The Effect of Polio on Franklin Delano Roosevelts Life

03/03/12 History Essay1 Page Sanjana Purker

The Effect of Polio on FDR’s Life

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fondly called FDR, consistently rated as one of America’s top 3 Presidents, was also one of the most loved and popular Presidents in the history of the country, having been elected four times. He is the only President to have served three terms. All these facts are well-known to the public but not much is known about his struggle with polio and how he strived to hide it from the public, so that he would never be perceived as ‘weak’ by anyone. The loss of the use of his legs affected him in more than one way. It affected his thinking and perspective of the world, and even his political and economic policies. This essay will explore the aspects of Roosevelt, which are not often mentioned in most of FDR’s biographies.

Roosevelt in 1921, at the age of 39, was all set to follow the footsteps of his 5th cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, towards a promising political career ultimately leading to the White House. Unfortunately, fate intervened and threatened to destroy what seemed to be destined for him. During a vacation at his summerhouse on Campobello Island, off the coast of Maine, after a day spent outdoors, hiking and swimming in a river, he began to feel weakness in his legs, experience chills and was down with a high fever. The local doctor said that it was just a cold, but a few hours later, he had lost the use of both his legs. Robert Lovett, the country’s leading expert on poliomyelitis, immediately recognized it as polio.(It is interesting to know that in 2003, researchers decided it was likely that Roosevelt had Guillain-Barre syndrome rather than polio.)

Right from the beginning friends and family were concerned with concealing the extent of the severity of his disease. In fact the journalists and public were convinced that he had had a mild case of pneumonia and was recovering. Roosevelt’s close confidante Howe said, ”I’m not going to mention the word ‘paralysis’ unless I have to. If it’s printed, we’re sunk. Franklin’s career is kaput, it’s finished.” Finally when it came out into the pubic, that he had polio, the doctor assured the press that it was a mild case and that he hadn’t been crippled. Roosevelt developed a technique with his doctors, friend and family, by which he could “walk”. He was fitted with steel braces that ran from his heels to above his hips, by which he could mimic walking by pivoting his hips using his upper body strength.

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So effective was this deception (and so cooperative was the press in preserving it) that few Americans and many top European leaders, knew during his lifetime that he was largely confined to a wheelchair. Roosevelt did not want his aggressive exterior image to be tarnished. He did not want to be perceived as ‘weak’ by anyone and did want his disability to be used against him by the opposition. He felt that there was a certain social stigma attached to being crippled and FDR was determined continue on his path to greatness. He used a wheel chair in private, but made sure he was never seen in it in public. “FDR did not want to be seen seated in a wheelchair,” Orsini said. “He was a proud man.” But why? Why the façade? Perhaps he wanted to believe he was not disabled. Perhaps he wanted the reflection he saw in the eyes of others to be the picture he carried in his head, rather than the picture of a person with a disability, a person others might pity, a person others might consider ''crippled”. That is the ''society cripple'' attitude that is forced on every disabled person in society. Who could criticize anyone for trying to escape it? He did not want to be pitied or disadvantaged politically in any way.

Even the press supported his cover up. Out of thousands of pictures, only two photographs are known to exist of Roosevelt while he was in a wheel chair. It was standard practice to confiscate the cameras of the White House press corps if the took photos of Roosevelt in positions that would make him look weak, such as seated in a wheel chair or being lifted from his car. The Secret Service also ensured that ramps were built, so that FDR could walk up the entrances of various buildings in Washington D.C. There was sort an unspoken consent between the press and FDR to never photograph him in motion while the entire nation worshipped him. The one time FDR fell was at a democratic convention in 1936, with 90,000 people in attendance. The Secret Service had such a plan that very few people saw the fall and FDR had such a rapport with the press that it was not reported! The main reason for this tremendous support was that FDR was a very loved and respected person. The public chose to ignore his disability, the press of the day thought it was rude to raise such sensitive topic before the President and the opposition did not have the heart to attack him as far as his disability was concerned. Quite unlike today’s times I would say! In those days people had a different view of privacy, even when it came to public figures.

The paralysis also changed FDR’s perspective and outlook towards the world. It gave him a greater understanding of life Eleanor Roosevelt thought FDR's polio was "a turning point" that "proved a blessing in disguise; for it gave him strength and courage he had not had before.” In 1910, when Roosevelt was elected to the New York Senate, Frances Perkins was one of those who remained unimpressed by his activities during this period: "Tall and slender, very active and alert, moving around the floor, going in and out of committee rooms, rarely talking with the members, not particularly charming (that came later), rarely smiling, with an unfortunate habit - so natural he was unaware of it - of throwing his head up. This, combined with his pince-nez and great height, gave him the appearance of looking down his nose at most people." FDR had come from an elite, upper class background and many considered him to be arrogant at that time and felt that would be unable to reach out to the common man. Frances Perkins believed that this illness changed Roosevelt's personality and in doing so, made him into a better man. "Roosevelt underwent a spiritual transformation during the years of his illness. I noticed when he came back that the years of pain and suffering had purged the slightly arrogant attitude he had displayed on occasion before he was stricken. The man emerged completely warmhearted, with humility of spirit and with a deeper philosophy. Having been to the depths of trouble, he understood the problems of people in trouble." One of the few times that FDR broke his rules about being publicly seen in a wheelchair was while visiting wounded in a hospital in Hawaii. Gallagher said that this was so that the soldiers could see that he was just as disabled as they were.

It was only after being affected by polio did Roosevelt really become sensitive to the plight of the underprivileged and the sick. His economic policies reflected this. The Security Act provided for the poor, the sick, the old as well as for families with special needs children. He created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, a group that would gather some of the best medical minds in the world with the goal of finally eradicating polio by finding preventive measure and a cure. The foundation would be funded entirely by donations — a dime at a time, if need be. Before long, penny postcards with dimes taped to them began pouring in to the White House. Pitchman for the movement, entertainer Eddie Cantor changed that long name to the March of Dimes While fighting a Depression and a war FDR continued to devote an unusually large amount of time to the March of Dimes. Roosevelt felt that the warm, mineral rich waters of Warm Springs would cure his paralysis as there had been some previous success stories. He spent almost 2/3rd of his personal fortune to buy and run the place and open it for the treatment of all people. He decided that wealthy folks would pay the full $47-per-week fee; poorer folks would pay half; still poorer ones would pay nothing. He spent a lot of time and money on this project. The Georgia Warm springs Foundation invested almost $25.2 million in research on polio and cures.

I’m not sure if FDR needed to conceal his illness from the people who had such great faith in him and had elected him to office four times. Some say had he been open about it, he would have inspired other paraplegics to disregard the social stigma and do the same. Although it must be noted that FDR received many grateful letters from people lauding him how he had overcome physical disability to achieve such greatness. "Every time I hear your voice on the radio and read about your attitude toward physical handicaps... I am strengthened and my courage is renewed..." wrote a mother whose eight-year-old son was in braces. And from a 12 year old who had already spent six months in the hospital came this letter: "I don't know when I shall be able to walk again, but I am not giving up hope. You had paralysis but that didn't stop you from progressing." Even though his polio was common knowledge, the public was truly unaware of how helpless he was physically, how he couldn’t do anything without his attendants and that was precisely why Roosevelt was afraid to show the people his physical disability. He did not want them to connect his physical image to his mental strength and potential. He didn’t want people to ever SEE him in a position that would make them doubt his capability. While this is the political aspect of it, I personally feel that Roosevelt himself never believed that he was incurable. His undying optimism and faith made him believe that recovery was always an option. That is why he never gave up trying to practice walking using various aids and searching for cures, whether in hydro-therapy or in medical advancements. Many years later after his death, when there was heated debate about how to depict FDR in his memorial at Washington, his family argued that American citizens deserved to remember him for truly who he was both for his contributions as well as his real physical appearance. His grandson wrote,” We must grasp the fact that every day the president could not get out of bed, get dressed, reach the bathroom or get to his desk without the assistance of another person and a wheelchair. He was totally dependent upon both. Considering these restrictions, FDR's extraordinary leadership and achievements become even more impressive.”

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