FDR: A Real Profile in Courage Eisenhower Summer Institute June 2004

“In 1931, when Roosevelt gave a radio address in support of a ‘program of assistance for the crippled,’ he was matter-of-fact about discussing his disability. ‘People will know that restoring one of us cripples—because as some of you know, I walk around with a cane and with the aid of someone's arm myself—to useful occupation costs money,’ he told listeners. ‘...People who are crippled take a long time to be put back on their feet—sometimes years, as we all know.’ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, FDR and Polio: Public Life, Private Pain

Disease, Medicine, History, and Popular Culture How can you link these into a course in American history? How about looking at the famous smiling face of FDR. Tell his story. Could students understand it? Do they even know what polio was all about?

The Most Feared Disease On April 13, 1921, he was stricken with Poliomyelitis. He was only 39 years old. What was going to happen to his career? But what is polio?

Polio Contaminated food and water Infected by fecal matter Before public health many children had it and developed mild forms. Once in the body the virus heads for the lymph nodes and then the small intestine

Symptoms Some infections are mild and others are severe. Sore throat, headache, back pains, high fever, and intestinal upset. Ten percent will develop severe symptoms, including death and total paralysis.

How Could This Happen to Me? Promising political career. What was going to happen now? What is polio? When did it happen? Would the nation elect a cripple to lead a crippled nation? More important how did it influence his reforming spirit?

Did FDR Experience Depression? What was his family life like? What impact did this have on Eleanor? What course of action did he take? Did he believe that he would ever walk again? What was his release?

A Conspiracy of Consent One of five Americans never knew he had polio. At the Roosevelt Library they have 40,000 pictures of FDR. Only two in a wheelchair. What was his great appeal?

FDR and the Defeat of Polio In 1937 established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis with Basil O’Connor. Birthday Balls were used to raise money. Eddie Cantor came up with the “March of Dimes.” O’Connor funded vaccine research.

Proposed Assignments Have students examine public health records to determine the polio rate in your county. Discuss whether the media should or should not have reported FDR’s paralysis to the public. What does a “conspiracy of consent” mean? Can a person with a handicap handle the office of the presidency? How did polio change FDR? Did it influence his reform spirit?

Key Books Hugh Gregory Gallagher, FDR’s Splendid Deception Tony Gold, A Summer Plague: Polio and its Survivors

Internet Sites HHMI's BioInteractive - FDR and Polio: Public Life, Private Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute-FDR and Polio—Campobello Daily Press Solutions—What Happened After FDR Got Polio?