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Franklin D. Roosevelt with Fala and Ruthie Bie in Hyde Park, New York, 1941 One of the few photographs of Roosevelt in his wheelchair.
Franklin D. Roosevelt contracted infantile paralysis, more commonly known as polio, in 1921 when he was thirty-nine years old. After several years of rehabilitation, he returned to politics. Concerned his disability would be used against him in the political arena, Roosevelt was reluctant to be photographed or filmed in situations that highlighted his disability.
More - Franklin D. Roosevelt and Polio
This week in history, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed. To honor the anniversary, The U.S. National Archives has created a space to explore disability history through Presidential records. Throughout the week, we’ll be featuring records and posting questions to explore disability history.
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And Fala Would Lick Them
Stamp ceremony outside the Hyde Park, New York, Post Office for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Stamp showing the Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York, in the background. From left to right in the first row on the platform: Elliott Roosevelt; Faye Emerson (Mrs. Elliott) Roosevelt; former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Postmaster General Robert E. Hannegan; Third Assistant Postmaster Joseph J. Lawler; and Irma (Mrs. Robert) Hannegan. The dog in the lower left corner is probably Fala, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog. July 26, 1945 (Truman Presidential Library)
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“To Hyde Park last weekend went Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt. Like millions of other American couples they sought a relief from the hot stickiness of the city, the constant pressure of workday problems. The President finds respite in reading his beloved detective stories, in playing with his shaggy Scotty, Fala. His wife likes to sit and watch them while she knits.” — LIFE, Aug. 4, 1941
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A Fala figure at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. (Have School Will Travel)
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Eternal Hope
“In the midst of her labors, Eleanor took unexpected comfort in Fala’s return to the Roosevelt household. Shortly after the funeral, Jimmy Roosevelt had written Margaret Suckley and asked her to send Fala back. ‘In talking to my sister and brother, we all feel very disappointed that Fala is not staying with Mother,’ Jimmy wrote. Fala was part of the family,” and it would make Mother ‘very happy to have him back.’ Suckley agreed, and Fala came to live at Val-Kill. Soon he and Eleanor became inseparable. Fala accompanied her on her walks through the woods, sat beside her chair in the living room, and greeted her at the door when she came home. ‘No one was as vociferously pleased to see me as Fala,’ she noted proudly after a trip to New York. Still, Fala missed the president. When General Eisenhower came to Hyde Park to lay a wreath on Roosevelt’s grave, Fala heard the sirens of the motorcade and thought his master was returning. ‘His legs straightened out’ and ‘his ears pricked up,’ Eleanor noted; he was hoping to see his master coming down the drive.” —From “No Ordinary Time” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
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The grave of Fala, the famous ‘First Dog’, as he was called. (Franklin D. Roosevelt - Ryan’s Presidential Quest)
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Eleanor Roosevelt and Nina and Sally Roosevelt with Fala at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, November 1951. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library)
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Fala, Scottish terrier of FDR, running outside the FDR Library which houses the president’s papers and mementos, Hyde Park, N.Y., 1945. (LIFE)
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Fala overlooks his master’s grave in the rose garden at Hyde Park in 1949. (Franklin D. Roosevelt - Ryan’s Presidential Quest)
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Eleanor Roosevelt and Fala at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, 1951 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives)
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Fala, Scottish terrier of FDR, chasing his master’s car on the property of FDR’s country house, Hyde Park, N.Y., 1945. (LIFE)
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Eleanor Roosevelt and Fala at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, 11/1951 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives)
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Fala, Scottish terrier of FDR, sitting behind desk of his master in study of country house, Hyde Park, N.Y., 1945. (LIFE)
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Eleanor Roosevelt and Fala at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, 11/1951 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives)
