Roosevelt is a president in a wheelchair. Franklin Roosevelt - President in a wheelchair

The Delano Roosevelt family is one of the oldest in New York State. The ancestors of the future US president come from the Netherlands and France. One of his ancestors, Philip de la Noy, was the first Huguenot to sail to the New World.

Franklin Roosevelt's parents belonged to the new American aristocracy. His father, James Roosevelt, and his mother, Sarah Delano, were very rich people. They owned not only land, but also held shares in large coal and transport companies which their ancestors founded.

Childhood and youth

Franklin Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882. Until the age of 14, he was raised at home, receiving a decent education. He traveled a lot with his mother and father, visiting Europe every year. These trips allowed him to learn many European languages.

In 1896 he began his studies at Groton School, the best school in the country. In 1900 he entered Harvard, and in 1905 he entered Columbia University Law School. Upon completion of his studies, having received permission to practice law, he began working on Wall Street.

In 1911, Roosevelt was initiated into the Freemasons. In the fraternity, his career developed rapidly. Roosevelt became a 32nd degree initiate, which entitled him to represent the Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia in New York.

Family

Franklin Roosevelt was married to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, his distant relative. She was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, whom Franklin considered the best politician of its time. Their marriage produced six children, of whom five survived. Eleanor Roosevelt played an important role in political career husband

Political career and domestic political reforms from 1910 to 1940

Roosevelt began his political career in 1910, becoming a senator from New York. During the presidential campaign of 1913, he supported Woodrow Wilson, and after his victory he became Deputy Secretary of the Navy.

From 1914 to 1921, his political career did not develop, but in 1928 he became governor of New York, in fact, this was what opened the way for him to the White House.

In 1932, Roosevelt won the presidential election. Almost immediately, he carried out a series of reforms, called the “New Deal,” which helped bring the country out of a protracted economic crisis.

In 1936, Roosevelt was re-elected to a second term and continued reforms, mainly in the area social protection citizens.

Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy from 1932 to 1940

In foreign policy Roosevelt, the president, was extremely careful. On the one hand, he decided to take such important steps as recognizing the USSR in 1933 and normalizing relations with countries Latin America. On the other hand, he for a long time did not interfere in European affairs. Only after 1939, when it became clear that war in Europe was inevitable, Roosevelt decided to create the world's largest military-industrial complex.

Third presidential term and World War II

In the context of a global political crisis and a brewing global conflict, Roosevelt's victory in the 1940 presidential election is more than understandable. Almost immediately his government began to provide all possible measures military assistance Great Britain, then the Lend-Lease law was signed. But until January 7, 1941 (that is, before Pearl Harbor), America did not officially enter the war, although in the Atlantic fighting were fought against Germany. After the death of the Pacific squadron (for Roosevelt, the Japanese strike came as a surprise), the United States entered the war.

Roosevelt did everything to strengthen Anti-Hitler coalition, was one of the founders of the UN, met with I. Stalin and W. Churchill in Tehran and Yalta. By the way, in Tehran he advocated the early opening of the Second Front, without supporting W. Churchill, who wanted to postpone this issue.

Last presidential term and death

In 1944, Franklin Roosevelt became American president for the fourth time, but on April 12, 1945, he died of a stroke.

Other biography options

• Americans still put Franklin Roosevelt on a par with outstanding political figures of the past, such as George Washington, T. Jefferson and A. Lincoln.
• It is known that Roosevelt was a big fan of the work of Arthur Conan Doyle and even tried to write detective stories himself.
• Even short biography Franklin Roosevelt is of interest, since he was a direct participant in all major events XX century, which still influence the situation in the world.

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To this day, the name of the 32nd American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who founded the Institute of the Presidency and created the New Deal, enjoys respect and honor. Outside the United States, he is mentioned as one of the heads of state of the post-war arrangement of world politics. Franklin Roosevelt showed principles political activity, showing the world the image of a purposeful and judicious diplomat. Although the life of the 32nd American president was extremely full of politics, on the personal front he was also full of things. bright colors. Interesting facts about Franklin Roosevelt will be presented to your attention in the article.

Early years

A future diplomat was born in an old family estate in New York. Significant event occurred on January 30, 1882. Luck accompanied him from birth, because Franklin Delano Roosevelt had not only loving parents, but also influential in the aristocratic circles of the New World. His father belonged to an old Dutch family, and his mother was one of the offspring of French Huguenots - European settlers. James Roosevelt was a successful businessman who owned coal mining and transportation companies. There was a significant age difference between the parents, but this did not stop them from becoming truly happy. After the birth of their common baby, the mother started a diary, where she wrote down the most impressive moments from her son’s life. The Roosevelts traveled a lot, so Franklin had no shortage of new experiences since childhood. They especially loved going to the coast of Maine to take a ride on one of their own yachts.

Franklin's parents instilled in him a passion for philately that he retained throughout his life. The boy looked at the stamps with pleasure and sorted them into albums. He had a habit of spending several hours before going to bed communicating only with his favorite brands, so he mentally traveled to different countries. Thanks to this hobby, he acquired excellent knowledge of geography. Parents often traveled to other countries on business, but did not forget to send their child new batches of stamps.

Since childhood, Franklin Roosevelt (you already know the place and date of birth) received an excellent education at home. He studied with governesses for several hours a day, and while traveling he learned to communicate with the local population. Although Roosevelt lived in a cozy family estate until the age of 14, this did not stop him from joining the team best school in Groton, where he was sent to receive his secondary education.

Time to gain knowledge

A boarding school for gifted children operated in Massachusetts. Here, a talented young man based on his level of knowledge was immediately invited to the third grade. The guy not only mastered new subjects, but also learned to act in relation to life’s postulates, which became the key to his future brilliant career.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not forget to write touching letters to his mother from school. In the next letter, she was surprised to read that her boy received a “failure.” He was very happy about such a low grade; he needed it to feel the school corporate spirit. According to the unwritten rules, have only high scores- bad form. The future diplomat himself controlled his own academic performance. There were just enough twos to feel unity with the school fraternity, but not to get on the carpet with the director.

After completing Groton, the talented guy is invited to Harvard, then Columbia University opens its doors wide to him. While studying at Harvard, Franklin became interested in journalism and edited the student newspaper. He gained fame among his peers after the publication of his interview with Theodore Roosevelt. Although it was not difficult to get an interview with the president, because he was a close relative of Franklin.

successful marriage

Franklin had known Theodore Roosevelt's niece Eleanor since childhood. Her grandmother was involved in her upbringing, who sent her granddaughter to study at Allenswood Academy, where girls were raised to be real ladies. Eleanor dreamed of continuing her studies, but at the age of 17 she had to return to New York and join the social life. On one of public events the girl met Franklin again, and the marriage proposal came from young man already in 1903. Roosevelt's mother tried to separate the young lovers and asked to postpone the engagement for a while, but in 1905 they entered into a legal marriage.

The vicissitudes of family life

The couple had one girl and five boys, although one of them died before the age of one. Eleanor admitted that she did not have tender feelings for the kids, so the children were raised by Sarah Roosevelt, Franklin's mother. After moving to Washington, a completely different life began: visits, calls, acquaintances, receptions. Eleanor tries her best to be useful to her husband, conducts his correspondence, but is very tired. The fatal decision was to hire an assistant, who became almost a member of the family. Lucy Mercer became not only Franklin's secretary, but also Franklin's mistress. Lucy fascinated men with her article, as well as her beautiful velvet voice. Roosevelt liked this type of woman, so he goes on one of his trips with an attractive secretary. One day he fell ill with pneumonia, and his wife decided to sort out his mail. Among the heap of correspondence, several letters from Lucy were discovered containing very juicy details. Eleanor decided to immediately dissolve the marriage, which she announced to her husband and mother-in-law. But a divorce would definitely get in the way successful career, therefore, for the common good, it was decided not to destroy the family. The only condition that Eleanor set was the dismissal of Lucy Mercer. Roosevelt broke up with his mistress, but the former trust with his wife could no longer be restored. A wall grew between the spouses, although they maintained a political partnership. Eleanor was studying social activities, worked as a translator at the International Congress of Working Women, participated in the trade union movement, and studied public speaking.

Detailed action plan

Franklin Roosevelt, whose biography was not always cloudless, spent his entire future life decided to act according to the plan drawn up for the next 25 years. And he managed to accomplish almost everything. He always aspired to get into politics, and life itself provided him with a chance to show himself. The lawyer was offered the position of senator of the legislature in the state of New York. Franklin confidently wins the local elections and becomes a representative of the Democratic Party in local government. In 1911, he accepted an offer to join the Masonic lodge, where he eventually reached the 32nd degree of the Scottish Rite. A year later he becomes deputy minister navy. Supports the policies of the Democratic President, helps to strengthen the combat capability of ships, and is involved in strengthening the position of the US Air Force flotilla.

Tragic events in the biography of Franklin Roosevelt

The next years in Roosevelt's life, one failure followed another. First, failure in the New York State gubernatorial elections. Then a serious illness. This happened in August 1921. Franklin Roosevelt's biography indicates that he and his sons decided to go on a yacht. They noticed a fire on one of the islands and had to moor to help put it out. The decision to swim became fatal for Roosevelt. The next morning he felt so bad that any movement caused hellish pain. The doctors' diagnosis sounded like a death sentence - “poliomyelitis”. Outstanding politician lost the ability to walk, but circumstances and illness could not break his energetic nature. One day it close friend threw out the phrase: “Franklin was able to lead the country out of the crisis so effectively because he was not distracted by running around at rallies, but did his job without haste.”

A country under the leadership of a new president

Roosevelt's career developed during the First World War. Any other politician is sick and limited opportunities unsettled, but not such an ambitious person. Franklin Roosevelt's disability did not prevent him from winning the race for governor of New York, and four years later from winning the presidential race. Some spiteful critics explain this success with the promise to abolish Prohibition, but the facts remain facts - voters in 43 out of 48 states voted for the New Deal. The country was on the verge of destruction, and the Great Depression set in. In his election campaigns, New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt promised that he would bring the economy out of its doldrums and approve specific measures to eliminate poverty and unemployment. The country was experiencing a crisis of overproduction, when all warehouses were filled to capacity with unsold agricultural goods, and on the streets people fainted from hunger. Several deaths from starvation had been recorded by the time Roosevelt became president.

Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal

In his first hundred days as president, the main directions of action for the New Deal were developed. Never before have presidents issued so many laws simultaneously in order to bring the country out of a critical state in a short time. Roosevelt creates his own think tank, consisting of the most educated professors. White House departments are operating at their limits.

Thanks to the introduction of new bills, the rights of trade unions have significantly expanded; child labor, clear standards for the length of the working week have been established. Workers received paid sick leave during illness, and pensioners received social support. Unemployment had reached a critical level of 14%, and an intelligent decision had to be made. President Roosevelt proposed using the unemployed in the social sphere, so bridges began to be built, roads and airports were built. People were able to survive in difficult times, and also received, albeit small, social insurance.

Criticism of opponents

Not all politicians were willing to speak out in support of the New Deal. US President Roosevelt received a barrage of criticism from the press. He was credited with harsh interference in the economy and excessive legislative initiative. Although opponents made angry speeches for a long time, the fact remains: Roosevelt was able to lead his country out of the Great Depression, when the United States had almost no chance of recovery. If we apply competent leadership and plan clear steps to restore the economy, we can save the country's banking system from collapse, and save millions of people from languishing in poverty.

Fireside chats

The “Fireside Conversations”, known among the common people, became a tradition. Wonderful man and politician Franklin Roosevelt wanted to get closer to his voters, so he regularly recorded radio messages to the Americans. He tried to explain all his actions accessible language so that people understand the direction of his political steps. It was not for nothing that the Americans began to call him the people's president, and his support in the elections was a clear confirmation of this. Franklin tried to maintain a lifestyle during the crisis ordinary people. Regarding the declared policy of economy, he ordered himself a breakfast that cost 19 cents. Although the president was considered a recognized gourmet, he ate what other Americans did.

President Roosevelt promises to once again continue to promote the principles of the New Deal, so he wins the presidential election in 1936. The second term was marked by the advancement of the stated program. The President issues a law creating a housing authority and also approves a minimum wage for workers.

Military action - the principle of non-intervention

Back in 1933, diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union was announced. A good neighbor policy towards Latin American countries was also proclaimed in order to strengthen collective security.

In 1939, US President Franklin Roosevelt named the aggressor countries, pointing to Germany, Italy and Japan. A couple of years later, he seeks increased funding for the army and navy.

The year 1940 marked Roosevelt's third victory in the presidential election. An unprecedented event occurred in US history. American aid to Britain is increased to support it during World War II. Directly Soviet Union also receives, according to the Lend-Lease agreement, an interest-free loan amounting to $1 billion.

Roosevelt's policy was to delay US involvement in large-scale military action. The President decided to limit himself to cash injections and the supply of weapons. He continues to conduct diplomatic negotiations with the Japanese government, but the aggressor country has not made concessions. Roosevelt did not expect a swift attack on Pearl Harbor, so the next day, together with Great Britain, the United States declares war on Japan. Regarding the constitution, the president began to fulfill the obligations of the commander-in-chief during hostilities.

It was Franklin Roosevelt who proposed the creation of an international organization consisting of Great Britain, the USA, China and the USSR, which would maintain peace.

Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term in 1944. He took part in the Crimea Conference in 1945, making a significant contribution to discussions about future cooperation between world leaders. The politician spoke in favor of cooperation between the USA and the USSR and the development of military operations by Soviet troops on Japanese territory. After the trip, the president decides to continue studying state affairs, because he had a United Nations conference planned in San Francisco ahead.

Death of the People's President

The US President had been ill for a very long time, but his death came as a surprise. Franklin Roosevelt was at his estate in Warm Springs. He wanted to look through the stamp collection again, then he called Washington to remind him about the release of new stamps in connection with the upcoming conference in San Francisco. Roosevelt was immersed in reading, and a visiting artist painted his portrait. Suddenly the president turned pale and complained of a headache. A minute later he lost consciousness, and two hours later, on April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died. Doctors diagnosed a cerebral hemorrhage. This is how the biography of Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, ended tragically.

The 32nd President of the United States, four times elected to the presidency, Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the Hyde Park estate (New York) in the wealthy and respectable family of James Roosevelt and Sarah Delano Roosevelt.

His ancestors emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1740s. Their descendants became the ancestors of two branches of this family, which gave rise to two US presidents - Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt's father owned the Hyde Park estate on the Hudson River and substantial stakes in a number of coal and transportation companies. Mother belonged to the local aristocracy.

Until the age of 14, Roosevelt was educated at home. In 1896-1899 he studied at a privileged school in Groton (Massachusetts). In 1900-1904 he continued his education at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor's degree. From 1905 to 1907, Roosevelt attended Columbia Law School and was admitted to the bar, which he began in a reputable law firm on Wall Street.

In 1910, Roosevelt began his political career. He ran for the post of senator in the New York State Legislature from the Democratic Party and won.

In 1913-1920 he served as assistant minister navy in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson.

In 1914, Roosevelt attempted to become a senator in the US Congress, but failed.

In 1920, Roosevelt was nominated for vice president against James Cox, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democrats lost the election, and Roosevelt returned to practice as a lawyer.

In the summer of 1921, while vacationing on Campobello Island in Canada, Roosevelt contracted polio. Despite vigorous attempts to overcome the disease, he remained paralyzed and tied to wheelchair.

In 1928, Franklin Roosevelt was elected governor of New York, where he served two terms. In 1931, at a time of worsening economic crisis, he created the Temporary Emergency Administration to provide assistance to the families of the unemployed.

In the 1932 presidential campaign, Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, who failed to lead the country out of the economic crisis of 1929-1933 - the Great Depression.

“The New Deal” was how Roosevelt called his program to overcome the consequences of the Great Depression and solve social problems. The new course combined measures to strengthen state regulation of the economy with reforms in the social field.

In the first 100 days of his presidency, which began in March 1933, Roosevelt implemented a number of important reforms to restore the banking system, help the hungry and unemployed, refinance farm debt, restore agriculture and industry. In 1935, important labor reforms were carried out, social security, taxation, banking and other areas.

Roosevelt managed to provide unprecedented American history public support for his program, he turned into a true leader of the nation.

Promising a continuation of the New Deal policies, Roosevelt won the 1936 presidential election. During his second term, Congress advanced the New Deal program by creating the U.S. Housing Administration (1937) to provide credit to local agencies and passing the second Agricultural Adjustment Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which established minimum wages. wages for workers.

One of the foreign policy initiatives in the first months after Roosevelt came to power was the diplomatic recognition of the USSR in November 1933. In relations with Latin American countries, the “Good Neighbor Policy” was proclaimed, which contributed to the creation of an inter-American system of collective security.

In October 1937, after Japan attacked North China, Roosevelt insisted on the need to take measures to isolate the aggressor countries. At the beginning of 1939, in his State of the Union address, Roosevelt named the aggressor nations by name, indicating that they were Italy, Germany and Japan. In 1938 and 1939, he managed to achieve increased funding for the needs of the army and navy.

On November 5, 1940, Franklin Roosevelt won the next election and was elected for the first time in US history to a third term.

Second world war and Roosevelt's third victory in the British elections. In 1941, the president signed the Lend-Lease Act, which provided the USSR with an interest-free loan worth $1 billion.

Roosevelt sought to limit himself to arms supplies for as long as possible and, if possible, to avoid large-scale US participation in the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 came as a surprise to Roosevelt, who was trying to delay the war with Japan through diplomatic negotiations. The next day, the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt, in accordance with the Constitution, assumed all the responsibilities of commander in chief in wartime.

Roosevelt attached great value the creation of the United Nations to strengthen the anti-Hitler coalition.

It was he who proposed the name “United Nations” during the signing of the Declaration of the United Nations on January 1, 1942 in Washington, which consolidated this union in the international legal order.

For a long time, Franklin Roosevelt took a wait-and-see approach to the issue of opening a second front. But at the Tehran Conference of the Big Three (1943), Roosevelt did not support Winston Churchill, who shied away from addressing issues of opening a second front.

Manifesting special attention to issues of post-war peace settlement, Roosevelt for the first time at the Quebec Conference (1943) outlined his project for creating international organization and the responsibility of the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and China (the “four policemen”) for maintaining peace. Discussion of this topic was continued at the Moscow Conference, the Tehran Conference and at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in Washington.

Re-elected to a fourth term in 1944, Franklin Roosevelt made significant contributions to the historic decisions of the Crimea Conference (1945). His position was dictated by the military-strategic and political situation in connection with the successful advance Soviet troops V Eastern Europe, the desire to negotiate the USSR's entry into the war with Japan and the hope of continuing post-war American-Soviet cooperation. Upon returning from Yalta, Roosevelt, despite fatigue and illness, continued to engage in government affairs and prepared for the opening of the United Nations Conference in San Francisco on April 23.

On April 12, 1945, the President died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia.

Since 1905, Roosevelt was married to his fifth cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Her father was younger brother President Theodore Roosevelt, who was Franklin's idol. The Roosevelt couple had six children - a daughter and five sons, one of them died in infancy. Eleanor Roosevelt played a significant role in her husband's political career, especially after 1921, when he contracted polio and was no longer in a wheelchair.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Stroke of fate

Returning from Washington to New York, Franklin became vice president and head of the local branch of the large financial company Fidelity and Deposit, headquartered in Baltimore, and became intensively involved in its work. At the same time, he agreed with lawyers Langdon Marvin and Grenville Emmett to create a joint law office. A lot of other activities also appeared - Harvard University included him on its supervisory board, he headed a committee to raise funds for the construction of lighthouses, became chairman of the naval club in New York, and a member of the board of the city's Boy Scouts. Roosevelt was overwhelmed with both paid and public work, but did not stop dreaming of continuing his political career.

However, in the summer of 1921 a terrible event occurred, which, according to his own numerous confessions, became central to his entire life, determined his manner of behavior, changed his habits, made drastic changes in the nature of communication with others, although it did not change the main vector of his life. 39-year-old Franklin Roosevelt fell ill with polio, an infectious infantile paralysis.

About this terrible disease the family spoke as early as 1916, when it appeared on the East Coast and then in other parts of the United States.

Poliomyelitis apparently was widespread in Ancient Egypt and Babylon, as evidenced by surviving mummies with traces of paralysis. Over the next centuries, epidemics of infantile paralysis came and went. In 1913, the pathogen was discovered at the Pasteur Institute in Paris - as it turned out, one of several viruses that causes this terrible disease.

There were only isolated cases of the disease in the United States until it struck thousands of American children in the summer of 1916, first in poor neighborhoods in Brooklyn and then spreading inland. Initially, the causes of the epidemic were seen only in the unsanitary conditions of the overpopulated areas of New York; but it soon became clear that polio was not only a disease of the poor, but was spreading among other segments of the population as a result of imperfect sewer systems; viruses were carried by insects and even domestic animals.

By December, the epidemic had spread to 27 states. east coast and the Midwest. Within seven months, of the 27,000 reported cases of polio, six thousand patients had died and thousands more were paralyzed or crippled for life. In the United States, outbreaks of this disease occurred every summer, sometimes devastating, sometimes weaker.

In July 1916, Eleanor, going with her children to Campobello, took maximum precautions. Windows, despite summer heat, closed tightly, clean and sanitary preventive measures became almost a mania. The panic grew even greater when news came from Hyde Park that the daughter of the coachman of the carriage used by Sarah had contracted polio. And yet, having kept his family in Campobello until late autumn, Roosevelt transported her on a warship to Hyde Park, believing that in the province the possibility of infection was much less than in a big city.

Fortunately, none of the Roosevelts suffered from polio at that time. Did the family members think that this terrible disease would strike its head? This was impossible to imagine even in a nightmare.

Shortly before his illness, Roosevelt experienced political trouble, which worried him much more than the defeat in the elections, and most likely was the moral and psychological detonator of the illness.

While he was still deputy secretary of the navy at the naval base in Newport (Rhode Island), where the sailor training center was located, maritime school and base submarines, a suspicion arose that homosexuality was quite widespread among young cadets, which was then considered a terrible crime, especially in the armed forces. The local priest Samuel Kent was accused of seducing young people.

The command, with the approval of Roosevelt, sent a commission of inquiry to the base. It was decided to catch the perpetrators at the crime scene, for which the commission attracted several people from among the sailors, who were supposed to pretend to be passive homosexuals who would be caught at the crime scene (they were given evidence in advance that they participated in solving the crime and there was no guilt behind them ). Most likely in a hurry, or perhaps because he had almost said goodbye to the ministry, Roosevelt authorized this not entirely legal, if not dirty, method of investigation.

However, the commission did not establish anything reprehensible; those accused of the crime, primarily Kent, filed a complaint to the very top - to the US Senate, which formed a special subcommittee to investigate the case. Considering that this body was dominated by Republicans - political opponents of Roosevelt, the verdict is not difficult to predict. After a lengthy trial, a fifteen-volume, six-thousand-page report was published on July 21, 1921, accusing Roosevelt of abuse of power, moral turpitude, and lack of “moral perspective,” subjecting sailors to humiliating abuses, and, finally, that he lied under oath (151).

Franklin took this report, which immediately became public, very painfully. It seemed to him that the attack on him was completely unfair (this was only partly true), that his civic reputation and political future were hanging by a thread.

Having calmed down a little, but still in a state of stress, which he carefully hid, on August 5, 1921, Roosevelt went with his financial company boss, Vanleer Black, on his yacht Sabalo to summer holiday in Campobello, where his family was already located. A storm hits the ship on the ocean. Not knowing the exact destination, the captain handed the helm to Roosevelt, who did an excellent job, but new ones were added to the worries he had previously experienced. Finally, the yacht dropped anchor in the bay of the village of Welshpool, where Eleanor and the children met her.

Franklin swam and sunbathed and fished with the children. Almost as usual, only the day of August 10 was a little more hectic. Franklin with friends and children went on a yacht in the icy ocean water, brought by some current. Once he even fell into the water. Usually fond of cold swims, Franklin was very cold this time and felt unwell. But, overcoming his malaise, upon returning to the shore he once again swam in the nearby cold lake. Noticing a small forest fire, the adults and the younger ones began to extinguish it, after which they again plunged into ice water to wash away dirt.

Returning home, Roosevelt began looking through his mail without taking off his bathing suit. The next morning he tried to get out of bed, but felt that his legs were completely unresponsive. The temperature rose to more than forty degrees. Within a few hours, the disease spread to other organs. A terrible pain spread throughout my body. My arms became sharply weak and my urinary system stopped working.

The arriving doctors could not believe that an older man could become ill with a terrible disease that usually affects young children. At first, keeping in mind the circumstances of the previous day, a cold was diagnosed. Roosevelt was prescribed deep massage which caused severe pain.

Due to the fact that the disease was getting worse, and the doctors could not make a diagnosis, although they regularly wrote out considerable bills for each visit, at Eleanor’s request, the family turned to doctors from the Harvard Commission on Infantile Paralysis. One of its specialists, Dr. Samuel Levin, based on the symptoms in absentia, suggested that Roosevelt was most likely struck by polio.

New consultations and consultations convinced doctors that careless behavior the day before was only a coincidence or contributed to the development of the disease, but could not be its cause. In the end, a terrible diagnosis was made - an illness for which there was no complete cure, which most often doomed the patient to lifelong disability. Moreover, doctors came to the conclusion that those treatment methods that were used immediately after the disease only aggravated the suffering, without even providing minimal relief to the patient’s condition. The final verdict was made by the famous Boston polio specialist Robert Lowett, who arrived in Campobello on August 25, and from that time on regularly consulted the patient.

At that time it was believed that appropriate hygiene products could prevent the disease. Much later, scientists discovered that the virus is able to reside in the human body and penetrate into it. circulatory system, can remain latent for many years or a lifetime, but can suddenly become active and cause paralysis. A lot depended on the general physical and mental state of the person.

Only in the eighties of the 20th century a new branch of medicine was formed - psychoneuroimmunology. Its goal is to explore how the psyche, nervous and immune systems interact, and whether events affecting the psyche actually affect susceptibility to disease. It turned out that the nervous, endocrine and immune systems are closely connected, continuously interact, that not only in the nervous system, but also in the immune system, information is transmitted using special chemicals- neurotransmitters. In addition, the endocrine system secretes special hormones that act on other systems in the body, including immune cells. Once you begin to remember grievances and feel anger about them, the body will react in the same way as if a real danger had arisen in front of it.

During a stress response, neurotransmitters and stress hormones have been shown to influence the immune system. Special lymphocytes appear, T-killers, which invade the foreign cell, destroying it. There is a direct relationship between the duration and intensity of stress associated with it negative emotions and the immune system: the stronger the stress, the weaker the body’s resistance. It is then that a person is most at risk of contracting the most serious illnesses, the viruses and bacilli of which long time“dormant” in his body (152).

Of course, this is exactly what happened to Franklin Roosevelt.