FDR: He Didn’t Let Polio Derail His Calling

Warwick Fairfax:
Welcome to Beyond the Crucible. I’m Warwick Fairfax, the founder of Beyond the Crucible. I’ve often thought that polio made Roosevelt the man that he was. Without polio, he would’ve been a different person. Would he have been as successful? It’s really hard to see it. Would he have had the legacy that he had? Really hard to see how that would’ve been possible. So I mean, there’s no question Franklin Roosevelt was not defined by his worst day in 1921 when he got polio. He had every right to say, “Look, it is been fun while it lasted. I’ll have enough money to have a nice life. I love summers here in Campobello Island in Canada. I have a nice life and the estate in Hyde Park in New York, and I have a wonderful wife, nice family. I’ll read and maybe see the odd friend in private and write a bit, but I’ll have a nice quiet life on my estate.” But he didn’t choose that path.
Gary Schneeberger:
No, no, he did not. The man who would become America’s 32nd president chose a bold path, a risky path, a path that led him to lead one of our nation’s most resounding public lives of significance. I am Gary Schneeberger, co-host of the show. This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show, Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership, we look at the courage, good humor and ambition, both personal and political that made Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of history’s most celebrated figures.
None of what he accomplished in the White House we discuss here would’ve been possible if Roosevelt didn’t have two critical things necessary to move beyond a crucible, a mindset shift that he wouldn’t let his polio prevent him from living an active life, and fellow travelers who helped him keep the faith that he could indeed move from private trial to public triumph. “The smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,” Roosevelt once said, and his life is a ringing testament to that truth we’d all be wise to remember. Just real quickly, to set you up like we do every month when we talk about this, is that Warwick’s book, I still can’t believe this is true, Warwick, when I say it was released in 2022, it seems like it was released yesterday, doesn’t it?
Warwick Fairfax:
Indeed.
Gary Schneeberger:
But it was released in 2022. And it’s an important book because it’s the book that birthed the business. There would be no Beyond the Crucible if there was not a crucible leadership. And each month, we are going through, we have gone through one of the historical family figures, leaders that Warwick has talked about at some length in the book that Warwick discusses at some length because there are lessons we can learn about bouncing back from our crucibles from the way that they bounced back from theirs. And this month, we are going to look at Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the longest-serving US president in history, and specifically what Roosevelt can teach us about overcoming adversity, especially adversity that’s tied to a disability. And truly, the lessons that we can learn here, folks, from his life of overcoming physically and emotionally devastating crucibles are things that we can really, truly apply to our own crucibles.
We don’t have to have the same crucibles as Roosevelt had to learn lessons from the way he dealt with them. So that’s the setup here, Warwick. I know you’re dying to dig in, so I’ll ask you the first question. And it’s pretty open-ended, and that’s this why Franklin Roosevelt? There’s no shortage of great leaders in your book and in general who have endured traumatic crucibles, but Roosevelt story is a bit of a masterclass in not letting your worst day, your toughest circumstances define you, isn’t it? Isn’t his story kind of really a shining example of what that looks like?
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, Gary, it surely is. As listeners know by now, I grew up in Australia with a dad that loved history, and he loved English history, British heroes. So I grew up with hearing about Churchill and Admiral Horatio Nelson that we covered in the recent podcast of Battle of Trafalgar Fame in the late 1700s, early 1800s, as well as the Duke of Wellington and Battle of Waterloo Fame in 1815. So I grew up with all of these English heroes, but I actually had a love of American history. I had a teacher in high school, Mr. Patrojan. He just had this passion for American history and would make it come alive. And so probably partly through that, I just loved some of the great American leaders such as Lincoln and Washington. But there was something about Franklin Roosevelt that I felt, in some strange way, a special connection to.
That’s because Franklin Roosevelt, perhaps as much as any president in US history, he came from a very patrician, almost aristocratic background, and he was able to achieve something great despite his heritage. He was able to, I don’t say overcome it, but his legacy, we think of is not because of his heritage, because of the greatness of the man, the greatness of his character in the sense of how he led the nation. And so as somebody, as listeners would know, that grew up in this 150-year-old family business in Australia that was very prominent, was wealthy, there was in some sense, I could identify with a young Franklin Roosevelt growing up with this incredible legacy. And yet he wasn’t defined by the legacy of his heritage. And so in that way, as we see Franklin Roosevelt overcoming his challenges, as I was growing up in Australia as a boy in school, there was something in me that thought, obviously being president, leader of the country is probably not going to happen, but maybe there’s something about his character, something about how he approached challenges that I could learn from.
So there was something about Franklin Roosevelt that I felt this connection to. We all, as kids growing up, want to identify with people like us. And in a sense it’s like, well, this is kind of like me. He grew up in a prominent family. So did I. so Franklin Roosevelt, he was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. And just to show you how patrician his family was, between his mother’s family, the Delanos, and his father’s, the Roosevelts, he had no fewer than 12 Mayflower ancestors. That’s the Mayflower that went to Massachusetts in the 1600s. And people talk about descendants of the Mayflower as if it’s the oldest, most prominent families, that kind of legacy in the US. And he attended the elite prep school, Groton, in Massachusetts, and then went to Harvard University. So he had this educational pedigree, he had this pedigree by birth. He was from a prominent family.
And interestingly enough, it was during his Harvard years that he met Theodore Roosevelt’s niece, Eleanor Roosevelt. So Eleanor who in this sense, her maiden name and married name were the same, she was Roosevelt before marriage, Roosevelt after. So she was a distant cousin of his. And as people may remember, Theodore Roosevelt was president of the US in the early 1900s. So quite a dynamic figure in history. So he has this connection to the Roosevelt family and obviously to Theodore Roosevelt. So Roosevelt’s career started in 1910 when he became a New York State Senator. Then he became assistant secretary of the Navy in 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson. And then in 1920, he was the vice presidential candidate under the Democratic presidential nominee, James Cox. Now, Cox lost that election, but it would seem like in 1920, Roosevelt’s star was on the rise. He had been a New York state senator, Undersecretary of the Navy, now vice presidential candidate. It seems like there was no limit. The sky was the limit on Roosevelt’s political career.
Gary Schneeberger:
And it’s a good point to stop at this point because I know what’s coming next, and that is if you looked at Franklin Roosevelt’s life up to this point, not a whole lot of crucibles were bumping into him, right? I mean, he had, I don’t want to say an easy life, but he had perhaps an easy going in some ways life. I mean, he did not grow up hardscrabble. So what was to come when crucibles come couldn’t have been something he was accustomed to.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, it’s such a good point, Gary, because we know who Franklin Roosevelt is now in history. But a pre-1921 Roosevelt, yes, there was this patrician wealthy family, but he had this charisma, this easy going manner, this almost magnetic personality. He was the perfect kind of person you want at a party. “Oh, Franklin’s going to be here, it’s going to be a wild time. It’s going to be a great time.” So there’s fun, loving, charismatic, affluent, aristocratic American. You’re not thinking of him in that way because he became such a different person in a lot of ways. But that was who he was at the time. So in 1921, at the age of 39, Roosevelt was on his way to his family vacation home in Campobello Island, New Brunswick in Canada. It’s just across the border from Maine. And on his way up there, Roosevelt visited a boy scout camp, and while he was there, he contracted polio.
Now, when you think of polio, it tends to be more contracted by kids. Back then in the ’20s, ’30s, and probably maybe even through the ’40s or beyond, polio was just this real scourge, especially in summer. And people were contracted around other kids and swimming pools, and for parents, it was just an incredibly scary thing. And so here’s Roosevelt that contracts at age 39 as an adult. So after he visits this boy scout camp, he goes to Campobello, and while he is there, he was swimming in the cold waters. And then he hiked for a couple miles afterwards on his way home. And then that evening, Roosevelt retired early and he felt tired and chilled. By the next day, one leg was paralyzed. The following day, both legs were paralyzed.
So it’s hard to really think of what life was like in 1921 in the US, but back then, having polio was considered almost this death sentence. It was almost considered shameful. You were meant to hide at home and be an invalid and just not go outside and certainly not be in public life. That was culturally the world that he lived in. And so Roosevelt’s mother indeed urged him to retire to the family estate in Hyde Park, New York, which is a few hours north of New York City. Fortunately, his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt had a different perspective because Eleanor knew that if Franklin gave up his active lifestyle and his interest in politics, his soul would die. His body was crippled and his soul was obviously hurting because his whole sense of self was wrapped up in his political career. And another important influence, as we’ll see in a bit, was his longtime advisor, Louis Howe. And so Roosevelt made a choice, as we’ll get into later, in terms of how he approached his physical crucible, and he indeed did get back into political life.
Gary Schneeberger:
Let me stop you there for a second, Warwick, sorry, because again, I found this great quote from him that lines up perfectly with what you’re talking about, right? Because his mother urges him, “Just go retire and basically be taken care of. The family’s got a lot of money.” Here’s something that Roosevelt said that I think just speaks to his situation, but also speaks to Beyond the Crucible so well, he said this, “Happiness is not the mere possession of money. It lies in the joy of achievement in the thrill of creative effort.” That right there explains why he kept going on, that he didn’t listen to his mother, that he did heed the counsel of Eleanor and Louis Howe, and he just followed his own heart. And to not being just rich, he wanted to have a rich life where he was able to give back, he was able to do things that changed the world he lived in. And that was, I think, a great… I mean, clearly that motivation was there for him in 1921 when the polio hit.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, it’s an interesting question. It’s probably unknowable, but would a pre-1921 Franklin Roosevelt say, “Well, happiness consists more in more than money and in the pursuit of creative endeavors and achievement,” maybe, it’s hard to know, but the depth of the truth of that statement became far truer, I think, far more ingrained in his soul after that. It’s one thing to say, “Yeah, abstractly, sure, there’s more to life than money. It’s contribution, it’s achievement.” But that was surely the case because life was not easy after 1921. So that’s a great, great quote. And it’s interesting to hear him say that this happiness doesn’t really consist in having money. Very true, which we talk a lot about on this podcast. And so well said, Franklin Roosevelt.
In 1928, Roosevelt was out to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Houston to nominate Alfred Smith as the party’s nominee for president. So picture this, there’s 15,000 people in the audience waiting for Roosevelt, and Roosevelt has to make a long walk to the podium. Now he’s got his heavy braces on, and he is leaning on his son, Elliott’s arm. And people must’ve been watching gasping, hoping that he wouldn’t trip or fall, feeling for him. And Roosevelt refused to use crutches because he felt like it would be a huge political handicap. It would look bad. It would make him look like an invalid. Again, back then, if you were an invalid, you were meant to just stay home and retire from public or business life. That was the culture. Hard to comprehend, but it’s the way it was. So Roosevelt was a smart man. He knew crutches would not be a good look. And it’s interesting, in future events where he would be just sort of lumbering along these crutches, you’d have one of his two sons, Elliott or his brother helping him.
And so I read elsewhere, they had to be in incredible shape because their dad was somewhat heavily built and they had to make it look effortless as their dad was putting a lot of his weight on one of their arms, and they had to make it look like it’s no big deal, and don’t show any strain. I’m sure that Roosevelt gave a great nominating speech. Alfred Smith ended up losing to Herbert Hoover who became the Republican president in 1928 and was president when the Great Depression hit, which is a terrible time to be president, when you’re president when the Great Depression hits. But anyway, so Alfred Smith didn’t make it as president. Later that year, in 1928, Roosevelt became governor of New York, and in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, Roosevelt became president.
So in his inaugural address in March 1933, Roosevelt uttered these now famous words, these now immortal words, “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” So what’s interesting about this is imagine a Roosevelt before polio. I don’t think he would be talking about all we have to fear is fear itself. He might’ve said that and people might’ve thought, “Yeah, right. I mean, what have you ever had to fear?” He even used the words, “Paralyze needed efforts.” One wonders if that was deliberate or not.
So during his presidency, Roosevelt had a huge array of accomplishments. He created the Social Security Act to provide a safety net for all Americans, providing unemployment, disability insurance, and old age pensions. He created the works progress administration to provide the unemployed with useful works to maintain their skills and bolster their self-respect. And Roosevelt, as we know, led the US in World War II after the Japanese Imperial forces attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. And then he, along with Winston Churchill, helped defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. So it’s hard to imagine history, US history or world history without Franklin Roosevelt helping to get the US out of the Great Depression, and then helping to lead the allies in defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II. So an incredible legacy that he leaves us with.
Gary Schneeberger:
And we talk a lot, Warwick, at Beyond the Crucible about the importance of mindset shift, and Roosevelt’s ability to shift his mindset after polio is, as you have said of others, Olympic level, I think. I mean, yes, all those things that you listed, the WPA and social security, and pensions, incredible astoundingly important contributions, but the biggest victory of his life was shifting his mindset after polio and pressing in even harder into his pursuit of a life of significance in his work in government. So talk a little bit about just his mindset shift and why that was so powerful and so impactful in his life and in the life of this country.
Warwick Fairfax:
Absolutely, Gary. I think a reason that he is so revered and beloved is not just what he accomplished, but just his character and how he just would not give up. I mean, there is sort of the physical demonstration of that in which every day, with these heavy braces, he would walk to the end of the driveway. His whole life, he dreamed of one day being able to walk again, I mean properly walk without these hugely heavy and uncomfortable braces. He was not one to give up.
In 1921, as we’ve talked about, in the culture, when you got polio, you basically gave up, you retired to your home, you were looked after your family, and that’s indeed what his mother, Franklin Roosevelt’s mother, Sara, advocated, but Roosevelt was not willing to give up. Yes, he had his wife, Eleanor, and Louis Howe, which we’ll talk about more in a moment, but it was still Roosevelt’s choice, and he was not willing to give up. He was not willing to give up his political career. He was not willing to give up contributing to the society of the US and advocating for principles that he believed in.
Gary Schneeberger:
As you said, he also wasn’t ready, as we say all the time… He wasn’t willing to be defined by his worst day. And this is the part of shows like this that I love the most, Warwick, because I find quotes, and I hope since you love Franklin Roosevelt so much, or whomever we’re talking about, I hope this is a quote. I’m always like, “Oh, maybe Warwick’s never heard this one before, and I’ll spring some new knowledge on him.” But this is a perfect time to drop this second quote that I picked up as we’re talking about his refusal to be defined by his worst day.
Roosevelt said this, it’s only 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 words. But this is what he said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” I mean that, if this mic wasn’t so expensive, I’d drop it, because that’s a mic drop moment. That’s a mic drop moment in talking about crucibles, about Roosevelt’s crucible and bouncing back from his crucible, and anybody who’s had a crucible experience. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,” is just a beautiful expression of the importance of resilience. Check out what Warwick has to say about Roosevelt’s quote and find out whether or not I did indeed surprise him after these words from our sponsors.
Warwick Fairfax:
That is a great quote. I don’t believe I’ve heard that, so-
Gary Schneeberger:
All right.
Warwick Fairfax:
But it’s true. The smooth sea of Franklin Roosevelt’s life would not have made a president that people wanted to have in the White House during the 1932 election. Is this the person you would want to be leading your country, and in one sense, co-leading the world along with Winston Churchill in World War II? What does he know about hardship? What does he know about overcoming challenging circumstances? So yeah, I’ve often thought that polio made Roosevelt the man that he was. Without polio, he would’ve been a different person. Would he have been as successful? It’s really hard to see it. Would he have had the legacy that he had? Really hard to see how that would’ve been possible. So you’re right. I mean, there’s no question Franklin Roosevelt was not defined by his worst day in 1921 when he got polio.
He had every right to say, “Look, it is been fun while it lasted. I’ll have enough money to have a nice life. I love summers here in Campobello Island in Canada. I have a nice life and the estate in Hyde Park in New York, and I have a wonderful wife, nice family. I’ll read and maybe see the odd friend in private and write a bit, but I’ll have a nice quiet life on my estate.” But he didn’t choose that path, and he chose the path to come back. Yeah, I mean, it’s just amazing how there was something about Franklin Roosevelt that gave people hope. When he talked about this, “Nothing to fear but fear itself,” people could look at Roosevelt and say, “Well, you Franklin Roosevelt personify that. You are not willing to let fear of polio, fear of being an invalid define you.” I mean, you think about his campaign song in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, his campaign song was Happy Days Are Here Again.
Now, if he was some wealthy aristocratic guy playing that campaign song, he would’ve been mocked and ridiculed by people, by media. It would’ve been, “Oh, happy days are here again? Yeah, it’s all right for you and your beautiful estate in Hyde Park, New York. Yeah, probably the Great Depression hasn’t hit you. You’re doing fine. Some of us are actually having trouble getting things to eat. We’re out of a job. Happy days are here again? All right. I’m not seeing it. The bread lines, tell me where there’s a happy day, none. There’s poverty, misery, and homelessness.” But there was something about his enthusiasm, his charisma, and how he was able to overcome his hardships that people thought, “You know what? If Franklin Roosevelt says, ‘Happy Days are here again,’ he’s got plans, there’s all these things he’s going to do, I actually believe that happy days will be here again.” It’s just staggering.
The other thing I think about polio, it’s interesting, we’ve had so many guests on this podcast say that what they went through was a gift. And I don’t know that I’ve ever heard Franklin Roosevelt describe that, but in terms of the gift he was to the nation of the US and indeed the world, I feel like polio gave him a sense of empathy, a sense of compassion that enabled him to relate to others that maybe he wouldn’t have been able to without that. He would go regularly to, I think it’s Warm Springs in Georgia, I believe, where there was supposed to be healing waters, and I don’t know if it really helped, but he would go there often. There would be other kids, other young people who had polio, and I feel like they would see Franklin Roosevelt, the US president, and this is somebody they could identify with.
“He has polio like me. Look how hard he’s trying.” Now, would some young polio victim in Warm Springs, Georgia being able to identify with Franklin Roosevelt without that? I doubt it. I felt like it changed him. It gave him this compassion, this drive, this empathy that I’m not sure that he had before. So I think in a real sense, polio made Franklin Roosevelt the great man that he was. I don’t know that he thought of it as a gift, but it was in the way it transformed his soul, I think it was a gift to history, the rest of us in the US and to the world.
Gary Schneeberger:
It’s interesting, your comments about his experience at that rehabilitation place where the kids were there and the kids kind of looked at him and were like, “Wow, if the president who has polio can do this, I, with my situation, can do this as well.” It strikes me that there’s a point here we all should grab onto, and that is as we’re walking through our own crucibles, when we get to a certain place, when we’ve learned some lessons from it, as Roosevelt had by this time, it’s important, isn’t it? To live that a little publicly so people can see how we’re overcoming that. I mean, you do that with Beyond the Crucible, right? I’ve seen what people have said to you, I’ve been in the rooms when they’ve said it to you. Your ability to speak authentically and honestly about your crucible has helped them with their own crucibles. That seems to be a part of what Roosevelt brought in living publicly his life beyond polio.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, it’s a good point. There were certainly times such as when he’s in Warm Springs, Georgia, this rehabilitation center, where it was clear that he had polio and was just wrestling with it, trying to get as much range of movement. This was a different time. So he didn’t want to seem like he was an invalid, so hence the braces, and he would never let himself be photographed in a wheelchair, because, “Oh, here’s the weak Franklin Roosevelt.” So there was a sense where he felt the public pressure to not be seen as an invalid, and the press, and this is a different era, they went right along with that.
It’s hard to believe the press kept the secret, not the secret, but they kind of minimized what he went through to a degree, because they knew why he was doing this, and they respected him so much. But that being said, it was clear to the public that he had had polio, and it definitely had an effect. So yeah, he wasn’t all out, “Hey, oh, woe is me. I’m going to be wheeled around the wheelchair,” because there was a balance between dealing with it, but not wanting to do anything that hurt his political career. Because he was a very savvy politician. But yeah, I don’t know about the severity of it. People knew that he was wrestling with polio and was remarkable what he was able to accomplish and how he seemed like a very vigorous man despite what he went through.
Gary Schneeberger:
Right, and I mean, you hit it on the head when you said his campaign song, Happy Days are Here Again. I mean, that says a lot about someone running for president who the public knew something was going on there even if they didn’t know the severity as you said. So that does indeed, I think, and we’ve made the point several times in this conversation, helps people with their own trials and setbacks and failures. I think that’s important for all of us to remember.
Warwick Fairfax:
I think it’s a great point, Gary, whether we think of it like this or not, I don’t know if Franklin Roosevelt thought of himself as a role model. He was focused on his political career as well as helping the nation. But I have to believe that whether it was intentional or not, he was, he gave people hope, certainly physically, but also he gave people hope that things will get better, that there is hope. Hope can indeed be a self-fulfilling prophecy as indeed doom and gloom can be a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of your soul.
And so he really was a role model of how to deal with physical challenges, how to deal with personal challenges, and it lifted a nation. His sunny disposition, I mean, I can’t think of any time you see a photograph of Roosevelt other than a big broad smile. Maybe he got depressed in his quiet moments. I’m sure he was human, but you never saw publicly him being down. He always had this sort of optimistic, we’ll get through this. There’ll be another day, the sun will come up. So that disposition was incredibly impactful to other people and indeed the nation.
Gary Schneeberger:
And that, his perspective, his ability to live, that was all because of this mindset shift that we talked about. And you, in your book, make special note of his advisor, Louis Howe’s role in helping sort of cement that mindset shift, keep that mindset shift on track for Roosevelt. He, in fact, you make the case… A phrase we use a lot at Beyond the Crucible fellow traveler that Louis Howe was Roosevelt’s chief fellow traveler, as he navigated his way back from his crucible and navigated his way through some of the most tumultuous times in American history. Why was Howe so valuable to Roosevelt making his vision a reality?
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, I mean, Louis Howe was hugely influential in Franklin Roosevelt’s life and his path back from polio. Louis Howe met Roosevelt in 1911 when Roosevelt was a member of the New York State Senate, and Howe saw something in Roosevelt. Howe was somebody who was in political circles, and he saw a young Roosevelt as somebody that had the potential to become President. Roosevelt had this natural enthusiasm, this natural charisma that just drew people in. Even back then, there was something special about Franklin Roosevelt. So ever since that time in 1911, Louis Howe was Franklin Roosevelt’s key advisor. So when Roosevelt got polio in 1921, Louis Howe was probably the chief person responsible for helping Roosevelt come back. Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, she wasn’t in the same camp as Roosevelt’s mother, Sara. She knew that it would be this almost the death of his soul if he just sat there and felt bad for himself and was just an invalid in private life.
So she instinctively knew that, but Howe really helped put that idea into action. And so Louis Howe encouraged Roosevelt to keep his name in the public eye by having him issue statements on public issues that he cared about. He encouraged Roosevelt to write magazine articles, and he also encouraged him to appear at the 1924 Democratic Convention. Now, importantly, Louis Howe also urged Eleanor Roosevelt to speak across New York state to ensure that her husband remained in the public eye. Now we have to remember Eleanor Roosevelt that we remember during Roosevelt’s presidency in World War II and afterwards, speaking at the United Nations, this was a different Eleanor Roosevelt in 1921. She was shy, she was retiring, she was self-conscious. The last thing Eleanor Roosevelt wanted to do was speak. She wouldn’t have thought of herself as a good speaker. I’m sure she got training and encouragement from Louis Howe, and she indeed did overcome her natural shyness and fear of being in a public spotlight and spoke all around New York state because she knew this was part of Louis Howe’s plan, to not let Franklin Roosevelt’s name be forgotten.
She dearly loved her husband. She believed in who he was as a man and as a potential politician and just his future. So that was huge. And indeed, in the ’20s, his name kept coming up. He would issue statements. Eleanor Roosevelt would speak. We mentioned before about Franklin Roosevelt speaking at the 1928 Democratic Convention where they nominated Alfred Smith, becoming New York State Governor in 1928, and then president in 1932. This was all due to Louis Howe as well as Eleanor Roosevelt. So when Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1932, and up until Howe’s death in 1936, Howe was effectively his White House chief of staff. All of the things we’ve been talking about, the Social Security Act, the work progress administration, everything that was around in the ’30s before he died, Louis Howe had a huge hand in making those things happen, and he was considered, Louis Howe, as the man who put Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House.
And Roosevelt’s son, Elliott, said this in Louis Howe. He said that, “Louis Howe was probably the greatest influence on both my father and my mother’s lives.” That’s huge praise. When Howe died, Roosevelt had the flags put at half-mast. This wasn’t some leader of the U.S. This was somebody that was his advisor, his chief of staff. That’s, I’m sure, pretty unusual to have an advisor die and the flags we put at half-mast. So yeah, I mean, it’s just amazing the impact that Louis Howe had on Roosevelt’s life and indeed Eleanor Roosevelt’s life. Without Louis Howe, would Roosevelt have been able to come back from polio? Would he have become governor of New York and President of the United States? It’s really hard to know. I mean, what he was going through was really tough. I think what it shows is in our darkest moments, irrespective of our resilience and metal mindset, having somebody like Louis Howe, and then Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, is huge in helping to build up our metal of fortitude to cope with what was an incredibly difficult situation for him personally.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah, and from the perspective of Beyond the Crucible, I think this story highlights two of the biggest things that we all need to bounce back from a crucible. That is, one, a mindset shift. This didn’t happen to me, it happened for me, and two, fellow travelers, people who will push you to persevere, because just learning the lessons of your crucible doesn’t make the journey ahead of you stone free as you’re walking the path, there’s still stumbling blocks. There are still things that happen. So having a fellow traveler there who can lift you up, help you move forward, encourage you, share the journey with you is pivotal. So I think this story, what we’ve talked about here about Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a master class in what Beyond the Crucible is all about, right?
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, it’s such a good point, Gary. I mean, as you well say, we need two things. We need the mindset shift, and we need fellow travelers. Fellow travelers can’t help you unless you’re willing to make the tough decision, “I will not be defined by my worst day. I’m going to shift my mindset. My body may be paralyzed, but I’m not going to let this defeat me.” You have to have that mindset shift. But having had that mindset shift, we need all the help we can get because there will be days in which we think, “Why bother?”
There’ve got to been days when he is making that walk down the driveway, people have written him off, and he is thinking, “Gosh, what’s the point of writing that next magazine article? Is there really any point Eleanor going all across New York State speaking?” And Louis Howe probably said, “Franklin,” probably would’ve said, “Mr. Roosevelt.” I don’t know if he called him Franklin or not, but just, “I believe in you. Eleanor believes in you. Your message is too important. The nation needs you. There will come a time when you’ll have an opportunity in politics again. Just keep at it. Trust the process, trust yourself.”
So I’m sure there were days when he needed that. There were probably days in the White House when things were not going easy, when maybe it was tough to get legislation through. And I’m sure there were days when Louis Howe said, “Mr. president, we’ll find a way. We’ll get this done. We have to get this done. The people need help. We’ll find a way. We’ll talk to the right senators and people in Congress and the House, but we’ll figure out a way to get this legislation through.” So I’m sure there were days in which he needed Louis Howe.
So just both of those things. We all need a mindset shift, the people who are going to be with us in the trenches when things are our darkest or things are at their darkest and can say, “You know what? We’ll figure this out. We’ll get through this. We can do this. You can do this. We’ll do this.” You need both a mindset shift and somebody in your camp like a Louis Howe. I mean, it’s hard to think of fellow travelers as great as Louis Howe. He’s got to be one of the greatest fellow travelers in history. I’m sure that Franklin Roosevelt would’ve said that.
Gary Schneeberger:
Fellow traveler hall of fame right there.
Warwick Fairfax:
Exactly.
Gary Schneeberger:
We could call it the Louis Howe Fellow Traveler Hall of Fame.
Warwick Fairfax:
Well said.
Gary Schneeberger:
Copyright, Beyond the Crucible. So we’ve been up here at the 30,000-foot level talking about how our listeners and viewers can apply some of these lessons. But as we wrap up, Warwick, what are some of the big takeaways that you would want our listeners and viewers to take with them from the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt?
Warwick Fairfax:
It’s a great question. If ever there was a prominent leader in history who exemplifies not letting your worst day define you, it’s Franklin Roosevelt. And it’s interesting contrasting Roosevelt with some other leaders. He went through very challenging circumstances, very challenging crucibles. We’ve got Abraham Lincoln who was president during the US Civil War when the Southern states seceded. We’ve got George Washington leading the American colonies military forces during the American Revolution. They went through very challenging circumstances. But what’s different about Franklin Roosevelt is his crucible was not external. It was not outside forces acting upon them or their nation, as is true of Lincoln and Washington.
In Franklin Roosevelt’s case, his crucible was personal. He had to dig down deep within his soul and make sure that his paralysis was only physical and that his paralysis did not define who he was as a person. In that sense, he couldn’t avoid having his body be paralyzed, but he could make a decision, would his soul be paralyzed? Well, he decided, “No, I’m not going to let this paralysis affect my soul.” And that was a huge decision, and that mindset shift, not to be defined by his worst day, not to be defined by his paralysis, which back then, you were indeed, in society’s eyes, defined by paralysis. If you were paralyzed through polio, that defined you, that defined the rest of your life and you were meant to be this invalid that stayed at home.
So in that sense, at the time, if you got polio, it was your worst day, and it did define you. That was the attitude of society. But Roosevelt was not willing to let that define him. So when you think about Roosevelt, he was such a gift to the nation and to the world, both during the Great Depression and in World War II. His sunny disposition and optimistic attitude was exactly what the US needed in the Depression and what the world needed in World War II. We’ve talked a bit about the Great Depression. The way he masterfully led the US in the lead-up to World War II is something we can’t forget because he was a master politician. He knew that in the US in the 1930s, there was this tremendous sense of isolationism. It’s like, “Look, what’s happening in Europe with Hitler, it’s not a problem. We’re the US let’s just not worry about.” And he knew that.
Roosevelt knew that at some point, war was going to come and the US couldn’t avoid it, but he wanted to do everything possible to help Britain survive that was leading the allies before the US got into the war in December 1941. So he came up with these innovative ideas like the Lend-Lease Program, which basically loaned armaments and ships to Britain basically for free. It was a long-term loan. And he used this… Probably this goes down in the public relations hall of fame, this particular comment, he said, “If a neighbor comes by and wants a garden hose, aren’t you going to lend it to them?” And your average person said, “Well, yeah.” Well, ships and armaments worth, I don’t know, millions of dollars or hundreds, whatever it was, a little bit different than a garden hose.
But somehow, that metaphor of the garden hose, people said, “Well, of course I’d lend my neighbor garden hose. Let’s lend Britain all these armaments,” and they said, “Of long-term leases probably interest-free.” And that was brilliant politically, and it got through. That kept Britain in the war and funded with armaments. Without that, by the time of December 1941, who knows? Maybe there wouldn’t have been a Britain, which would’ve made coming back from that infinitely harder for the US and maybe would’ve meant a lot more US service men and women would’ve lost their lives if there was no Britain. Who knows?
So Roosevelt, not only did he not let his worst day define him, he just had this brilliant, creative mindset, and he knew how to get the job done. His political savvy and public relations savvy was just off the charts. So he knew what had to be done, but just as importantly, he knew how to get the job done. He was remarkable in so many ways. But all of these gifts that he gave to the US and the world in the Great Depression and in World War II, none of them would’ve happened without his decision in 1921, aided by his wife, Eleanor, and Louis Howe, not to be defined by his worst day to not give up. Yes, he was paralyzed physically, but he made a decision that he was not going to be paralyzed in his soul, and he made a determination that he would come back, he would not give up and not give up his hope and dream of being active in life and in political life.
Gary Schneeberger:
Did you hear that folks? That sounded like the plane landing. I believe our host, Warwick Fairfax, just landed the plane on this very, very, very enlightening conversation on what Franklin Delano Roosevelt can teach us about moving forward beyond crucibles, especially physical crucibles as happened in his life. And that folks, with the plane on the ground, will wrap our latest episode of the show within the show that we call Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership.
This is an exciting time because the next one of these we do… In a few weeks, the next one we do will be the final one of this year. But it’s going to be… And I’m not even going to try to tease you, I’m just going to tell you, because I want to see our host smile and laugh like he’s doing right now. It’s going to be on his father, Sir Warwick Fairfax. So I’m really looking forward to that conversation. But until that happens, we will turn the page and wait until next month for another story on Warwick’s dad to help you turn the page and move beyond your crucible to a life of significance. See you then.
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