FDR's Body Politics: The Rhetoric of Disability

preface

The title of our book is taken from a speech that Franklin D. Roosevelt gave on November 7, 1932—the last night of his life that he was not president-elect or president. The speech was delivered to friends, neighbors, and well-wishers near his life-long home in Hyde Park, New York. Clearly contemplating his own victory, the candidate reflected, “Favor comes because for a brief moment in the great space of human change and progress some general human purpose finds in him a satisfactory embodiment .” It was a fitting statement for a man who for eleven years worked relentlessly to rendezvous with that “brief moment.” Our book chronicles that work—work we take to be fundamentally rhetorical. Rhetoric and FDR are usually coupled within the context of his famous “fireside chats,” or his uplifting First Inaugural Address, or his resolute War Message. Our approach to rhetoric is a bit different, perhaps a bit more expansive . With our colleagues across the humanities, we recognize the fundamental role of the human body in transactions of influence. To put it somewhat punningly, bodies matter. Presidential bodies matter most of all. To become president, FDR knew that in public he had to appear to be healthy—someone who could appear to walk, who looked healthy, and who interacted with others. This meant that FDR’s body politics needed to be transacted very publicly, very often, and before large crowds. But when he was not out among the people showcasing his health, FDR had a number of people doing surrogate body work for him—textually, but body work all the same. Thus our study moves across texts that feature words, texts that feature FDR’s physical presence, and some that highlight both—but all with an eye toward one thing: influence. Never should we lose sight of the fact that FDR’s mission was singular: to become president. And he knew thatcrippledbodieswerenot“fit”forthatjob,less“fit”thantheyaretoday, it seems. As such, we try to keep our eye squarely on how FDR’s body rhetorics played with his myriad audiences. Over the several years during which our odyssey with FDR has taken shape, we have incurred many debts. Both Florida State University and preface Syracuse University have been very generous in granting us leave time as well as financial support to complete this project. Several colleagues and friends have been most generous with their editorial talents, notably Kay Picart from Florida State, Marty Medhurst at Texas A&M University, and Vanessa Beasley, also from Texas A&M University. We also owe a special thank you to Geoffrey C. Ward, whose book, A First-Class Temperament, remains a first-class treatment of FDR and his struggles with infantile paralysis . Not only has Geoff paved the way for many FDR scholars, but he has also been very generous in lending to our project, at every stage, his ear and his encouragement. One of the great frustrations in making the case for the primacy of disability in FDR’s electoral life involves source material. Specifically, primary source material related directly to FDR and polio is just plain hard to find. We think that FDR wanted it that way. Fortunately for us, we worked with some helpful and resourceful archivists. In particular, Mark Renovitch at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park has been a terrific help. The staffs at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University have also been helpful in our oftentimes “needle-in-ahaystack ” searchings. This book is our third together. And, as with all good “marriages,” we have figured out what works through trial and error. We have each authored separate chapters, while editing, revising, and adding to the other’s work. In that sense, our work is truly a partnership. The first author drafted chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8. The second author drafted chapters 3, 4, and 5. As such, “firsts” and “seconds” are really a misnomer, symptomatic of alphabetical order rather than expenditure of effort. Our readers, we trust, will recognize that sensibility in the pages that follow. Finally, thanks to our copy editor, Maureen Creamer Bemko, and the staff at Texas A&M University Press for taking an interest in this project— and for improving it. xii Preface FDR’s Body Politics ...