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Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882-1945
Particularly early in his career, people tended to underestimate Franklin Roosevelt. Handsome, genial, and affable, he presented a mask to the world that hid (in words applied to Lincoln) "the little engine of his ambition." Raised to a tradition of public service, he sought to emulate the career of his distant cousin, the famous Theodore. Like the earlier Roosevelt, FDR served as assistant secretary of the navy (the naval vessel in this photograph acknowledges his love of that service) and governor of New York. A key event for FDR was his surviving and overcoming an attack of polio in 1921 that cost him the use of his legs. He refused to retire from politics, and his struggle against his infirmity enhanced a steely determination to succeed, even as he presented an impassive face to the world.
Edward Steichen, c 1938 |