It’s a very obscure question but I did some research and it turns out that the president who led us out of the Depression and kicked Hitler’s ass was actually in a wheelchair? Who knew?
Kevin, I am not a historian, so IDK, but has there ever been a President in American History who used a mobility aid? And, if so, would you say this president who was so weak as to need, say, braces or a wheelchair, is considered to be one of the top President’s ever?
FDR did a lot to conceal his disability. Ableism was really fierce at the time, and he wanted to project vigor. It was heroic, and clever. Aides would carry a standing FDR to a podium, holding him up by his powerful arms. And then he’d use those arms to stay up while he spoke.
A clever trick was to arrive at a crowd to give a speech in a car, drive the car up a ramp with a microphone, and have him give the speech from the car. It gave the impression he was in a hurry to fix things. Political cartoonists obliged, and frequently depicted him running.
It absolutely sucks that he felt obliged to do that, an indictment of pervasive ableism. But he met the challenge heroically.
He’d acquired polio as an adult, probably while camping with the Boy Scout troop he led.
He concealed it, though not completely.
But that’s beside the point. He was in a wheelchair and, despite the ableist framing of the Economist, he was the greatest U.S. president ever.
Absolutely. My parents practically worshipped him, made a point of teaching me about his disability. They had a good friend who was a Judge, said FDR made it possible for him to preside in a wheelchair.
I haven’t read the Economist article referred to, though I’m a subscriber.
Just opened my app, and saw the new cover. jfc. I got in a bad crash a year and a half ago, couldn’t work for a month because the painkillers made me loopy. Getting off the drugs, out of bed, and on to a walker for 8 weeks was a struggle, but it was liberating, despite the fucked up stigma.
US Naval Institute Proceedings in the 30s once made reference to a cruiser (Houston, IIRC) being frequently used by FDR as a transport because it had special “Presidential fittings” and I’ve long suspected that was code for ramps and the like.
Both Bush, Jr., and Biden rode bikes to demonstrate their vigor.
I ride a bike because it’s fun, and easy. But I’ve reached the age where my Doctors recommend it for older folks.
