ROOSEVELT THE MAN

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 92, 20 April 1933, Page 13

ROOSEVELT THE MAN

AMERICA'S PRESIDENT

TRIUMPH OF CHARACTER

HOW HE WON THROUGH

A man of unusual personal charm and of even moro unusual fortitude and heroism of character in overcoming a personal affliction that would have terminated the career of 999 men out of, a thousand is the thirty-second President of the United States. Tho paralysis which overtook him in 1921 left him entirely without the use of his lower limbs, and made his most intimate friends feel that he could never again bo anything but a hopeless' invalid. But Mr. Eoosevelt set himself to the task of overcoming his affliction with a courage and determination which called for complete admiration, with the result that while his infirmity remains his physical strength is remarkable. His torso arouses tho admiration of prize-fighters; the strength of his arms is astounding. This is the result of ceaseless exercising, especially swimming, at the little resort at Warm Springs, Georgia, which he' and a group of friends have purchased in order to make it available for those similarly afflicted, writes Oswald Garrison Villard in' the "Manchester Guardian." He is still unable to. lift his legs, which arc considerably wasted, but by means of a remarkable, steel- brace he is enabled to walk on a level with tho help of two canes. The brace is strapped, around his waist and clamped on to the heels of his low shoes, and is, of course, jointed at the knees. When he wishes to rise from his chair he can stretch his long legs in front of him, tho joints of the brace at tho knees slip into place, and he thenjaises himself into a standing position by the strength of his . extraordinary arms. He does not allow anyone to sympathise with/him; I called.upon him.as soon as I heard that he was able to receive visitors, but when I /proffered sympathy he refused it. Others, ha said, were much worse off than he; why should he complain? TWO ACCIDENTS. On two occasions in addressing great audiences at public dinners ho has lost his balance—he is usually provided with an exceptionally heavy . chair, bohind which ho stands with one hand firmly grasping the top. Forgetting the necessity for holding on in his desire to gesticulate, Mr. Koosevelt went headlong to the floor, where ho lay until he was picked up and set on his feet. He immediately continued the interrupted sentences without the slightest reference to the accident. Never has he referred to, his disability in a public address, but the strenuous campaign tours that he made before the election were largely due to his desire to show the American people that he was physically fit for the office ho sought, and it is a fact that he showed far greater endurance than the entourage of secretaries and newspaper men who accompanied him. If it could be said that the new President had shown similar force of character and courage during his political career the country would look upon his accession to power with far greater confidence than it does. . He was not, however, chosen because his record as Governor of New York stamped him clearly as tho superman the dire distress in which the United States now finds itself calls for. He was elected primarily because of the popular resentment against Mr. Hoover and his Administration. The general attitude of the public is, howover, entirely friendly to Mr. Eoosevelt, and there is a genuine disposition to give him every opportunity to show what he can do and to allow him plenty of time to develop a programme. It must, however, be said that no President since Abraham Lincoln, who took office only a month before the outbreak of the Civil War of 1861-65, has been more quickly tested than Mr. Boosevelt will bo. If after he has shaken down into office and laid his programme before Congress he does not quickly demonstrate genuine leadership and tho ability to drive his programme through Congress his political star will set rapidly. SERIOUS SITUATION. Norman Thomas, the defeated Socialist candidate for President, has gone so far as to say that tho President's political eclipse will begin tho day he takes office. This is hardly fair. But it is a fact that tho country is suffering moro and more from tho depression, that conditions are getting worse and not better, that the farmer revolt, which I have just been studying in the Middle West, is getting more and more serious, that tho applications for relief are becoming more numerous as the last savings of multitudes are being used up, and that the danger of outbreaks of violonco steadily increases. If tho American people do not see "relief coming within the next six or eight months there are serious times, indeed, before us, as to which no ono could, however, be no foolish as to prophesy. But this one can say: Mr. Boosevelt must play his best cards at the beginning of his Administration. . As to tho President's great ppvsonnl charm and bonhomie, which will undoubtedly mako him personally .the most popular President in the White House since Theodore Eoosevelt, these are, perhaps, a chief weakness. He is so cordial, so friendly, so bubbling over with" good spirits and happiness, that the temptation for him vis to put every visitor at case by agreeing with him. This is not an unusual fault in American politicians by any i moans, nor is it unknown elsewhere. But it has been so marked with. Mr. Roosevelt that men of diverse opinions havo come from interviews with him and assured the public that Mr. Roosevelt quite agreed with their point ot view It is undoubtedly at tho bottom of tho charges that have boon made from timo to time that he is unreliable and that he makes promises which he does not keep. MAN OF WEALTH. Undoubtedly there is v certain amount of vacillation in his character as a statesman. One difficulty witn him has been that life has been too easy. Ho wasj born to considerable wealth and to the highest possible social standing. Not a single obstneio has presented itself to him during the entire course of his career, wifh tho exception of the'parnlysis. He ni.-imrd a remarkable woman, and in addition to everything elso ho was one of tho handsomest of young men. The result has boon that he has never really had to make a hard tight fnv any of the prizos of life, even his election aa President was so clearly foreordained that it would havo como' to him had ho not liftod a finger after his nomination. Lifo has been so smooth and so rich and so easy for him—always with the one exception I have noted —that he has never had to grapple with and ■, master any of the hard pei-sonal problems that confront tho ordinary man. Nor has ho thought his way through many of tho economic "difficulties confronting the world. He has not had to put his troth into any question, such ns the tariff, and renlly learn what it is all about. This was clearly shown- in several of the speeches thnt he made during the campaign, which were neither worthy or him. nor of the sub.iects treated.