Warlords
Under scrutiny
Mental state
Roosevelt |
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Severely afflicted by polio in August 1921, Roosevelt was paralysed from the waist down. By sheer determination, the fitting of iron braces and the help of family and aides, however, he learned to stand and to walk short distances by swivelling his hips from side to side. In private, he used a wheelchair but went to great lengths to avoid being seen in it in public. The experience undoubtedly toughened him mentally, but there were times when his resolution deserted him. In May 1941, for instance, he was said to have spent most of a month in bed struggling with what to do about the conflict between isolationists and the growing war party in the United States.
