Historic Hyde Park FDR used his power to lead the fight against polio

Historic Hyde Park
FDR used his power to lead the fight against polio

Although it is not a date to be celebrated, August. 10 deserves to be remembered, as the anniversary of the date on whichwhen Franklin Roosevelt contracted polio. , August 10, has passed with little attention. Americans today no longer live in constant anxiety about a virus that was such a mystery to science only decades ago. When Roosevelt contracted the disease in 1921 he was simply enjoying his a summer like many other Americanvacation at his family home on Campobello Island families: sailing, camping, swimming, entertaining guests and running. Within days Roosevelt was paralyzed from the waist down due to what thea local family doctor diagnosed as a blood clot. As the virus made its way to his spinal cord it rapidly destroyed his nerve cells. On the order of their doctor, Eleanor tried to comfort Franklin by massaging Roosevelt’s his legs to avoid losing muscle mass and to increase circulation. This treatment was terribly painful for Roosevelt to endure, and, as it would turn out days laterlater turned o

What may have been even worse for the proud politician was the grim recovery newsprognosis. Lovett predicted Roosevelt would recover only after several months of paralysis. Science at the time knew very little about polio and there was no modern medicine that couldto accelerate his recovery. For months Roosevelt was convinced he would regain control over his legs but to no avail. Roosevelt was not alone; in the five years before he contracted polio 12,000 children in New York Sstate alone alone had also become polio patients sufferedcontracting similar paralysis.

Roosevelt later likened his experience at Campobello with to a kind of that of a divine test. No matter the privilege, money and statusre Roosevelt he was born into, none of it would help him fight polio. Roosevelt’s The paralysis greatly decreased his independence and he emerged from the testillness much closer to a humbled politician who was less distanced from the common man. He could more acutely sympathize with the rest of America because, as he put it, “Once you’ve spent two years trying to wiggle your toe, everything is in proportion.”

Roosevelt used his position to advance funding for polio, by hostingdonating his birthday to sponsor “ Birthday Balls” all over the country beginning in 1934. which would later beThe fundraisers were later incorporated into the March of Dimes. Roosevelt raised widespread awareness for the need to end polio as a serious public health threat to the world. The funding generated was used to provideprovided care to those vvictims stricken with polio, and to helphelped fund Jonas Salk’s vaccination effortsvaccine research. Roosevelt’s activism in rallying aid to for polio treatments is a far cry from presidential activism todayresearch has not been seen in subsequent presidencies--perhaps because the presidents themselves were not afflicted with such a catastrophic health problem. . Presidents after Roosevelt have gone as far as to deny the existence of unknown threatening diseases. Many timesNowadays these such causes aretend fall simply left to the to the attention of the First first Ladylady.

As your summer draws to an end, you can be grateful to have had the privilege to enjoy the classic summertime activities without worry or anxiety. TAmericans can be grateful for President Roosevelt’s interventionhe fight against polio as it is sometimes called has had reducedpolio, reducing it polio to a widely understood and treatable virus. Jonathan Alter states in his best-selling book about Roosevelt’s First Hundred Days, “The Defining Moment,” that FDR’s battle against polio helped to strengthen him for the later challenges of the Great Depression and World War II.

Calendar of Events at Historic Hyde Park.

Special Eexhibit

Daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.in Progress-

“ Freedom Ffrom Fear: FDR Commander in Chief”

At the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, “Freedom from Fear” offers visitors an insider’s view of presidential decision-making and life in Roosevelt’s war-time White House. The priceless public and personal papers on display provide revealing glimpses into pivotal moments and decisions, along with the human side of FDR as he led America through its greatest international crisis.

Open Daily from 9 AM to 6 PM

August. 26--

2 p.m.

"For the Love of Springwood” Aa Hhistoric Ssite Ggrounds Ttour

Tour leaves from the Henry A. Wallace Center: j. Join a park ranger to look at some of the “nooks and crannies” on the estate where FDR was born and raised. Explore the areas that were special to him.

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