FDR Spent Thanksgiving Hosting Polio Patients, Not Raging at Enemies

Thanks on this Thanksgiving to Presidential historian Michael Beschloss who treated me with the above photo, which I had not seen before, of President Franklin Roosevelt hosting a Thanksgiving feast for polio patients who were being treated in his Warm Springs, Georgia spa during his first year in office – 1933:

Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt hosted an annual Thanksgiving dinner with children and adults challenged by polio, Warm Springs, Georgia—here is his first Thanksgiving as President, 1933: pic.twitter.com/QnBKyTWTEC

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) November 23, 2023

Roosevelt was, of course, a polio victim himself who, after overcoming an initial bout of depression understandable in the case of an active and vigorous adult who had lost the use of his legs, went on, over the course of the next decade to master his infirmity through extensive exercise to build up his upper body and by relying on the help and support of loved ones, most notably his eldest son James Roosevelt II who not only served as his father’s “body man”, to whom FDR clung to as he managed the painful task of walking with leg braces, but also became on of his most trusted political advisors.

How easy it would have been for Roosevelt to wallow in self pity, to give up his political ambitions and retire quietly to his estate on the Hudson River, there to tend to his beloved stamp collection under the care of his devoted mother who would have dedicated the rest of her life to his well being and comfort.

But FDR was made of sterner stuff.

With the help of his son and wife Elenor, and of course his political guru Louis McHenry Howe, Roosevelt rose from his sick bed to become Governor of New York in 1929 and President of the United States four years later – where he would guide the country during the harrowing depths of the Great Depression and through the most difficult conflict this nation had seen since the Civil War.

And all with that fabulous smile on his face.

Perhaps that is why he was never referred to, for the remaining twelve years of his life, as “the former President.

Contrast that epic saga with the dubious biography of our most recent former President, who never misses an opportunity to wallow in self pity and celebrated his Thanksgiving Day by releasing the following hate-filled screed on his third rate social media site:

I'm thankful Trump is no longer our president. Who misses this? pic.twitter.com/itk0oyxd8L

— Molly Ploofkins™ (@Mollyploofkins) November 23, 2023

What a whiny little bit#h.

FDR had his enemies too, and plenty of them, they broadcasted their hatred of him over the radio, sniped at him from the editorial pages of our biggest newspapers, plotted against and even tried to usurp him from corporate boardrooms, from the halls of his own government and from the ranks of the military.

But, true to his nature Roosevelt did not rage against them in his radio addresses or attack them in bouts of angry paroxysm as does his much less consequential heritor.

Instead, when referencing his detractors in a 1936 speech in Madison Square Garden, FDR cut their legs from under them by proclaiming that he “welcomed” their hatred.

Can you imagine the Orange Ogre ever having the grace and intelligence to disarm his enemies with such a gentle tweak?

Of course not.

FDR preferred ridicule to bile when dealing with those who opposed him:

Sadly, we’ll not see his like again.