During the summer of 1921, FDR was enjoying a day of sailing on his yacht when he suddenly fell overboard into the icy waters of the Bay of Fundy, which ironically felt paralyzing to his body. The following day, FDR complained of lower back pain and went for a swim in hopes to ease the soreness. As the day progressed, he could feel his legs becoming weaker and by the third day, he could no longer hold his own weight. His skin quickly became very sensitive and eventually even a slight breeze across his body caused great distress.

Eleanor, who couldn’t bear to see her husband in such anguish, began to contact a handful of doctors, hoping one of them would be able to find a remedy to his unknown infirmity. One of these doctors was Dr. Keen who insisted the issue stemmed from a blood clot located in the lower spinal cord and recommended that he receive lumbar massages daily in order to help circulation. Days later, FDR was notified by Dr. Keen that his earlier diagnosis was incorrect and instead he claimed the distress was being caused by spinal lesion. The massage therapy continued but did not prove to be successful in curing the paralysis.

On August 25, 1921, another physician, Dr. Robert Lovett, diagnosed FDR with infantile paralysis (i.e. polio). At that time, polio had no known cure and often resulted in full or partial paralysis and the erosion of one’s motor skills. Lovett, who was an expert on the disease, insisted Franklin stop the massages, as they were not helping the situation and possibly making it worse; he instead suggested that he take hot baths.

Both FDR and Eleanor were surprised by this verdict, as it was uncommon for a middle aged person to contract polio. Most cases of the disease were acquired during infancy, but most children become immune to the disease by the age of four. Lovett explained that in order for a person to combat poliomyelitis, they must be in good emotional and physical health and have a healthy immune system. This made FDR rethink the actuality of having the disease since he could recall frequently becoming ill as a young boy, but for the past few years he had been leading a stressful life in politics that may have weakened his immunity. At the young age of thirty-nine, FDR became a victim of infantile paralysis.

Recovery and Rehabilitation

It was during fall of 1921, when FDR made the decision to remove himself from political life in order to begin his rehabilitation process at his home in Hyde Park, New York. For several years, his main focus shifted from politics to recovering from his paralysis. FDR began routinely swimming three times a week in the Astor pool and in the pond. He had realized that his legs could support the weight of his body in water with ease and used swimming as his main exercise. By the winter of that year, his arms regained strength, his nervous system was functioning normally, and his stomach and lower back were getting stronger (Gallagher 23).

In January 1922, FDR was fit with braces that locked in at the knee and continued the length of his leg, and by the spring of that year he could stand with assistance. FDR made a plan that one day he would walk the length of his driveway, which was a quarter-mile long. Although he never accomplished the task, he used it as a training procedure, working himself to the bone in hopes that he would be able to walk again if he continued exercising.

Due to his bright personality, FDR insisted that he be surrounded by “good cheer” throughout his rehab process. He was known for exercising constantly, even when he was surrounded by friends. He would often have people watch him and provide company as he exercised and would carry out a conversation with them despite devoting all his effort to moving.

FDR also involved his children and family with his daily exercise rituals. At first, his children were heartbroken seeing their father in such a vulnerable state, struggling to move. Eventually they became comfortable around his condition and were proactive in helping him and involving themselves with his rehabilitation process. Eleanor recalled, “The perfect naturalness with which the children accepted his limitations though they had always known him as an active person, helped him tremendously in his own acceptance of them” (Roosevelt, Autobiography 142).