Mr. Roosevelt, after contacting polio, and particularly after becoming President, had a big influence on how people thought of the disabled. After getting polio, Mr. Roosevelt was afraid people would think he wasn’t strong enough to be president so wouldn’t vote for him.
To his surprise they were inspired by his courage, and FDR ended up being the only president to be voted into office four times. Before him, there had never been a disabled president. Before President Roosevelt, people with a disability were basically ignored, could be made fun of, and were not allowed in public places. (Check out Section 5 of the Grounded Activity Book to see how President Roosevelt changed all this). (Hint- Dance so Others May Walk.)
HOPE
Most of all President Roosevelt gave disabled people hope that they could do something important in their lives.