Reading up about the life and times of FDR, came across the lengths he went to conceal his paralysis from the public - very few photographs of FDR in his wheelchair exist, he taught himself to laboriously walk with braces and support himself on lecterns; such measures were deemed vital for his electoral success.
But we live in more enlightened times…or do we? If Obama had the same condition as FDR but did not conceal it (given the prevalence of the press these days I’d wager it would be impossible to conceal in the same manner as FDR), how would his electoral success have been effected?
Only chose Obama as he is the incumbent - feel free to substitute George W. Bush or Clinton if you feel it would make a difference.
FDR portrayed himself as a man who had beaten polio. It was an open secret that he was usually in a wheel chair. He couldn’t really walk with braces more than a step or two, someone was always holding him up. He could stand when he could hold on to a railing or lectern. So his condition was worse then the public even realized.
A presidential candidate in a wheelchair could succeed now. He or she won’t be able to hide it and project an image of someone who had beaten the condition that prevented them from walking, but people aren’t going to assume someone can’t do the job of president because they’re wheelchair bound. The regular political issues will make the difference.
I think so. I don’t think the American public really cares about physical handicaps amongst their politicians. McCain and Dole were both handicapped and while neither man lost, their physical limitations don’t seem to have cost them many votes.
Plus, even if people didn’t know it then,pretty much everyone knows now that FDR was handicapped, and its hard to say it held him back any. So given most people already know of one well regarded crippled Prez, I doubt they’d be too hesitant to elect another.
WTF, ROTFLMAO? He had the handicap of being half black and still won twice despite all the thinly veiled racial attacks on his religious beliefs and place of birth. Had he been in a wheelchair they would have accused him of faking it and asking him to prove that he couldn’t walk while insinuating that he was milking the system. Yes, he still would have won.
FDR couldn’t have concealed his illness without the cooperation of the press. That wouldn’t happen today because it wouldn’t be possible. I think a candidate with a disability similar to FDR’s could be elected as long as there wasn’t a solid reason to think his health would be in jeopardy during his time in office.
Not just the press, but almost everyone but Joe Q. Public. One of the hotels in DC was rebuilt near the start of the war, and it included a vehicle lift that enabled the President to be driven, in his armored limo, almost to the ballroom podium.
JFK was often on crutches due to his severe back problems, but went to great lengths to avoid being seen in public using them. Then and now, we expect our Presidents to be vigorous and in good health. Being in a wheelchair would not be helpful to Obama, but yes, I think he could still have won.
Max Cleland, confined to a wheelchair due to wounds suffered while serving during the Vietnam War, was elected a U.S. senator, FWIW: Max Cleland - Wikipedia
And despite his health and his robust appearance, JFK’s health was terrible. Crutches and back pain were the least of it.
I understand the similarities, but injuries from combat might belong in a separate category from debilitating illnesses. And while everybody knew about McCain and Dole’s war injuries, McCain was arguably kind of tight lipped about his history of skin cancer. It hasn’t been a problem for him since 2008 as far as I know, but he was very careful with his medical history during the campaign.
I forgot to mention that FDR’s cigarette smoking might keep him from getting elected now. Obama’s smoking habit was pretty well hidden before he was elected. It’s one of those last areas of personal behavior the press won’t jump on.
Interesting…although wiki says that he awarded the Silver Star, and Johnny Public loves a good war wound. However the last 3 elected presidents have been nowhere near a battlefield. I think illness causing them to be confined to a wheelchair would have quite a different perception in the public eye than if they had been paralysed in combat.
JFK’s poor health in comparison to his youthful image is an example of what I’m thinking of; even in 1960 he could ‘get away with it’. Now with all the media outlets picking over every candidate they couldn’t hope to hide something like that and not have the electorate scrutinise it.
One can almost imagine the Bidenisms: “Barack and I have walked all over this country together”… “I can’t wait to see Barack bust a move with Michelle at the inaugural ball”…
Paul Tsongas ran into this in 1992. He died on Jan. 18, 1997; had he been elected and then reelected, he would’ve died in office before he even started his second term.
My mother was born in 1930. She knew that FDR was in a wheelchair, and so did anyone who wanted to acknowledge it. It was very rude back then to talk about such a thing so people did not talk of it openly.
In short, this was social convention, not that the public wasn’t aware, the public pretended it didn’t exist. You might want to see the film “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with James Cagney playing George M. Cohen, who plays Roosevelt. Cagney actually dances as Roosevelt. Yankee Doodle Dandy - Wikipedia My recollection (I couldn’t review it for this post) is that he does an odd foot dragging thing during the dance
Although I mostly enjoyed the movie, one of my criticisms of Hyde Park on Hudson is that the film showed FDR being carried by an aide - not once, not twice, but three times - in the presence of other people, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. I’ve read that FDR and his entourage went to great lengths to keep any outsiders from seeing him like that.
Tsongas lied about his cancer recurrence, plain and simple. There are also people who say JFK might well have died in office had he not been shot in Dallas and been re-elected in 1964, although I don’t know how likely that is.
When I said earlier that McCain was tight lipped, I meant he made his medical records available to reporters for a very short period during the campaign and did so under very controlled conditions: a handful of reporters were allowed to review the records for three hours and make no photocopies, among other restrictions. He’d had several bouts with melanoma, although the most recent was bout eight years earlier.
