I had seen that shot before, but I had never noticed the second cane myself. (I don't know if I was fully aware of the braces at the time, either.) Thanks.

Same here. By the way, this is a great post - I favorited the site so I can find it again. Great discussions, nicely thought provoking. I must read more!

On the pbs website is a doco on FDR that shows, in detail, how he "walked." Basically by swinging his hips while using massive amounts of upper body strength to hang off his two sons.
I thought it was a total secret, but they made it seem like most of Washington knew, including the press, and kept it quiet out of respect for the president, and because they thought his ability to lead would be hurt if it became public knowledge.
I don't think something like that could happen today. And I don't think someone paralyzed from the waist down could even make it through the primaries, then or now.

I love FDR. Such a fascinating combination of selflessness and spoiled. I really think he did more to shape this country than anyone since. And his wife certainly redefined the role of the first lady. And I love to bring him up whenever people say the only reason to dislike the current wars is because liberals hate all war. (My uncle "pbbft! liberals wouldn't even stand up to hitler if given the choice!" me "ever hear of a guy called fdr?")

It wasn't a total secret -- seems it was common knowledge that he "controlled" his symptoms by going to Warm Springs, etc.

A friend of my dad's was a childhood polio survivor who walked much as you describe, kelly. He had two braces on his arms strapped at his wrists and he could support his weight like that but he couldn't control his lower body, so he had to sort of lean forward and "throw" his hips to catch up. One time he didn't manage and collapsed in a heap in our driveway apron. Looked awful, but he shrugged it off. He was about 75 at the time and had spent about 80% of his life managing.

Cool article until they made it all about Obama.

This is awesome, thanks for posting it.

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