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    The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency
    The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency
    The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency

    Written by James Tobin

    Narrated by Charles Constant

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    When polio paralyzed Franklin Roosevelt at the age of thirty-nine, people wept to think that the young man of golden promise must live out his days as a helpless invalid. He never again walked on his own. But in just over a decade, he regained his strength and seized the presidency.

    This was the most remarkable comeback in the history of American politics. And, as author James Tobin shows, it was the pivot of Roosevelt's life-the triumphant struggle that tempered and revealed his true character. With enormous ambition, canny resourcefulness, and sheer grit, FDR willed himself back into contention and turned personal disaster to his political advantage. Tobin's dramatic account of Roosevelt's ordeal and victory offers central insights into the forging of one of our greatest presidents.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 12, 2013
    ISBN9781452686974
    Author

    James Tobin

    James Tobin won the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography for Ernie Pyle’s War and the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight. Educated at the University of Michigan, where he earned a PhD in history, he teaches narrative nonfiction in the Department of Media, Journalism, and Film at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

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    Reviews for The Man He Became

    4.5/5

    8 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Well-written, thoroughly researched story of FDR's fight with polio and its aftermath. As a polio survivor myself (I was two when I contracted the disease in the last big US epidemic in 1955) I found the descriptions of the illness right on the money, as well as FDR's physical, mental, and emotional struggles to regain some of what he'd lost. But this book should resonate with anyone, not only those who struggle with disability, but who struggle, period. FDR's courage and determination served him well in leading this country during the dark days of the Big Depression. I think he continues to encourage those who read about him today. Yes, he's the guy who told us that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."Hearing about FDR inspired me as a child, and I connected with his drive for people to see him as a vibrant, capable person. What disabled person does not? But let's change that sentence: What person does not? Whatever your personal difficulties, whether they are clearly visible to others or not, it helps to have someone wiling to inspire us by getting on with the business of living, of doing whatever it takes to become the person you want to be. FDR had presidential aspirations long before polio struck; the fascination of his story is how he refused to let it change the true direction of his life.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Very easy to read and very informative - about the symptoms of polio, about one man's struggle to overcome his disability and achieve his goal, and about society's attitude towards "cripples"
    • 5/5
      Disclaimer: Received advanced copy through Goodreads First Reads program.Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dream to follow his cousin’s Theodore to the Presidency seemed to be exactly on course until he was stuck down with polio and appeared to be derailed forever. But as James Tobin recounts in his new book “The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency”, Roosevelt’s illness and his determination to regain his health and the use of his legs enabled him to make his way to the White House in a quiet unexpected way.Tobin begins his account at his time period’s end with Inauguration Day 1933 following Roosevelt through the ceremonies of the day and how he proceeded to stand up, walk the new way he had learned, and sit down. Then we are taken back to summer 1921 to an athletic and healthy Roosevelt just before he contracted the poliovirus. The contrast is stark and makes the reader want to see how Roosevelt went from the latter to the former, a task that Tobin skillfully chronicles.Within the recounting of Roosevelt’s contraction, illness, recovering, and physical rehabilitation from polio Tobin enlightens readers on a number of issues. The first is the mechanics of the poliovirus and how it became major epidemic disease in the early 20th-century. The second is the societal attitudes towards the disabled in the 1920s and early 1930s that many faced and were amplified when Roosevelt returned to politics. The third was political dynamics that the nation and the Democratic party was facing throughout the mid-1920s especially when it came to New York Governor Al Smith and Roosevelt’s relationship towards him. The fourth is Roosevelt’s dealings with the press about his physical condition and how much he actually used a wheelchair.At 311 pages of text, Tobin for the vast majority of the book is both detailed and efficient in his writing. The only time the text seemed to wander was when Tobin discussed the societal attitudes towards the disabled during the time period, mainly because he continued to show example after example of attitudes and biases after clearly giving the reader ample evidence already. If being given an overabundance of information on a particular issue that Roosevelt had to confront is the only noticeable “glare” then it might come down to the individual reader and not the writer.Upon finishing the book, Tobin’s view that polio helped Roosevelt win the Presidency does hold up. A polio-free Roosevelt had all the talent to become President, whether he would have succeeded would be another matter. However, it was a post-polio Roosevelt who learned to use his talents in another way like he had to learn to use his muscles in another way that helped create a recipe for a successful return to politics and then ascension to the Presidency.
    • 4/5
      I'm really surprised at how interesting the story came out. I thought that it would be deadly dull but informative, but instead it was very entertaining as well as giving a very interesting insight into FDR before and after polio.It was extremely well written, never getting too technical but still giving a great deal of information as to the affliction and its results.
    • 4/5
      An excellent historical presentation of FDR from just before his attack of polio to just as he gets elected president. Without question, my biggest complaint is that the author stops way too soon. The narrative never lags. The author presents facts with an open mind to differing opinions. And he is quite convincing when he offers an opinion of his own. And perhaps more to the point of the book's subtitle, he presents information on acquiring and dealing with polio in a most comprehensive but never dry way, from both the patient's and doctor's point of view, as well as that of family and friends. Admittedly, most people who know something about Franklin Roosevelt, know it primarily from his days as President of the United States. Nevertheless, this felt like a captivating setup and play-by-play from a championship sporting event that occurred in the past, and then the book simply halts at half-time with the assumption that everybody already knows how the game ends. Keep writing! I would certainly read more of this very capable historian's work.