How Polio Made a President

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Of the dozens of men who have served as US president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a particularly close connection with the citizens he served. The only president elected to four terms, Americans hung FDR's picture up in their homes, wrote him thousands of letters, and regularly tuned in to listen to his fireside chats. My guest would say that much of the depth, gravitas, and empathy Roosevelt was able to convey to the country was not something inborn, but in fact grew out of a tragedy which befell him at the age of 39: the contraction of polio. Jonathan Darman is the author of Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President, and today on the show, he paints a portrait of what Roosevelt was like before he got polio, and how, despite charm and ambition, he was considered shallow and a political lightweight. We then discuss what it was like for FDR to get polio, what he did during years of bedridden convalescence, and how the disease and his rehabilitation changed him. We talk about how the influence of FDR's polio experience can be seen in the way he guided the country through the Depression and WWII, and the lesson in realistic optimism he offers us today.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Brut McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
0:11.4	Of the dozens of men who have served as U.S. President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had
0:15.4	a particularly close connection with the citizens he served.
0:18.4	The only president elected to four terms, Americans hung FDR's picture up in their homes,
0:23.1	wrote him thousands of letters, and regularly tuned in to listen to his fireside chats.
0:27.8	My guess would say that much of the depth, gravitas, and empathy Roosevelt was able to
0:31.6	convey to the country was not something in more, but in fact, grew out of a tragedy
0:35.8	which befell him at the age of 39, the contraction of polio.
0:39.9	Jonathan Darwin is the author of becoming FDR, the personal crisis that made a president.
0:44.3	In today on the show, he paints a portrait of what Roosevelt was like before he got polio,
0:48.6	and how, despite charming ambition, he was considered shallow and a political lightweight.
0:52.8	We then discussed what it was like for FDR to get polio, what he did during years of
0:56.2	bedridden convalescence, and how the disease and his rehabilitation changed him.
1:00.4	We talk about how the influence of FDR's polio experience can be seen in the way he guided
1:04.3	the country through the Depression World War II, and the lesson in realistic optimism
1:08.3	he offers us today.
1:10.0	To the shows over, check out our show notes at a-wim.is-flash-f-d-r.
1:29.6	Alright Jonathan Darwin, welcome to the show.
1:32.6	Thanks so much for having me.
1:33.8	So you got a new biography out about FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1:37.2	It's called becoming FDR, the personal crisis that made a president.
1:41.9	There have been a lot of biographies written about FDR because he's one of the most consequential
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Art of Manliness, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Art of Manliness and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.