[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 4, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5138-S5139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT--DISABILITY HERO

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as many Members of the Senate know, it is my 
custom to speak each year about a disability subject on April 14. It is 
the date I was wounded in World War II and joined the disability 
community myself. This year we will be in recess on April 14, so I will 
give my annual message today.
  Mr. President, I will talk about another member of the disability 
community--certainly one of its most prominent members. But throughout 
his life, his disability was not only unknown to most people, it was 
denied and hidden.
  I am speaking about President Franklin Roosevelt. Next week, the 
Nation will commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death on April 12, 
1945. He will surely be recalled by many as a master politician; an 
energetic and inspiring leader during the dark days of the Depression; 
a tough, single-minded Commander in Chief during World War II; and a 
statesman.
  No doubt about it, he was all these things. But he was also the first 
elected leader in history with a disability, and he was a disability 
hero.


                        FDR'S SPLENDID DECEPTION

  Mr. President, in 1921, at age 39, Franklin Roosevelt was a young man 
in a hurry. He was following the same political path that took his 
cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, to the White House. In 1910 he was elected 
to the New York State Senate, and later was appointed Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy. In 1920, he was the Democratic candidate for 
Vice President.
  Then, on the evening of August 10, while on vacation, he felt ill and 
went to bed early. Within 3 days he was paralyzed from the chest down. 
Although the muscles of his upper body soon recovered, he remained 
paralyzed below the waist.
  His political career screeched to a halt. He spent the next 7 years 
in rehabilitation, determined to walk again. He never did. He mostly 
used a wheelchair. Sometimes he was carried by his sons or aides. Other 
times he crawled on the floor.
  But he did perfect the illusion of walking--believing that otherwise 
his political ambitions were dead. He could stand upright only with his 
lower body painfully wrapped in steel braces. He moved forward by 
swinging his hips, leaning on the arm of a family member or aide. It 
worked for only a few feet at a time. It was dangerous. But it was 
enough to convince people that FDR was not a ``cripple.'' FDR 
biographer Hugh Gallagher has called this effort, and other tricks used 
to hide his disability. ``FDR's splendid deception.''
  This deception was aided and abetted by many others. The press were 
coconspirators. No reporter wrote that FDR could not walk, and no 
photographer took a picture of him in his wheelchair. for that matter, 
thousands saw him struggle when he walked. Maybe they did not believe 
or understand what they saw.
  In 1928, FDR ended his political exile, and was elected Governor of 
New York. Four years later, he was President. On March 4, 1933, 
standing at the east 
[[Page S5139]] front of this Capitol, he said, ``The only thing we have 
to fear is fear itself.'' He was 35 feet from his wheelchair. Few
 people knew from what deep personal experiences he spoke.

  Perhaps the only occasion where FDR fully acknowledged the extent of 
his disability in public was a visit to a military hospital in Hawaii. 
He toured the amputee wards in his wheelchair. He went by each bed, 
letting the men see him exactly as he was. He did not need to give any 
pep talks--his example said it all.


                          fdr--disability hero

  Mr. President, earlier I called FDR a ``disability hero.'' But it was 
not for the reasons some might think. It would be easy to cite his 
courage and grit. But FDR would not want that. ``No sob stuff,'' he 
told the press in 1928 when he started his comeback. Even within his 
own family, he did not discuss his disability. It was simply a fact of 
life.
  In my view, FDR is a hero for his efforts on behalf of others with a 
disability. In 1926, he purchased a run-down resort in Warm Springs, 
GA, and over the next 20 years turned it into a unique, first class, 
rehabilitation center. It was based on a new philosophy of treatment--
one where psychological recovery was as important as medical treatment.
  FDR believed in an independent life for people with disabilities--at 
a time when society thought they belonged at home or in institutions.
  Warm Springs was run by people with polio, for people with polio. In 
that spirit, FDR is the father of the modern independent living 
movement--which puts people with disabilities in control of their own 
lives.
  He also founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis--
today known as the March of Dimes--and raised millions of dollars to 
help others with polio and find a cure. On April 12, 1955, on the 10th 
anniversary of his death, the March of Dimes announced the first 
successful polio vaccine, engineered by Dr. Jonas Salk. Today, polio is 
virtually extinct in the United States. Next week, the March of Dimes 
will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the vaccine in Ann Arbor.
  In public policy, FDR understood that Government help in 
rehabilitating people with disabilities is good business--often 
returning more in taxes and savings than it costs. It is unfortunately 
a philosophy that even today we often pay more lip service than 
practice.


                     disability today and tomorrow

  Mr. President, our Nation has come a long way in its understanding of 
disability since the days of President Roosevelt. For example, we 
recognize that disability is a natural part of life. We have begun to 
build a world that is accessible. No longer do we accept that 
buildings--either through design or indifference--are not accessible, 
which is a ``Keep Out'' sign for the disabled.
  We have come a long way in another respect--in attitudes. Fifty years 
ago, we had a President, Franklin Roosevelt, who could not walk and 
believed it was necessary to disguise that fact from the American 
people. Today I trust that Americans would have no problem in electing 
as President a man or woman with a disability.
  Mr. President, let us not fool ourselves--this work is not done. Not 
by a long shot. And I think this is something that we can all agree on, 
Republican or Democrat.
  So, next week, as we honor President Roosevelt, let us remember him 
as a disability hero and dedicate ourselves to this unfinished 
business.


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