Franklin Roosevelt: Part I

The early years in the life of the thirty second president of the United States.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the thirty-second president of the United States and the only one to ever serve more than two terms in office. He is unique in history for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that from the confines of a wheelchair, he led America through some of it darkest times, notably the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II. This could never have happened today with media intrusion being such a fundamental part of those in the orbit of the public eye. He was never seen or photographed in a wheelchair in public and he usually appeared standing upright, supported on one side by an aide or one of his sons.

Diagnosed with poliomyelitis, today it is thought his illness was Guilain-Barre syndrome and not poliomyelitis. Roosevelt convinced many people that he was getting better. He did this, perhaps, because he felt it was a necessary ploy if he hoped to stay in public office, but also because he could never accept that his paralysis from the waist down was a permanent condition. He tried every therapy available, including hydrotherapy, and he helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now known as The March of Dimes). His leadership in this area is one reason he is commemorated on the dime.

For the young man born into privilege with the world at his feet, Franklin Delano Roosevelt forged his way to the presidency aided by the Roosevelt name, money and the political climate of the day. Read about this man who led America through some of its most critical periods from the confines of a wheelchair, proving that disability, despite its very real limitations, is in many ways a state of mind.

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