Paralytic illness of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt, later the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 to 1945, began experiencing symptoms of a paralytic illness in 1921 when he was 39 years old. His main symptoms were fevers; symmetric, ascending paralysis; facial paralysis; bowel and bladder dysfunction; numbness and hyperesthesia; and a descending pattern of recovery. He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and underwent years of therapy, including hydrotherapy at Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt remained paralyzed from the waist down and relied on a wheelchair and leg braces for mobility, which he took efforts to conceal in public. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, leading to the development of polio vaccines. Although historical accounts continue to refer to Roosevelt's case as polio, the diagnosis has been questioned in the context of modern medical science, with a competing diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome proposed by some authors.
Rare photograph of Roosevelt in a wheelchair, with Ruthie Bie and Fala (1941)
The Roosevelt family at Campobello (1920)
Roosevelt supporting himself on crutches at Springwood in Hyde Park, New York, with visitors including Al Smith (1924)
Franklin (showing leg brace) and Eleanor at Hyde Park (1927)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He was a member of the Democratic Party and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. His initial two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth saw him shift his focus to America's involvement in World War II.
Official campaign portrait, 1944
A young, unbreeched Roosevelt in 1884, 2 years old
Roosevelt in 1893, at the age of 11
Roosevelt in 1900, at the age of 18