Disability in Politics: How Disability Has Changed Since FDR
The last thing a politician wants to be seen as is physically or mentally “weak.” This is because of the negative connotation around the idea of “weakness.” In terms of disability and impairment, society has typically seen not being able-bodied as a sign of physical weakness. Despite this idea, the perceptions of disability and impairment are changing. In the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), it would have been near impossible for a politician who was seen as weak as a result of disability to have any success in politics, unless this perceived weakness was hidden from the general public. Representative Steve Scalise found himself severely injured in the middle of his career, leading to disability, and he used it to his advantage. In the field of politics, disability has changed from something that needed to be hidden to something that can be used as an advantage. This change is due to ideas like the social model of disability, which explains that disability is entirely constructed by society, and therefore any weakness or strength due to disability is viewed through a socially constructed lens.
According to the social model of disability, disability and impairment are considered a social construct. I see a social construct as an idea or belief that has been created by people in a society, and is widely accepted. This idea has changed the way that disability and impairment are seen in society today. The model “supports the view that people with disability have a right to be fully participating citizens on an equal basis with others.” (Ithaca) This view is combined with the expectation that impairment is to be expected as a factor of diversity in the natural human environment. The model alleges that society has changed from requiring people who are disabled to accommodate society, to society supporting and accommodating disabled people. Essentially, “People with disability are not ‘objects’ of charity, medical treatment and social protection, but ‘subjects’ with rights, capable of claiming those rights, able to make decisions for their own lives based on their free and informed consent and be active members of society.” (Ithaca) Those who are disabled should not be ushered away because of their perceived inability to contribute to society because of physical or mental weakness. Instead, they should be celebrated as members of society with control over their own lives. The idea of disability has changed from incapability to capability. Another important point to keep in mind is that the “social model of disability was created by people with disabilities in the 1970s and 1980s” (Foundation For People With Learning Disabilities), decades after Roosevelt’s presidency.
One of the most famous figures in American political history is President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. According to a publication in the Journal of the Historical Society, titled “Ambivalent Accomplices: How the Press Handled FDR’s Disability and How FDR Handled the Press,” by Matthew Pressman, in 1921, FDR was diagnosed with poliomyelitis (polio), which limited his ability to move. As a result of this diagnosis, FDR’s team made the decision to go to great lengths to hide his disability from the public out of fear that it would be used against him to show weakness. This fear was legitimate. When FDR ran for Governor of New York, he was described as “pitiless” and “pathetic” by some of his rivals because of his rumored frail condition in an effort to make him look weak (330). Despite his physical condition, FDR rose to the presidency, and created a “gentleman’s agreement” with the press to hide the effects of his polio (327).
This agreement meant that Journalists would not write about FDR’s inability to walk without assistance, or about his wheelchair or leg braces. Additionally, the press would not photograph him in any way that would show his disability (327). In return, FDR treated the press well and gave them more access to interesting information (327). This was all done in an effort to prevent embarrassment and criticism. One journalist even said: “We genuinely liked him, and we didn’t want to embarrass him.” (337) While it was known that FDR had some sort of illness, the extent of his illness was not known to the public. If it was known to the public, he would have lost every election. According to “British-American journalist Alistair Cooke said in PBS’s American Experience documentary about FDR. ‘I think if it had been absolutely common knowledge, it would have been very difficult to elect him.’” (355). This all stems from the way that disability was viewed in FDR’s time.
According to the social model of disability, it is up to society to adjust to disability, not up to people who identify as disabled to adjust to society. Therefore, the model “carries the implication that the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment must change to enable people living with impairments to participate in society on an equal basis with others.” (Ithaca) Using this “implication,” we then have to assume that in the time between FDR’s “gentlemen’s agreement” with the press, and Representative Scalise’s triumphant return to Congress, there was a shift in the public perception of disability. This shift was likely in relation to what constitutes “strength” versus “weakness.”
Fast forward several decades…
In June of 2017, a gunman attacked a team of GOP representatives playing baseball. One of the six wounded was Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise. He was forced to continue his work in Congress from the hospital. As he was in the hospital, he noticed that his unique position had given him an unseen advantage, saying: “‘You know, there are a couple of bills that I whipped while I was in the hospital,’ Scalise said. ‘I found when you’re calling somebody from the hospital they’re quicker to say yes to support the bill. So maybe on tough votes I need to just rent a room out at a hospital and make the calls there.’” (NPR) In addition to this, he often made jokes about how his trauma and recovery gave him a boost in congressional negotiations.
Scalise used his new physical weakness as a strength in his work, even though Scalise received criticism for taking advantage of his weakness and using it against people, he sees it as taking advantage of the cards he was dealt. He used these cards to help strengthen his relationship with his congressional coworkers, which made him a more effective leader, saying: “having that deeper relationship personally also does help me be more effective in a leadership role like this.” (NPR) This new strength was shown when he entered the House chamber for the first time since the attack on crutches and was met with a four minute standing ovation and later earned the name “The Legend from Louisiana.”
When comparing Representative Scalise with President Roosevelt, there is a clear contrast between their respective experiences with disability and how it was perceived by society. Roosevelt was forced to hide his disability, while Scalise used his impairment as a strength to become a better leader. In the time since Roosevelt, society has changed the way that disability is seen. It is because of ideas like the social model of disability that this change has occurred.
Works Cited:
“AccessibleIC.” Ithaca College, www.ithaca.edu/accessibleic/social/.
Pressman, Matthew. “Ambivalent Accomplices: How the Press Handled FDR’s Disability and How FDR Handled the Press.(Report).” Journal of the Historical Society, vol. 13, no. 3, 2013, p. 325., doi:10.1111/jhis.12023.
Snell, Kelsey. “Scalise Returns to Baseball Field One Year After Shooting Left Him Seriously Injured.” NPR, NPR, 14 June 2018, www.npr.org/2018/06/14/620066419/scalise-returns-to-baseball-field-one-year-after-shooting-left-him-seriously-inj.
“Social Model of Disability.” Mental Health Foundation, 12 Apr. 2017, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/learning-disabilities/a-to-z/s/social-model-disability.
