# How many people knew FDR could not walk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075 "2013-04-07T14:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/81 "2013-07-10T15:47:03Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > My question: why wasn’t VP Truman better prepped to take over? The only question was “when will FDR croak-not if”. The man was very ill in his last 2 years. My speculation is that Roosevelt didn’t really believe he was as sick as he was. He had beaten the odds several times in the past and done things people said couldn’t be done. So he probably though he could defy his ill health and live out his term as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/82 "2013-07-13T01:45:36Z")
According to this from _Time_ magazine, media outlets who disliked FDR (including \*Time \*magazine) had no qualms in [reporting he used a wheelchair](http://ideas.time.com/2013/07/12/the-myth-of-fdrs-secret-disability/?hpt=hp_t5). ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/83 "2013-07-13T02:04:57Z")
From having spoken with older people, including my grandparents about this… My impression is everyone knew he had polio and had a severe impairment in walking. It was well-known and obvious that in newsreels or photos he was either in a moving car, seated, or behind a firm podium in nearly every appearance. However, there was a mentality that his disability was a “private matter,” and it was almost expected of Roosevelt to mask this as much as possible. It was not so much a perception that FDR was being deceptive to the public, but a mentality that the American public didn’t want to see a president or any other major figure on crutches or in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/84 "2013-07-13T15:46:42Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > According to this from _Time_ magazine, media outlets who disliked FDR (including \*Time \*magazine) had no qualms in [reporting he used a wheelchair](http://ideas.time.com/2013/07/12/the-myth-of-fdrs-secret-disability/?hpt=hp_t5). Also from that article: > [@](#): > > The misconception that FDR’s disability was a “state secret” guarded by the press has endured for so long in part because there is an element of truth to it. The examples above notwithstanding, mentions of Roosevelt’s wheelchair were extremely rare. Far more commonly, news coverage depicted him as someone who had been stricken by polio but who had triumphed over his affliction—which of course he had, despite the fact that he remained paralyzed. This was the image that FDR and his advisers wished to project, and they largely succeeded. So even that article agrees that what we’ve been saying is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/85 "2013-07-14T01:34:42Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > It was not so much a perception that FDR was being deceptive to the public, but a mentality that the American public didn’t want to see a president or any other major figure on crutches or in a wheelchair. And to some extent, that mentality still exists today. Most Americans know that John McCain suffered horrible injuries while he was a POW in Vietnam, but I’d say that few realize the extent of his injuries: that [he has difficulty climbing stairs and can’t raise either of his arms above his head.](http://www.vanityfair.com./politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702) However, I don’t think anyone is eager to see photos of McCain’s staff combing the Senator’s hair. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075/86 "2013-07-14T01:47:01Z")
FWIW, Senator Dole in public, and of course in the Presidential campaign, always carried a pen clutched in his hand so people would not try to shake his hand, which would cause him pain. I don’t know what the cause of that was. A war wound, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-knew-fdr-could-not-walk/655075.md?page=4)