Statue Depicts FDR in Wheelchair

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to conceal his affliction with polio made some family members skeptical when people started planning a statue depicting the former president in a wheelchair.

They eventually agreed that if disabled people saw a monument to a president in a wheelchair, they wouldn't be ashamed of their own disabilities.

After years of protests and complaints, a bronze statue depicting Roosevelt in his self-designed wheelchair was unveiled Wednesday at a dedication ceremony featuring President Clinton.

Clinton said the memorial ``exceeded my wildest dreams,'' especially for the way it was designed with the disabled in mind â€” situated low enough for those in wheelchairs to touch it.

``It is grand and beautiful, all right, but it is so accessible in a way that, I think, would have pleased President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt,'' Clinton said. ``The power of the statue is in its immediacy, and its reminder for all who touch, who see, who wheel and walk around, that they, too, are free.''

The statue joins an existing 7.5-acre monument to the author of the New Deal featuring shade trees, waterfalls and statues of Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor.

``When you build a memorial, you build it not because the person wanted it, but for the future â€” for generations who didn't know the man and didn't know the era in which he lived,'' said grandchild Ann Eleanor Roosevelt.

Disability groups raised $1.65 million for the structure, starting with $378.50 from a bake sale in a New Jersey elementary school. The National Park Service agreed to add it in July 1998 after numerous protests and complaints.

``It was a shame, disgrace and embarrassment to have his wheelchair hidden in this memorial when in fact he used it every day of his life,'' said Alan Reich, president of the National Organization on Disability, which spearheaded the initiative.

While a nearby sculpture shows him covered with a cape in a straight chair with two tiny wheels behind, the new statue vividly illustrates Roosevelt's affliction, which spanned his four-term presidency.

It stands at the entrance of West Potomac Park, featuring four rooms where tourists can explore in chronological order the events of the Roosevelt years, from the Great Depression to the dawn of World War II.

Lawrence Halprin, who designed the Roosevelt Memorial, has said the new sculpture will nicely complement the display, spread between the Potomac River and the rim of the Tidal Basin.

Few photos show Roosevelt in a wheelchair, and the media largely granted his wish not to mention his disability in stories. Some political cartoons even depicted him as running or hopping over opponents.

``In the time of FDR, he felt it would not have been politically expedient for him to be seen often in his wheelchair,'' Reich said. ``He thought people would take that as a sign of weakness.''

Sen. Max Cleland, who also is in a wheelchair after losing both legs and an arm in the Vietnam War, said even he is amazed at how his political hero persevered.

``I get beat up flying,'' said Cleland, D-Ga. ``One wonders how he did the traveling given his infirmity. He just kept on going, right to the day of his death. It's just unbelievable the strength, stamina and drive this guy had.''

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On the Net:

National Organization on Disability: http://www.nod.org

National Parks Service: http://www.nps.gov