FDR and Polio - A 'Splendid Deception'

FDR was well aware that his physical limitations might become an issue in the campaign and shortly after making the decision to run, questions about his health and his ability to handle the rigors of office surfaced in the press. FDR met this challenge head on, by running one of the most vigorous campaigns to date, and by presenting himself in public as a man full of vim and vitality, who was fully capable of rising to the challenge of public office. Indeed, in a society deeply prejudiced against the disabled, it was imperative that FDR not be seen as a "cripple," as in 1920s America a physical handicap was often viewed as but the outward sign of a deeper flaw that somehow diminished the mental abilities and emotional make-up of the individual in question.

To overcome this prejudice, FDR carefully staged his public appearances. He traveled in the back seat of an open car fitted with an iron bar that he could grab onto so as to pull himself to a standing position once the vehicle had stopped. He would then quickly snap his braces into place and proceed to address his audience, making sure that he made reference to his numerous campaign appearances and the intensity with which he was canvassing the state. He also used humor and sarcasm to great effect, mocking press reports about the poor state of his health, and asking the assembled to take a good look at him and judge for themselves whether or not he was such an "unfortunate sick man."

Whenever possible, FDR would address his audience from a standing position -- in town halls, from the back of his railway car, in larger auditoriums. If it were necessary for FDR to walk to the podium, he would use a cane with one hand, and grip the strong arm of an aide or one of his sons with the other. As he ambled along, slowly, he would raise his head and smile, and so distract his onlookers with witty banter that people seemed not to notice the tremendous effort it took for him to walk even a short distance. Steps and other physical barriers were of course a major problem, for FDR could not navigate anything but a level surface. Working with his aides and police escorts, he soon developed a simple technique to tackle this problem. He would bend his elbows and hold his strong arms parallel with the ground while his aides grabbed his forearms and carried him in a standing position up steps or over other barriers.

In private, FDR frequently used a wheelchair (a narrow, armless, unobtrusive contraption that he designed himself) to get from one place to another. But he preferred not to sit in it while working, and refused to be seen in it in public. He also worked out a remarkable "gentleman's agreement" with the Press, who were asked not to take photographs of him in it, or any of the many situations in which he might appear helpless. Remarkably, the Press adhered to this tacit understanding, and of the tens of thousands of photographs taken of FDR during his public and private life, there are but two known to exist showing him in his wheelchair. The most famous of these photographs was taken near the end of his life at "Top Cottage," the small hilltop retreat FDR built on his Hyde Park estate in 1938 in anticipation of his retirement. Top Cottage is an early example of a home designed for a person with a disability, a place where FDR could take refuge from the pressures of public life and simply be himself. Perhaps it is not surprising that it was here, in this tranquil setting, that FDR finally allowed himself to be photographed sitting in his wheelchair.

the presidency