FDR: the Super Crip or the Traitor?

Given his place in time, FDR was who he had to be. His disability was more private than hidden.  That is, is was not a secret. He was undoubtedly one of the most important men of the 20th century.  Wheels or not.

Though it would be interesting to have some of his insights into being a world leader, during his time, while living with a disability, the disability is in the end unimportant.  I rather like that.

Rehab Guy,

I agree that FDR could not openly talk about his disability if he wanted to win elections.  I disagree that he didn't make efforts to disguise it to a degree.  I have heard several places that he refused to have his photo taken in his wheelchair most of his life and in the pre-television world when radio addresses were how leaders talked to their people, this WAS his public image.  Maybe his disability couldn't be kept a complete secret, but it also wasn't at all part of his public identity for fear of being seen as weak (aka crippled).  When one makes taht much of an effort to draw emphasis away from one's disability, even if it wasn't completely "hidden," how can we not see him as ashamed of this part of who he is.  Sure, we can make historical/cultural allowances for FDR's attitude toward his disability just as we can make allowances for Thomas Jefferson's attitude toward his black slaves.  

Besides, my gripe is mostly with the way the majority of historians (and others) approach FDR's disability as a footnote, and a deeply negative one at that.  His paralysis and the minority status it offered him, if it is mentioned at all, is always something terrible and negative.  I don't think treating his disability in this way is a good thing.  Imagine in 50 years if historians failed to mention that Obama was the first black president and only talked about his policy accomplishments.  This would be a way of assigning a deeply negative value to his racial identity.  It would be a way of saying "his race was unimportant because he wasn't like all those other nasty stereotypical black folks because he overcame his skin color and acted white enough to be president and so we don't need to focus on that tidbit."  The fact is that FDR was a crip and our community should be able to claim him with PRIDE.  I think a biography focusing on his disability in an honest way would do some work toward accomplishing this because it would, at least, aknowledge that he was one of us.

From what little research I've done about this issue, it appears that FDR did not feel positively about his disability. He hid it as much out of shame as he did out of political necessity. However, that's from very limited research...I think maybe you've just found your holiday research project :). I've often wondered how crip history would have been different if FDR had been more open about his disability. The whole disability issue aside, I find the FDR quote you used to lead off this post as being really ironic considering he was the one who signed the Japanese internment order during WWII. Any oppression...my ass.

I find it difficult to look back to the middle of the 20th century and criticize the man Einstein reported to on the upcoming nuclear era for his choices related to his disability. The realities of the 1930s and 40s were somewhat different than the world in which we lived today.  Remember that Hitler did not begin the perversion of German society by eliminating the Jewish people.  He started by convincing his people it was proper to remove the unworthy from Germany.  He started by "cleansing" Germany of the disabled.  Imagine the propaganda power of film footage showing the president of the United states clambering about on crutches or being pushed around in a wheelchair.  FDR's choices related to "crip pride" were not as easily made as are our choices today.

  I doubt that a man ruled by shame could have accomplished the things FDR did. My political positions sit far right of this president and I'm not what anyone would call a fan but I can't deny his impact on the world in which we live.  There clearly were efforts to keep his disability out of the public eye but I don't see that as any sign of self hatred.  At worst it was an expedient political cover.  Most people knew.  anyone in power knew.  It may have been a foot note in history but it has always been there.  I learned about FDRs disability in 3rd grade.

  This discussion comes up frequently.  It raises a lot of issues. History, identity the right to personal pride. I don't think FDR spent much of his life focused through the "lens" of his disability.  I can't believe he spent much time shrouded buy the woe of shame.  And I can't reach back with the standards of 2007 to even suggest he might be a traitor to those of us who in many ways benefit daily from the course he set our country on.

it's funny to think bob dole was the first presidential candidate to openly disclose his disability, huh? i think to a certain extent, FDR is a crip hero as his disability shaped policy that greatly affected disabled people today. maybe not but i know there was this real feeling of reverence when friends and i went to his memorial.

anyways. elenor was a lesbian!!!!! weeee

eleanor*

I find this discussion interesting!  I never even knew that FDR had a disability until my college years when I happened upon a picture of him on wheels. It would have been nice if there had been some mention while I was a young kid because growing up, I wasn't exposed to any sort of disability pride.  

I knew that FDR was our first President with a disability the very first time I ever heard of him...probably in the third grade or so. I was an amputee from birth. I said..."So what!" and got on with it. He was a President and that was it to me. I was taught by my parents that you could do anything and I just took it all for granted. It was just one of those "kid things" and it kind of still is. I don't need to know what others can do....I know what I can do!

From the Disability Social History Project

www.disabilityhistory.org/people.html

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Disability:

Was He Successful in Concealing It?

You Decide!

www.cloudnet.com/.../fdrlessons.htm

“On August 10, 1921, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was stricken with polio. While sailing that afternoon, he and his children noticed a brush fire on a small island. They went ashore and put out the fire.  FDR then jogged two miles across Campobello Island for what he thought would be a refreshing swim. However, rather than feeling refreshed, he returned home totally exhausted. FDR began to read the newspaper, but felt too tired to continue. "Remarking that he seemed to have a slight case of lumbago, he put down the papers, climbed the stairs unassisted, and went to bed. He would never walk again" (Gallagher, 1994, p. 3).”

“After the students share their conclusions, photos, and cartoons (all or nearly all will correctly conclude that FDR was successful), ask them to describe what the photos revealed regarding how FDR succeeded in this "splendid deception." As this discussion proceeds, help them by pointing out that, as Gallagher (1994) has documented, FDR was never lifted in public nor was he ever seen in his wheelchair. Rather, when out in public, he always stood, steadied by an aid, was seated in an ordinary chair, or sat in the backseat of his car. The bottoms of his leg braces were painted black, so as to be difficult to distinguish from his socks and shoes, and his pants were made purposely long to cover them up. When he gave a speech, he held firmly onto a podium that was bolted to the stage. He was always seated as close to the podium as possible, and he would "walk" to the podium, with help, often from his son Elliott, by "tightly gripping his son's arm. In his right arm Roosevelt held a cane . . . In this posture he could 'walk,' although in a curious toddling manner, hitching up first one leg with the aid of the muscles along the side of  his trunk, then placing his weight upon that leg, then using the muscles along his other side, and hitching the other led forward - first one side and then the other . . ." (Gallagher, 1994, p. 65).”

“Ask the students to speculate as to why Roosevelt went to such great lengths to hide the extent of his disability. Though they will probably know that a "cripple" could not have been elected president, explain that in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, those with disabilities "were viewed as flawed in moral character as well as body" (Gallagher, 1994, p. 30). Therefore, they "were kept at home, out of sight, in back bedrooms by families who felt a mixture of embarrassment and shame about their presence" (Longmore, 1987, p. 359). Follow this discussion by asking if the students believe that attitudes such as these still exist today.”

“Explain to the students that the press surely knew the extent of Roosevelt's disability, yet they did not write about it. In fact, Gallagher notes that FDR fell at least three times in public, including a fall that occurred during his "walk" to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech at the 1936 Democratic Convention (p. 101). Ask students if they believe the press' complicity in FDR's attempts to hide the extent of his disability was ethical. Also, ask if such an unspoken agreement between a U. S.  president and the press could possibly exist today.”

“Finally, ask the students if they think that it would be possible for a person who uses a wheelchair to be elected president today. If time permits, this question might be used in a debate, with teams of students presenting arguments for and against the notion that a person who uses a wheelchair, regardless of her/his ability, could now be elected president.”

I say:

Many nondisabled American’s during FDR’s time viewed persons with disabilities as, “less than,” fearing them, hiding them in those back rooms; ignoring their needs out of shame, disregard and complete lack of approval. Women and people of color of this time period were treated horribly; how much recognition and respect do you think people with disabilities were going to receive?Lack of ability to produce, to be a worker, meant banishment from public acceptance. Healthy, happy, able-bodied people were the apple of the public’s eye. Disability Culture was a non-existent concept in they eyes of American’s. Justin Dart hadn’t even gotten to an age where he could get started.  

In the year 2008, what has changed? There is supposedly more respect for those women and persons of color in our society; supposedly. There is that same supposed increase in respect for persons with disabilities. Yet stigmas still reign, and sexism, racism, and anti-disability sentiment are still prevalent. Where does this madness end?

Not to suggest that Justin Dart and Yoshiko’s efforts were wasted; far from it. ADA laws are a great thing, when employers are not finding ways to weasel around those same laws. Ed Roberts did indeed find ways to smash curb cuts into those curbs. Now we have ramps, in places. Some gain; some loss of ground. There is much, much more to be done. As Justin would say, “Lead on.”

Hugh Gallagher wrote a book about FDR's disability:

FDR's Splendid Deception: The Moving Story of Roosevelt's Massive Disability-And the Intense Efforts to Conceal It from the Public

www.amazon.com/.../0918339502