in his exact
footsteps. While at a prestigious law firm in New York he was visited by John Mackey, his local
district attorney, who was there to discuss a normal legal matter. John saw the potential of
Franklin, and offered him a chance to take a seat in the New York State Senate. The race for the
seat set Franklin out on a massive campaign through the area traveling to each county, and
discussing important issues with local residents. He was the first person to campaign the state by
automobile, a machine that he would use extensively throughout his political career. Roosevelt
eventually won the campaign in a very close race. Within the first few days of his election to the
Senate he made news across the state, and country as well. The Tammany issues made him a
well known name to the public. This issue is in regards to Franklin denying William Sheehan
the needed support for his Federal Senator position. This enraged the Tammany Hall boss,
Charles Murphy, who controlled the majority of the Democratic Party of New York.
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After ten weeks of debate the decision to keep William Sheehan out of the State
Senator seat was finally made. This Tammany issue made Roosevelt well known locally, and
nationwide for not backing down on his political beliefs. Roosevelt met an important man
named Louis Howe who at the time was a reporter. This man was very essential to Roosevelt in
helping him campaign and write speeches. According to biographer Patrick Maney, Howe
proved his usefulness in 1912, when Roosevelt ran for reelection. Forced into bed by an attack
of typhoid fever, Roosevelt summoned his new friend to run the campaign. Howe promptly took
charge, saturating the senatorial district with full-page newspaper advertisements, circulars, and
personalized letters, all proclaiming the virtues of the bed-ridden candidate.3 This was the first
instance in which Roosevelt relied completely on Howe to run his campaign. That act begins the
important relationship that had developed in between Franklin and Louis.
After the campaign that Howe vigorously launched, Roosevelt successfully won the seat
in the State Senate of New York for the second time. The idea of having help in campaigning is
something that will follow him throughout his career due to the contraction of Polio later on.
Around the same time he was reelected for his seat the Presidential campaign was going on.
Roosevelt supported Woodrow Wilson as a candidate for the Presidency. While serving out his
second term Roosevelt was noticed by Wilson, and was offered the position of Assistant
Secretary of the United States Navy. This was a position which Roosevelt gladly accepted.
3
Patrick Maney, The Roosevelt Presence (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992) , 16
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While performing his job with the Wilson administration Roosevelt tried to gain a seat
in the New York State Senate race of 1914. He did not receive the president‟s endorsement, but
it did not matter because his opponent, Gerard beat him in the race. After this defeat Roosevelt
went back to being Assistant Secretary to the Navy. He was constantly stirring up trouble.
Maney mentions that he had ideas to send troops to Mexico in 1914 to calm an uprising, as well
as plans to start building the Navy for war. On both of these issues he did not receive
approval to do anything. Maney also describes Roosevelt as being too loose with his words
about the preparedness of the United States Navy to go to war. He claimed that the country was
vastly unprepared, and that if it entered into war in that manner, it would mean utter defeat.
Due to the idea of neutrality Roosevelt did not get his wishes granted until 1917. At the first
onset of America entering the war Roosevelt wanted to resign, and join the fight. However, as
Maney reports, Howe and Wilson both convinced Roosevelt that his service to the Navy would
be better than being just one more man fighting. Ultimately, Roosevelt got to build up the Navy
as he wanted.
Roosevelt‟s next political hurdle was the nomination he received for vice-presidential
candidate in the 1920 election. This came after his resignation as Assistant Secretary of
the United States Navy. Gunther makes a note that Roosevelt gave over eight-hundred speeches
during this campaign. Also Eleanor Roosevelt was seen traveling quite extensively with
Franklin on his campaign tour. It was quite rare to see women campaign with their husbands at
the time, but she would come to perfect it in the next few years. Ultimately, after all the hard
work put in Roosevelt lost on the ticket along with running mate James Cox.
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However, this campaign remained important because it is where he met several good
people who remained close to him, such as Missy LeHand, and Grace Tully. After the defeat in
politics Franklin took a break from them, and decided to enter into business. He worked for a
law firm that he had helped to create, and was also involved in insurance sales. He had little
success in the business end, and mainly just wanted to have some time to relax after his long
bout of government service. The next thing to happen nobody could ever have imagined. It was
very serious, and would trouble his idea of having any future in politics. He had learned from his
father at a young age that people should not push their problems onto other people for sympathy.
This ideal made Franklin Roosevelt a very independent and strong man. However this disease
Polio terrified him at first. The loss of the use of his limbs would put him in a state of needing
constant help to do the simplest routine things.
On August 10, 1921 Roosevelt was at his family home at Campbello with his wife and
children. On August 11, Roosevelt woke up to a high fever as well as having a sharp pain in his
left leg. Eleanor immediately called for a doctor to visit, and Dr. Bennett arrived shortly. The
first doctor was puzzled, and did not know what to call the ailment. On August 12 Franklin
could not walk, and a day later Dr. Keen showed up. He insisted that a blood clot was on the
spinal cord. This prognosis was wrong, and now Doctor Lovett, specialist in Infantile Paralysis,
came to see Franklin. Writes Gunther, “ Lovett saw FDR on August 25, made a correct
diagnosis, and stopped the massages which Keen had ordered.”4
4
John Gunther, Roosevelt in Retrospect: A Profile in History (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950) 222
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Roosevelt felt some temporary relief in knowing what was wrong with him, but the fear
of the disease‟s consequences started to weigh heavily upon him. Up until this point the public
was largely unaware of his condition, and rightfully so. At the time Polio had struck him
Roosevelt was not in any public office. Regardless, he had been a been a member of the New
York State Senate, Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy for several years, and
Democratic Vice-President candidate for the 1920 election. John Gunther does mention that this
news was brought to the public‟s attention on September 16, 1921. This was accomplished by
the New York Times front page article labeled “F. D. Roosevelt Ill of Poliomyelitis.” This
article goes on to tell that Franklin Roosevelt had been stricken with Polio, and had loss use of
his legs temporarily. Doctor Draper is even quoted for telling the future condition of Franklin
Roosevelt. “I cannot say how long Mr. Roosevelt will be kept in the hospital, but you can say
definitely that he will not be crippled. No one need have any fear of permanent injury from this
attack.”5 This in short allowed for Roosevelt to still be respected, and not seen as an invalid.
Roosevelt ultimately left the hospital after a few short months. Franklin stayed at his
family residence with Eleanor despite his mother‟s wishes for him to be at Hyde Park as soon as
he left the hospital. However, in April of 1922 Louis Depew, Sarah Roosevelt‟s chauffeur,
brought him to Hyde Park. During this time long handrails were built in the garden at Hyde
Park. This helped Franklin to build muscles in his arms as well as a sense of confidence.
Franklin also went swimming many times while at Hyde Park, and found water therapeutic.
5
Doctor George Draper, “F. D. Roosevelt Ill Of Poliomyelitis,” New York Times , 16 September 1921
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Roosevelt also would swim in his friend Vincent Astor‟s pool, or in a small pool near
his home. The idea of water exercise being very good for the muscles brought along good
memories as he had always been an avid outdoorsman his whole life. “Water got me into this
fix, water will get me out again!”6 He obviously had a strong belief that water exercise could be
a source to his cure. However the water in these pools did make him stronger, but not any better
disease wise. It would not be until a little later that his hope in water rejuvenation would come
back to him with the discovery of Warm Springs, Georgia.
In 1924 Franklin Roosevelt nominated Alfred Smith for Democratic party candidate for
the seat of the President. He gave a nomination speech called the “Happy Warrior”7, in which he
himself had written. In order to give this speech Roosevelt had to overcome some obstacles. He
was wearing leg braces while locking elbows with his sons to give the perception that he was
walking up the stairs to the platform. Once on the platform he stood locked in place, and asked
Joe Guffey, a Pennsylvania representative, standing near him to check the sturdiness of the
podium. Once Guffey reassured Roosevelt that the piece was strong Franklin proceeded to the
podium with the help of his sons at his side. Roosevelt then grabbed the two sides of the podium
and began to address the Democratic National Convention. The crowd loved the speech, and
cheered him on incessantly. Although Smith lost the nomination for Democratic candidate,
Franklin‟s face was now back into politics. This sense of rejuvenation came over him from
being involved in politics again.
6
7
Franklin Roosevelt quoted by John Gunther, 229
Judge Joseph Proskauer quoted by John Gunther, 246
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It is also very important to mention that Roosevelt discovered Warm Springs, Georgia in
1924 as well. The waters were eighty-eight degrees, and filled with rich minerals. Franklin
heard a particular story of Louis Joseph healing from Polio in these waters. Immediately this
became his new focus. Franklin did many great things for people at Warm Springs such as
building different pools, and tables for the Polio victims. This was done to ease the discomfort
of normal guests from the ones that had Polio. However, Roosevelt still kept political contact by
writing letters to Democrats throughout the country during his times at Warm Springs. In the
year 1926 he started to campaign for Alfred Smith as Democratic candidate for the 1928
elections. Smith wanted Roosevelt to replace him as Governor of New York. Smith‟s thought
process was that he was going to need Roosevelt as governor to help secure the state of New
York‟s vote. However, Roosevelt did not want to run for public office yet.
Roosevelt simply gave his friends, and colleagues the same answer that he would not run
for office until he could stand on his own. There were several attempts made to change his
mind, but Roosevelt was firm in his stance on the matter. Only when Roosevelt saw his
nomination for Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in the paper did his mind
change. Roosevelt won this election against his opponent Albert Ottinger. As Gunther writes,
“Roosevelt won this crucial race by 25,000 votes out of more than four million; his whole future
career was made possible by less than 1 percent of the electorate.”8 Franklin Roosevelt was well
along his way to the path of the presidency just as his cousin Theodore had done years before.
8
John Gunther, 255
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However, Roosevelt became governor during the beginning of the Great Depression in
1929. Roosevelt dealt with issues right away as he came to office. The new governor‟s first
budget proposal was turned down by legislature. Franklin vetoed their decision, and ultimately
the decision was left up to the court. Luckily for Roosevelt the court ruled in his favor. The
legislature was outraged that the cost of the budget was going up for things they deemed
unnecessary. Writes Maney, “During his first term he supported, though he did not initiate,
proposals for farm relief, old age insurance, development of water power, regulation of utilities,
conservation of natural resources, more humane treatment of prisoners, including abolition of the
death penalty, and increased spending for education and for the physically and mentally
handicapped.”9
Roosevelt also sought to correct the banking crisis of New York, to cut working hours of
women, and to correct the issue of child labor. He was the first governor to have the state
session meet, and vote for public funds to be used for unemployment relief. Through public
agencies and private charities the city set up bread lines, and fed some eighty-five thousand
people. This worked for a short period, but the funding from private organizations ran out.
Some critics of Roosevelt did not like his policies such as the Temporary Emergency Relief
Administration, that he urged the state legislature to pass them. However, Harry Hopkins led
this agency, and proved to be quite good at the job. Roosevelt simply made his argument that
citizens of New York should not have to go hungry, or unprotected because the depression hit.
Franklin Roosevelt had become the speaker for many people of New York that were in desperate
9
Patrick Maney, The Roosevelt Presence (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992) , 31
times.
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Roosevelt understood people that were going through hardships. Through his policies
that made things easier all around in New York he was elected to a second term as Governor of
New York. Once reelected it seemed clear that Franklin Roosevelt now had his eyes set upon
the seat of the President eventually. During most of his second term as Governor Franklin spent
much time in campaigning himself for the presidency of the United States. The fact that
Franklin had won a second term of office in 1930 had pretty much lined him up for the
Democratic nomination for president by 1930. However, Roosevelt did an important, and brave
thing in 1931 by addressing Polio. The New York Times displayed an article on July 31 1931
about the issue. “A national crusade against infantile paralysis is advocated in a statement by
Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, made public here today, urging the establishment throughout
the country of centres where „convalescent serum‟ may be available and of easy access to
registered practicing physicians.”10
Roosevelt made note of Polio, and the serum that was
beneficial to youths with the disease.
Franklin saw the deteriorating conditions of the economy, and was watching the people
lose faith in President Herbert Hoover as well as the Republican Party. Although he was a very
popular governor he still faced opposition from influential people like William Randolph Hearst,
Walter Lippmann, and Bernard Baruch. Lippmann openly bashed Roosevelt during his
Presidential campaign by saying that Franklin was not qualified to take the position of President
of the United States. Although he had done many great things for the citizens of New York,
many still saw him as lacking the experience needed to take the country out of depression.
10
“Roosevelt Urges Paralysis Crusade,” New York Times , 19 July 1931, Sec. N. 1.
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People even doubted whether he was physically able to fulfill the duties that are required
by the President of the United States. As Maney notes, “Even after Roosevelt received a clean
bill of health from a committee of eminent physicians, the whispering campaign continued. Yet
as bad as some of the rumors were, they probably would have been worse and more widespread
had he not engaged in his elaborate deception.”11 Franklin Roosevelt did wear leg braces, but he
hid that fact quite well by having his tailor lengthen his pants to hang below the braces even
while sitting down. The steel braces were also painted black, to match the color of his shoes and
pants. These steel braces allowed the appearance that Roosevelt was standing while leaning
against a podium, or by interlocking elbows with his sons.
Roosevelt gained public attention and won much support during the hearings of James
Walker, Mayor of New York City at the time. It was a highly controversial move to interrogate
Walker on the basis of corruption charges. This was because it would upset other officials, but at
the same time quiet the masses of New York pleading for intervention in political corruption.
Ultimately, Roosevelt was right in his move, and it made for better publicity in the New York
Times. Roosevelt championed a team of political campaign members known as the Brain Trust.
Franklin was the head of the group essentially while Raymond Moley recruited other members
all from Columbia University. Roosevelt wanted the best person to fill each position that was
required in the election campaign. These men were very knowledgeable on all concerns in the
world, and were highly educated about current events.
11
Patrick Maney, 39
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Through the vigorous campaigning of James Farley across the country, and the nation‟s
overwhelming dissatisfaction with Republicans, Franklin Roosevelt won the 1932 Presidential
election. President elect Franklin Roosevelt with some 22,000,000 votes had beaten President
Herbert Hoover who only had around 15,000,000 votes. Biographer Edgar E. Robinson writes,
“Yet the Presidential contest of 1932 was fought in unreal terms. In opposition to the prevailing
Republican administration was formulated a program that was based upon the challenge of
widespread distress, upon promises of reformers of the preceding generation, and upon the
device of locating a scapegoat in Mr. Hoover.”12
Roosevelt‟s first order of business was to close the banks for a bank holiday. He would
reopen them with more government control over the money. Roosevelt addressed the nation
over the radio on March 15, 1933, about the plan to bring relief to Americans. The invention of
the radio was not new, and he had used it several times before to address the citizens of New
York while he was governor. However, for the first time people were tuning in all across
America in huge numbers. The population of the United States was desperate to hear of the
relief programs being set up. Since home televisions were not yet invented, the radio served as a
very effective tool in mass communication. The people could not see his weathered, thin legs
under his pants as he was sitting in a chair, and talking through a radio. People paid close
attention while Roosevelt was talking. His voice was strong, clear, and very optimistic. He
seemed to relate to people on their level as a close friend.
12
Edgar Eugene Robinson, The Roosevelt Leadership ( New York : Philadelphia and New York, 1955), 74
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As the President constantly created new agencies to deal with the unemployed as well as
relief he faced mounting issues of despair from different groups of people. Women and African
Americans were wanting equal rights. Franklin did his best to deal with these situations, and
sent Eleanor out to visit with groups of them both. However, for the most part the latter two
groups did not receive much political attention due to the fact that the Great Depression was not
over. Roosevelt saw issues such as keeping people fed and clothed at the least.
Handicapped people in the United States were getting fed up with not being included in
the WPA‟s employment group. By 1935 handicapped people were making themselves known in
the world of politics. In 1936 a group of handicapped individuals picketed outside the WPA
headquarters in New York, and refused to leave until they were spoken to by Harry Hopkins, the
head official. The New York Times wrote an article on this group and said the following: “The
seventh floor of the WPA headquarters here was taken over about noon today by thirty- five
crippled New York men and women, all members for the „League of Physically Handicapped,‟
who refused to leave until Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, heard their plea for Federal
aid.”13 The idea of education and rehabilitation to become a productive member of society
outraged handicapped people and rightfully so. The WPA provided jobs to only-able bodied
citizens. People with crutches or other physical disabilities were left out. Often times many of
these people included doctors, teachers as well as many other important professional positions.
At the time it was even legal for buses and trains to refuse service to crippled people.
13
“Needy Cripples Seize Floor, Await Hopkins,” New York Times , 10 May 1936,
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It is also worth mentioning that at the same time physically handicapped groups started to
form, deaf and blind organizations were forming as well. The “League of the Physically
Handicapped” article mentioned that the physically handicapped group did not get along well
with other groups. “Cripple” in their minds meant having a limb missing, wearing
braces, or using crutches. The physically handicapped group also campaigned for jobs on the
sole purpose that they were being unfairly discriminated against. Many of these individuals
were still able to work bodily wise, but according to the law were forbidden from having a job.
The league had a definite right to be mad about the situation, but it appeared as though nothing
much was getting accomplished for them.
Although Roosevelt faced stern criticism during the Great Depression, he was also loved
by many. Roosevelt did many things right in regards to people with disabilities. “Also in 1934
the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt, sponsored
some 6,000 President‟s Birthday Balls using the slogan „Dance so that others may walk‟.”14
These dances brought in over 2,000,000 dollars alone in between 1934 and 1935. Roosevelt
advocated that seventy cents of every dollar earned would be used for treatment, research, and
equipment for Polio victims in the local areas it was collected in. The other thirty cents was to
go to the Warm Springs Foundation which was set up by Roosevelt a few years earlier. These
dances seemed to be so beneficial that it was decided to do them again in 1936 and 1937.
14
Paul K. Longmore and David Goldberger, “The League of the Physically Handicapped and the Great
Depression,” Journal of American History 87, no. 3 (2000): 895
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In Roosevelt‟s annual message to Congress in 1936 he told them he was waging war
against a small portion of big business owners that were greedy. As historian Robert McElvaine
writes, “He was careful to point out repeatedly that the enemy was not businessmen in general,
but that small number of financial and industrial leaders whose self-serving dedication to „free
enterprise‟ was unbending”.15 Roosevelt won the 1936 election due to the fact that he had the
working man on his side. People were getting fed up with him still protecting the rich up until
1935, while the poor were in desperate shape.
In 1937 the stock market crashed, and the unemployment rose up to nearly twenty
percent. The problem persisted for several months before the Fair Labor Standards Act took
effect in June of 1938. This bill did wonders for the worker. As McElvaine puts it, “The bill
outlawed at long last, the use of child labor in interstate commerce. It set standards of 25 cents
per hour and 44 hours per week, which must be improved within two years to 40 cents and 40
hours. Even such low wage standards were of more than passing interest to 12 million workers
covered by the new law who had been making less than 40 cents per hour”.16 However, for all of
the good it seemed to be doing there was still a downside. By early 1939 it was estimated that
roughly seventeen percent of the workforce was unemployed. The problem most commonly
agreed on is the lack of spending on Government agencies or projects. Roosevelt, as well as
Congress, seemed to be not approving, or asking about spending money to bring the Government
Agencies back in to full operation. The idea that war was possible, had stopped spending.
15
16
Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1993) , 275
Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1993) , 304
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Franklin Roosevelt made many positive contributions during his presidency, including
his many
social programs as well as his research on Polio. Among Franklin Roosevelt‟s most lasting
contributions was the creation of the „March of Dimes„. It was an idea that Eddie Cantor
created. Multiple radio stars were going to ask people to send in a dime to the White House if
they could afford it. This radio program took place on January 30 1938. It was normal for the
President to throw dinner balls for the same purpose, but now he had the support of many
important radio hosts such as Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, and Rudy Vallee. “ „The March of
Dimes‟ will enable all persons, even children, to show our President that they are with him in
this battle against this disease,” Mr. Cantor wired from Hollywood. Nearly everyone can send
in a dime, or several dimes. It is a small amount and the plan might seem insignificant.
However, it takes only ten dimes to make a dollar, and if a million people only send one dime
each, the total will be $100,000”.17
This campaign devised by Eddie Cantor was a smashing success. Over 80,000
envelopes poured into the White House mail room that week. Never before had the country
come together to take strides against such a terrible disease. This was a surprising outcome to
say the least because of the huge unemployment, rated around seventeen percent at the time.
Americans realized the threat of this growing disease, and thus acted when called upon to help if
they could in this matter. Wrote Basil O‟Connor of the New York Times , “Never before has
there been such a whole-hearted response to the appeal for the support for the anti-poliomyelitis
campaign. The United States is now, for the first time, prepared to carry on a coordinated,
17
Eddie Cantor, “Dimes are Sought in Paralysis Drive,” New York Times , 24 January 1938, 23
nation-wide war against this frightening disease”.18
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This campaign had now extended to an even greater level by the end of 1938. More and
more people were becoming involved in the fight to raise money for Polio research. It even
became popular with sports in buying a button to support the fight. The collections from the
Sports committee would start at the end of December, and run until just past Franklin
Roosevelt‟s birthday on January 30. According to the New York Times, “An executive
committee of ten of America‟s foremost college sports leaders, twenty-six noted sports writers
and five national radio commentators has been formed, Mr. Rice explained. The council hopes
to raise $2500,000 through the events.”19
The events that were held in 1934-1937 were very beneficial to the National Foundation
For Infantile Paralysis. However, it was with the creation of the “March OF Dimes”, that the
foundation really took off. The amount of money flowing in, once expanded to other people
through the benefit of radio conversation, was astronomical for the time period. In 1939 the
momentum kept growing as it did the previous year. Volunteering a person‟s time was very
important to the project‟s success. Without volunteers the project would not be nearly as
efficient as it could be. In 1939 members of the Amusement and Labor fields called for a
helping hand to raise as much money available. In New York, Mrs. Kelvin C. Vanderslip,
chairman of the New York Women‟s Division, put out a call for 10,000 women volunteers in the
city to distribute coin containers to banks, stores, and theatres.”20 The people of the United
18
Basil O‟Connor, “Fetes Today Open Fight On Paralysis,” New York Times , 29 January 1938, 10
Grantland Rice, “Sports World Aids In Paralysis Drive,” New York Times , 27 December 1938 , 9
20
“Volunteers Sought By Paralysis Drive,” New York Times , 11 January 1939, 21
19
States seemed to think that Roosevelt was a tremendous man, and wanted to help his cause.
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Franklin Roosevelt dealt with Polio in many different forms. He had to deal with it in
regards to his political career as well as his personal health. During his political career he faced
numerous challenges on a daily basis. For instance he would have a butler help him put braces
on and off his legs while coming up to train stations while he was campaigning. Also, Roosevelt
could hardly be left alone, even at night. One main thing that helped him was the consistent
building of his muscles leading up to the Governorship of New York. Roosevelt would use his
powerful upper body to keep himself appearing to be standing while braces were locked down in
place. Most times Roosevelt was assisted in standing by interlocking elbows with his sons or
servicemen. Franklin never wanted to give his audience the appearance that he could not stand
by himself. If he had to make a speech in front of a large audience, he would show up several
hours earlier to prepare his route to a platform which was the most common place for speeches
to large crowds.
Roosevelt ultimately perfected stage speeches once they figured out it was easiest to
drive the Presidential car right on to the platform when accessible. There are only a handful of
times that Roosevelt was ever known to fall in the view of a crowd. Whenever this was the case
he quickly had a person or several at his side to quickly clear the situation from becoming
embarrassing. Roosevelt was a very independent man from an early age. His father, James
Roosevelt, had taught him to not put his problems on to other people. This helped him to realize
that everybody has struggles in life, and it just depends on how each person deals with them.
Ultimately, Roosevelt learned to have Farley as well as Eleanor to do campaigning for him that
he could not do himself.
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However do not be mistaken when I say that he had people help him in campaigning for
political offices. He constantly traveled by train, and would have Eleanor going to another area
to secure that region‟s vote by showing potential voters how friendly as well as concerned about
their issues they were. Franklin Roosevelt‟s health was called in to concern during his candidacy
for President in 1932. However, as mentioned previously, he was cleared by doctors as being
completely healthy, and was seen as perfectly fit to fill the position.
Even after this clearing of health issues, some local doctors would randomly stir up
nonsense that Polio affected the brain eventually, and predicting that FDR would become
useless. Nobody believed them really, but they just wanted to cause trouble. Even Alfred
Smith, a candidate supported by Roosevelt many times, was mentioned as saying that Roosevelt
would not be a threat to the Presidency race of 1932 because he would most likely be dead by
then. Although completely paralyzed from the waist down, Roosevelt came to be the President
for the longest term recorded. He led the United States through the Great Depression
successfully, and also carried out a successful World War.
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Bibliography
“Dimes Are Sought In Paralysis Drive”, New York Times , 24 January 1938 , 23.
“F. D. Roosevelt Ill Of Poliomyelitis”, New York Times , 16 September 1921.
“Fetes Today Open Fight On Paralysis”, New York Times , 29 January 1938 , 10.
Goldberger, David and Longmore, Paul : “The League Of The Physically Handicapped,”
Journal Of American History 87, no. 3 (2000): 895.
Gunther, John . Roosevelt In Retrospect : Harper & Brothers, New York , 1950.
Maney, Patrick . The Roosevelt Presence : Twayne Publishers, New York, 1992.
McElvaine, Robert . The Great Depression : Three Rivers Press, New York, 1993.
“Needy Cripples Seize Floor, Await Hopkins,” New York Times , 10 May 1936.
Robinson, Edgar Eugene, The Roosevelt Leadership , Philadelphia and New York, New York,
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