Franklin D. Roosevelt - Looking Fear in the Face — Disability Throughout History

This post was a massive endeavor, which I knew going in and why it's taken me two months to write. There was so much about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's life and career that I simply had to leave out. That includes photographs, too! Franklin is one of the most well-known visibly disabled men in recent history. He became the first - and only, to date - disabled man elected to the US Presidency. Not only that, he's the longest-serving President: elected to four terms and served the last twelve years of his life. Because of this, and his many Great Depression- and World War II-era policies, Franklin is a controversial President, to say the least. This post's focus is not about whether he was a "good" or "bad" President, but about his life prior to and then dealing with significant physical disability in adulthood. He chose to publicly display a persona of "overcoming" his disability, while the reality was that it was with him every moment, influencing his every thought and movement.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born to an extremely wealthy family of high social status. He was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, New York to James "Squire James" Roosevelt I and his second wife, Sara Ann Delano. He had a half-brother, James "Rosy," older than him by 28 years, from his father's previous marriage. Franklin's father was a 54-year-old businessman at the time of his birth and, while some sources described him as remote, others claimed that he was an involved father. One thing that is agreed upon, though, is that his mother, Sara, was the dominant force in his early life.

*Franklin and his mother, Sara, in 1887*

Born to a privileged family, Franklin had a wide array of childhood experiences: he learned to ride, shoot, and sail; he traveled so frequently to Europe that he became fluent in German and French. He was home-schooled until age 14, then was sent to the boarding school Groton School in Massachusetts (if you're interested in attending, the cost for the 2023-24 tuition and boarding is about $60,000). Franklin then went on to Harvard College (only $80,000 for 2023-24 tuition and housing/food), graduating in three years with a Bachelor of Arts in history. This was a time of great change for him: his father passed away in 1900, his fifth cousin Theodore Roosevelt became the President in 1901, and he graduated from college in 1903. Franklin was much inspired by his older cousin's reforming zeal and vigorous leadership.

The following year, Franklin entered Columbia Law School, dropping out in 1907 after passing the New York Bar Examination. The following year, he began working for Carter Ledyard & Milburn, a very prestigious law firm. During his time in law school, he married his fifth cousin once-removed, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who went by her middle name. Franklin had proposed in 1903 and they wed on March 17, 1905.

The couple moved to the Springwood estate in Hyde Park while maintaining a town house in New York City. Franklin's mother, Sara, had purchased the town house for them and built a home for herself next door. Sara also gave them a vacation home on Campobello Island, the only place where Eleanor ever felt at home. As expected of the times, Eleanor was to stay home and raise children while Franklin worked. The couple had six children between 1906 and 1916: Anna, James II, Franklin (who died in infancy), Elliott, another Franklin Jr., and John. (A "fun" fact that is not related to anything: among Franklin's five living children, there were 19 marriages between 1926 and 1984.)

*From L-R: Eleanor, James, Anna, & Franklin, 1908*

Our Franklin also acted in the privileged, chauvinistic way in which he had been raised: he began having an extramarital affair with Eleanor's social secretary, Lucy Mercer, in 1914. This was not discovered by Eleanor until 1918. Though Franklin considered getting a divorce, his mother convinced him otherwise. He promised never to see Lucy again; she would wed Winthrop Rutherford (who was 29 years her senior) in 1920. Eleanor never forgave him for this and from then on, their marriage was more of a political partnership. She established her own residence at the Val-Kill estate in Hyde Park and devoted herself to social causes of her own choosing. Even when he was in the White House, Eleanor never again lived permanently with her husband. Franklin maintained a formal correspondence with Lucy, breaking his promise, for the rest of his life. She was even with him at the time of his fatal stroke in 1945. His son, Elliott, later claimed Franklin had a 20-year affair with his private secretary, Marguerite "Missy" LeHand. Another son, James, would theorize that Franklin also had an affair with Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, who lived at the White House during World War II.

*Franklin as Secretary of the Navy, 1913 - age 31*

While having children and affairs, Franklin's political star was rising. He served as a New York State Senator from 1911-1913, then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1913-1920. Though he had requested to serve as a Naval officer in World War I, President Woodrow Wilson would not allow it. Franklin remained in Washington for most of the war, but did travel to Europe in 1918 to inspect naval installations and meet with the British and French. On his way home, in September, the ship was struck by pandemic influenza (known colloquially as the "Spanish flu"). Franklin became severely ill and developed pneumonia, but did recover. He was even able to campaign for Democratic Vice President in the 1920 election, though they lost to Republicans Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

The following year, 1921, everything stopped in Franklin's life. He was 39 years old when, while vacationing with his family on Campobello, he suddenly became severely ill with chills, back pain, and nausea. A week-long high fever and limb weakness set in, progressing to paralysis. He experienced bowel and bladder dysfunction, skin hypersensitivity, and delirium. Doctors had originally diagnosed a bad summer cold, then a blood clot of the lower spinal cord, then a spinal lesion, and then acute poliomyelitis (theorized to have come from visiting a Boy Scout camp right before Campobello). Though it was a surprising diagnosis for his age, Lovett theorized that his stressful life in politics had weakened his immunity. They prescribed massaging Franklin's legs, though it caused him incredible pain. Dr. Robert Lovett, an expert on polio, finally insisted they stop the massages and instead suggested hot baths. Reportedly, Franklin sank deep into a "loneliness that [could not] be alleviated by wife or friend, an utter solitude shot through with moments of pure naked terror."

After over a month of devoted nursing by Eleanor, Franklin was transferred, in a long and painful journey by boat, truck, and train, to Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He continued to experience pain and paralysis in his legs and lower back as well as arm weakness and twitching. After six weeks in the hospital, Franklin was moved home to his town house in the city. His chart read, "not improving." His legs were encased in plaster, his hamstrings tightened so severely that his knees were drawn up toward his chest. He performed exercises as best as he could and gradually improved with physiotherapy and swimming three times a week. He demanded to be surrounded by "good cheer" while rehabilitating and was cared for primarily by Eleanor and his friend, Louis Howe. Howe even moved in with them, seeing his own wife and children only on weekends. He became Franklin's handler of sorts and was absolutely invaluable to him.

*Franklin supported by his doctor and his valet, 1924*

When his illness was over, Franklin was paralyzed completely from the waist down. He was unable to stand or walk without support. He required casting on his legs to prevent contractures. He eventually was fitted for heavy steel braces that locked at the knees, enabling him to stand with crutches. He involved his children, then ages 6-16, in the rehabilitation process, too. His wife, Eleanor, remembered, "The perfect naturalness with which the children accepted his limitations though they had always known him as an active person, helped him tremendously in his own acceptance of them." In 1922, Franklin was able to walk across the room, then eventually walked down his long driveway at Springwood once. That October, Franklin attempted to visit his law office: he wiped out in the lobby and, though he made jokes about it, did not return for two months. One positive from this experience was that one of the young men who helped him up, Basil O'Connor, became a lifelong law partner and friend. O'Connor eventually raised millions for polio research and clinical trials of a vaccine.

His main doctors maintained that he had been stricken by "infantile paralysis," the term then for polio. The modern theory is that Franklin may have had Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). In 1921, Europe had only some preliminary research on this and very few American doctors had even heard of it. It would not be an accepted diagnosis until after World War II. At the time Franklin became ill, doctors assumed that any sudden paralysis was due to polio. GBS is a rapid-onset autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing muscle weakness and paralysis. About 2/3 people with GBS do not walk unaided again.

Franklin's mother, furious at being usurped by Eleanor and Howe, pressed him to retire from public life. He, Eleanor, Howe, and his advisors refused. Though he and Eleanor did not share a typical marriage relationship anymore, his illness had created a partnership between them, supporting each other in their various causes. Franklin was adamant that he could not appear in his wheelchair, but needed to convince people that he had improved enough to be strong for public office. Through intense effort, Franklin taught himself to walk short distances. He used iron braces on his hips and legs and swiveled his torso and legs, aided by a cane and another person. His physical therapist later described Franklin's goals for himself as these: "I'll walk without crutches. I'll walk into a room without scaring everybody half to death. I'll stand easily enough in front of people so that they'll forget I'm a cripple." Franklin's upper body strength also developed so much that boxer Jack Dempsey praised his physique. He exercised constantly, including when having conversations with others.

*Franklin exercising at Warm Springs, 1928 - age 46*

Though Franklin's disability was public knowledge and became key to his image, he tempered its severity. A 1980 book, FDR's Splendid Deception, claimed his disability was basically a state secret during his presidency, though this seems extreme. One historian said, "When I've talked to people in the past ... I've always asked them, 'Did you know about FDR's condition?' And they've always said yes. What they say is, 'We realized later that he was more disabled than we knew, but we certainly knew he was disabled, we knew that he couldn't walk.'"

Franklin did make sure to always appear standing in public, usually supported by an aide or a son. Historian Hugh Gregory Gallagher wrote, "Roosevelt was able to stabilize himself in a standing position at a podium only by firmly gripping the podium and thrusting his pelvis forward so that his hip joints were hyper-extended. Except in this position, he ran the risk of buckling at the hips and falling." (This did happen during a 1932 speech.) Because he was firmly holding on to something or someone whenever he was speaking, he could not wave to the crowds or wipe away the sweat on his face. But Gallagher also said that, "Many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people saw him at fairly close range over the White House years and most did not notice that he was physically handicapped." Franklin even had his leg braces painted black and wore black socks. Reportedly, he once told Orson Welles, "You and I are the two finest actors in America." For rare footage of Franklin walking, see this video from the 1935 White House Easter Egg Roll.

According to the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, American citizens were "sympathetic to his condition rather than embarrassed." This was heavily due to a massive effort to hide Franklin's wheelchair, as it would have been seen as "too weak" that he used one. He often was draped in a blanket or cloak to cover it. Secret service agents would block his wheelchair and "requisition" cameras to destroy the film of any journalists who tried to get around this. Among the 130,000 photographs in the FDR Library's collections, there are only four of him using a wheelchair. In 1937, Life did publish a photo of him in his wheelchair, to which the presidential press secretary was greatly displeased, even wanting to launch an investigation. Most of the media, however, did respect the White House's request that Franklin not be photographed in a "disabled or weak" state. His physicians and close aides were partially chosen for their discretion. He did, however, stay in his chair when it was "uplifting to particular audiences, such as when touring veterans' hospitals."

*Franklin on Vincent Astor's yacht, 1935 - age 53*

From 1925 and on, Franklin spent most of his time in the South. He bought a houseboat kept off the Florida Keys before being told about therapeutic mineral springs in Georgia. The water felt "heavenly" and "marvelous." He told a friend later that, in the water, "I walk around without braces or crutches almost as if I had nothing the matter with my legs." An article was published in the Atlanta Journal about his visit and intention to return, causing dozens of other polio patients to reach out to Franklin and even arrive unannounced at Warm Springs for treatment. He bought the rehabilitation center Warm Springs the following year for $200,000 ($3.4 million in 2023) and took control of the facility. He used most of his inheritance to hire physical therapists and purchase the Merriweather Inn for housing. Warm Springs became his second home; later it was dubbed the "Little White House." Franklin even organized Birthday Balls from 1934-1937 to raise money for the foundation, raising one million dollars ($22.6 million in 2023).

*Franklin holding the check from the first birthday ball in 1934 - age 52*

By 1927, the Warm Springs Foundation was a permanent hydrotherapeutic center per the American Orthopedic Association, becoming the "prototype for other warm water therapy sites." The center was totally accessible: "not a step or a threshold may be seen..." It was revolutionary in that the residents not only received therapy, but also put on plays, picnicked together, and worked together to devise new exercises. A brochure stated the facility's goal: "It is not the desire or intention to make the Hydrotherapeutic Center at Warm Springs a hospital or sanitarium, but a place where these patients can live as far as possible normal lives, and at the same time receive the best known treatment known to science at the present time." In 1941, Warm Springs established a training school for physical therapists. Two former residents called it "A Polio's Paradise."

*Franklin by the pool at Warm Springs, 1924 - age 42*

*Franklin swimming in the pool at Warm Springs, 1925 - age 43*

Franklin knew every corner of research about polio and therapies. The townspeople of Warm Springs addressed him as "'Doctor Roosevelt,' while Roosevelt came to see himself as quite an expert on the disease." He designed a wheelchair from a kitchen chair and bicycle wheels, making it smaller in size than most of that era, to navigate narrow hallways and tight corners. He also designed and built Top Cottage in Hyde Park in 1939: it had hand rails and ramps, an elevator was installed, door thresholds were minimized, and windows installed at lower levels. He even owned a 1936 Ford Phaeton fitted with special hand levers so he could drive around Hyde Park.

Franklin remained active in the Democratic party throughout the 1920s. In 1928, he was elected the governor of New York and served two two-year terms. When the former governor, Al Smith, was confronted with the Republican charge that Franklin's paralysis made him unfit for office, he snorted, "But the answer to that is that a governor does not have to be an acrobat. We do not elect him for his ability to do a double back-flip or a handspring."

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 set off the Great Depression. Franklin ran for President and won in 1932, even with whispers that he was not physically fit for the job. Indeed, Liberty magazine, ran the headline, "Is Franklin D. Roosevelt Physically Fit to be President?" The opening paragraph read: "It is an amazing possibility that the next President of the United States may be a cripple. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of the State of New York, was crippled by infantile paralysis in the epidemic of 1921 and still walks with the help of a crutch and a walking stick. Yet by all the political signs he will emerge as the Democratic nominee." Franklin was quoted as saying, "I don't move about my office, but I can and do move about the state."

Another Republican journalist wrote, "A sound mind in a sound body has more and more come to be a requirement for the Presidency. This is outside the legal requirements, but two recent breakdowns in office, those of Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding...very pertinently raise the question whether or not Franklin Roosevelt is fit to be President." After following Franklin around for several days, he judged, "Insofar as I have observed him, I have come to the conclusion that he seemed able to take more punishment than many men ten years younger. Merely his legs were not much good to him." Eleanor Roosevelt also famously quipped, "If the paralysis couldn't kill him, the presidency won't."

In his first Inaugural Address, he compared his own physical challenges with the Depression, calling it a national "paralysis" in which he was perfectly suited to "convert into advance." Franklin was elected to a record four terms. Because he was in office for so many years, there is a lot I'm glossing over. To read an overview of his Presidency, just read his Wikipedia. The major thing to know is that he was the longest-serving US President, from 1932-1945, presiding over America's fight through the Great Depression and World War II. His public persona was that of cheerfulness, using the radio for his Fireside Chats, to calm the nation in its struggles. Franklin famously said that one weapon he used was the most important of all: "That weapon is morale."

*Franklin on the USS Indianapolis in 1933 - age 51*

In late 1937, Franklin founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) in response to US epidemics of polio. It was created as an alliance between scientists and the volunteers who raised money for research and education efforts. This foundation was a reconstitution of the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, which he and friend Basil O'Connor had founded in 1927. Its first major effort was "The March of Dimes," (coined by radio star Eddie Cantor as a pun on the popular radio/newsreel series The March of Time) a fundraising campaign for Franklin's birthday in January 1938; bags of mail fulled of dimes, quarters, and dollar bills arrived by the truckload. That first year, he received $268,000 ($5.7 million in 2023). A women's division of the NFIP was created in 1945 and the Roosevelt dime issued in 1946. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was approved in 1955, thanks in a major part to the foundation's funding and advocacy. It shortened its name to the National Foundation (NF) in 1958 and devoted itself to prevented birth defects and infant mortality. Its name changed to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation in 1976 and added reducing the effects of premature birth as a part of its mission in 2005.

Franklin's New Deal program also helped those affected by polio. He created the Social Security Act of 1935, which provided benefits for many vulnerable populations, eventually including children and adults with disabilities. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) built special schools for children physically impacted by polio. By 1938, 50-60,000 children attended these schools. The buildings had ramps, elevators, and solariums, along with warm pools for hydrotherapy. Franklin had a great fear of being trapped by fire, so these buildings were also pointedly fireproof. Because beauty was also considered therapeutic for these children, the orthopedic schools were well-crafted. A compilation of PWA projects noted, "Everything possible has been done to create the most cheerful possible atmosphere in order to encourage the children to forget as far as possible their disabilities."

*Franklin attending a ceremony, 1941 - age 59*

Exactly three months before Pearl Harbor, Franklin's legendary mother, Sara, died on September 7, 1941. She was 86 years old and had been widowed for over forty years. Franklin was at her side. Reportedly, "Minutes after her death, the largest oak tree at Hyde Park toppled to the ground. It was a clear windless day." She was buried at Springwood next to her husband. Franklin wore a black mourning band on his arm for some time: it can be seen in photographs of him signing the declaration of war against Japan on December 8. Sara's home is now, since 2003, the Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House.

Beginning in at least 1940, Franklin's health began declining. He had been a chain smoker for his entire adult life and his body suffered for it. In March of 1944, hospital testing revealed that he had high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure. He was ordered to rest, which was difficult considering the US had been involved in World War II for a few years at that point. Franklin's personal physician created a daily schedule with two hours of rest each day and banned business lunches. Publicly, the physician denied his poor health, ensuring that Franklin was re-elected for a fourth time in 1944. Privately, Franklin confessed that he planned to resign from office following the war's end.

*Franklin (holding his dog, Fala) & Ruthie Bie, 1941*

During this run for a fourth term, he actually appeared in public in his wheelchair. Franklin told Congress, "I hope that you will pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down, but I know that you will realize that it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about 10 pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs."

Franklin managed to attend the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Many were shocked at his frail and thin appearance. On March 29, 1945, Franklin traveled once more to Warm Springs to rest before the founding conference of the United Nations the following month.

*Franklin working at Warm Springs, April 1945 - age 63*

*Franklin's last portrait, April 1945 - age 63*

On April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Franklin sat for a portrait. He suddenly said, "I have a terrific headache." He collapsed unconscious in his chair and was carried to his bedroom. His attending cardiologist diagnosed a massive intracerebral hemorrhage - a stroke. That afternoon, at 3:35 PM, Franklin died at the age of 63. His flag-draped coffin traveled to DC before being buried at Springwood in Hyde Park on April 15. Since his health had been kept mostly secret, the public was stunned. World War II would end soon after: in Europe on May 8 and with Japan on September 2.

Today, Franklin is one of the most well-known Presidents and is definitely in the "you love him or you hate him" category. His Hyde Park home is a National Historic Site and the home to his Presidential Library. There is a Roosevelt Memorial next to the Jefferson Memorial in DC, as well of one in front of the National Archives Building. As stated early, he is also commemorated on the US dime. He has appeared on several postage stamps and has a carrier, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt that served from 1945-1977. New York City even named Roosevelt Island after him in 1973. It was in the 1970s and 80s, during the disability rights movement, when it was finally publicly remembered that he primarily used a wheelchair instead of walking. In 2021, the site for the FDR Hope Memorial, on Roosevelt Island, was dedicated; this will depict Franklin in a wheelchair reaching toward a girl using a crutch. There is even a week-long professional development program in D.C. in July 2023: A Disability Legacy: The FDR Presidency and Memorial.

In 1955, the FDR Memorial Commission was organized. They opened a physically accessible memorial in 1997, dedicated by President Bill Clinton. He remarked, "It was that faith in his own extraordinary potential that enabled him to guide his country from a wheelchair. And from that wheelchair and a few halting steps, leaning on his son's arms or those of trusted aides, he lifted a great people back to their feet and set America to march again toward its destiny." This memorial did not originally include a statue showing Franklin's disability. Activists lobbied, using the slogan, "Don't hide FDR's source of strength," until Congress agreed. Sculptor Robert Graham constructed the now famous statue of Franklin in his wheelchair in 2001. Clinton also dedicated this statue, saying, "By showing President Roosevelt as he was, we show the world that we have faith that in America you are measured for what you are and what you have achieved, not for what you have lost."

A point of debate among historians is Franklin's true feelings about his disability. Some say he was ashamed, which is why he fought so hard to hide its severity. But, as Michael Deland, chairman of the National Organization on Disability, later pointed out, "He lived in a different time, when people thought being disabled was being unable." David B. Roosevelt, his grandson, said that he did not want his grandfather to be a "poster child," that people should respect how Franklin "worked hard to keep his physical limitations private." A granddaughter, Anne Roosevelt, wrote in 1996 that, "Were he alive today we are convinced that he would wish to have the people of this country and the world understand his disability. He would be comfortable, possibly eager, in light of current increased understanding of disability issues, to share awareness of his and other types of disabilities and others."

Others say that his disability helped develop his strength of character. Historian James Tobin said, "I think he was that man before he became sick, but he only discovered who he really was through the ordeal of polio. So it gave him a kind of confidence in his own strength that perhaps no one can have until you're tested." Franklin's wife, Eleanor, had declared, "Franklin's illness gave him strength and courage he had not had before. He had to think out the fundamentals of living, and learn the greatest of all lessons - infinite patience and never-ending persistence." His longtime labor secretary, Frances Perkins, had noted that the arrogant young man had been replaced after his illness: "There had been a plowing up of his nature. The man emerged completely warm-hearted, with new humility of spirit and a firmer understanding of philosophical concepts."

Franklin himself knew that he had become a symbol of perseverance. He once said, "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along'...You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

Like most people with disabilities, his feelings were likely complex and dynamic. There can be shame at not being able to care for oneself as before, anger and depression at the circumstances, joy at still being alive, determination to forge some kind of meaningful life, and many other emotions. Franklin's public image was that of "overcoming" his disability to rise to the highest office in America. Privately, he was still human, probably feeling all the range of emotions every day.

I'll close with a quote from Franklin that I was unfamiliar with initially, but is now a new favorite: “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

Most sincerely,

Christina

Further Reading

FDR's Splendid Deception: The Moving Story of Roosevelt's Massive Disability-And the Intense Efforts to Conceal It from the Public by Hugh Gregory Gallagher
FDR's Body Politics: The Rhetoric of Disability by Davis W. Houck and Amos Kiewe
The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin

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Last Updated: 12 Oct. 2023

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