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President Roosevelt’s legs were completely paralyzed by polio as a young man. His “walking” was simply an appearance of walking. His legs were encased by steel braces which gave them rigidity. He had tremendous upper body strength and would with great effort thrust first one hip and then the other forward to give the appearance of actually walking. He always had a cane or a man support him during public appearances and his speaking lecterns were bolted to the floor. Many Americans had no idea that the president couldn’t walk and members of the press aided in this deception, something impossible today.

These upscale of these old films is amazing. Also the speed correction makes it less cartoony and makes you realize these were real people just living their lives.

Roosevelt practiced "walking" incessantly early in his political career (after contracting polio). He made it look almost normal. But he did rely on having a strong man's arm to hang onto. Also, notice that he always has at least one hand on the balcony railing. If he let go, he would have fallen.

As so many others have pointed out, Roosevelt could not "walk" as a result of his polio at age 39; more accurately, he is shuffling, by using his upper body strength to move his legs, which were encased in braces from foot to hips. Even to do this he needed to hang on to another person. But from this video, by the time he reached the Presdiency, he had perfected the technique of shuffling to look like a natural walk.

FDR and Eleanor, this is so amazing to see! It's really incredible.

Me continually putting the volume up for sound and not realizing 😂 This is a beautiful treasure. Thank you for sharing this!

A few things to notice as you watch this film. My guess is that with the fishing boat at the start, this family started filming in the Summer of 1934 and left the camera alone for months. Then, they were lucky enough to get to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll the following Spring. Notice that their clothing is heavier. It is also nice to see how dressed up everyone is, especially considering that this is smack in the middle of the Great Depression. Also, quite amazing that the family got so close to Eleanor Roosevelt (at 1:50). Finally, (at 2:55) the boy and the woman (probably his mother) are on the back porch of George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. Just a bit of amateur detective work.

FDR is this Canadian guys favourite person of all time.

I thank God every month for him creating Social Security.

Fantastic film. I was aware he had been afflicted with polio, and suffered paralysis as a result. Thank you for posting this rate footage.

All these people were closer to the Civil War than we are to them.

Amazing! Love this channel! Thanks.

Thank you for the color home movies from 1935 of FDR being assisted by a gentleman to the balcony of the White House and other footage. As I say, the old color films give one the impression of the footage being shot yesterday versus the black and white films, which appear distant in time. Thanks again.

There’s a brilliant Ken Burns 14 hr documentary called “The Roosevelts, an intimate history” it’s HIGHLY recommended, also, this colorized home movie makes them look so real and current. Thank you for sharing!

He didn't hide his handicap from the public, but, understandably, downplayed it as much as possible. He walked upright, slowly, with braces, canes, and the support of others. His legs, of course, were atrophied, having been paralyzed by polio since the 1920s.

When I was a kid in the late 1950s we felt so lucky to have a polio vaccine. It was and is a terrible disease.

He really mastered the illusion. Its impressive and you know it was taxing for him.

My parents were in their 40s when FDR died. They knew about his polio and I suspect most other people did; it just wasn't drummed into them by the media, leaving room for the Great Depression and WW2.

A brilliant video. This has to be my favourite history channel. 🐨🇦🇺

Thanks for showing this. That is a treat to see. Because of polio he didn’t walk much , and I read photographers and news people respectfully refrained from showing - reporting about his struggles in that regard. FDR was the MVP of 20th century US presidents. A case could be made he was one of the most positive of the world’s public figures.during that century.

When I look at the children in the footage, I know that the surviving ones would be very old today.

That had to be exhausting for FDR to put on that short show. It looked fairly natural, except for the aide. Even the cane could be seen as a stylish prop in those days. By the late 1930s and certainly during WWII there were few if any displays of FDR "walking". That was 88 years ago. There may only be ten or so of the children seen there still alive today.

In those days, we didn’t feel a need to know things unrelated to a President’s official duties.

Incredible footage

His “walking” didn’t look normal at all. He had a deal with the press not to photograph him “walking” (which he couldn’t), or getting in or out of a car.

From a 21st-century perspective, it's so odd to see the White House lawn treated as an open city park by Washingtonians on Easter. As the open accessibility of the White House grounds would come to a decisive end with the severe security precautions brought by WWII, the "people's house" essentially becoming a veritable, highly-restricted fortress by the end of the twentieth century, it is sad to realize that, within the oldest living generation's memory, the national security climate permitted regular Americans far greater ease of access to the symbols and buildings of high government. Now, the White House and other principal federal government buildings, with their threatening perimeter fencing, Orwellian CCTV systems, violating body scanners/x-ray machines, and aggressive "paramilitary" security forces, are treated more like "hardened" military citadels than as the accessible and welcoming monuments of democracy they were originally intended to be. Since the time of FDR, our society has (or, more accurately put, those in power have) sacrificed our once-cherished values of openness and hospitality for the alleged modern exigencies of safety and security. Was this sacrifice worth it?

There are other films of him walking. They're common enough in documentaries about him.

If you have never seen the (1960) movie 'Sunrise at Campobello' with Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Greer Garson as Mrs. Roosevelt it's def. worth it!

Really neat piece of American history not seen for generations

I remember learning that “ walking “ was extremely painful for him . The act of standing alone was excruciating because of the steel that encased his legs .

Wow, I've never seen someone turn into a color and then into black and white and then into color again. What great space-age technology you are using!

Thanks for this.

There are other films of him STANDING when he was younger, but not sure if he walks. He had an apparatus that allowed him to stand for speeches. Color is amazing.

Imagine contemporary "journalists" keeping this secret.

Very cool! Thanks!!

There is a short video of Roosevelt walking around a train derailment when he was an official in New York. I have seen the video on KZfaq. It is of a pre-polio Roosevelt.

You have a wonderful collection of videos, and surely do not intend to be rude, but all (or most) of your videos are 20th century, not 19th. The earliest known films are from the 1880s (maybe even 1870s) and those would be the 19th century. But the bulk of what you have are 20th century. Wonderful collection that I can share with my history students. Thank you !!

It was well known to the public that Roosevelt had paralysis from polio. They were not engaging ‘deception’ by downplaying his handicap. It just wasn’t seen as a good ‘look.’

This is the man who fought The Reich and won.... What would he say about The Reich forming to fight America from within?

There is a book titled The Great Deception . It goes into great detail describing what FDR went through after he contracted polio and how he and the press hid his disability from the public . Wonderful book .

So much simpler of a time. I envy these people in that way.

2:11, the moment when President Roosevelt is seen walking.

As he got older, it took his aids like 3 hours to get him dressed, and he couldn't stand without pain for more than minute or so. What an amazing, tough man.

Just a different time. No need to guard the White House with a fence or Secret Service. People loved Roosevelt.

A time when most people in this country were civilized and respectful. What happened?

When I was a young journalist, I interviewed people whose lives Roosevelt ruined. He was both beloved and hated vehemently. He put a lot of people out of business and made them destitute with that “New Deal,” which we now know extended the Depression.

When he stood for press briefings, there were two pegs in the wall, that he was leaned against. The pegs supported him, but he was exhausted later.

Thanks to FDR for SSA, FLSA, FDIC, etc., etc., etc.

Wow, I'm surprised! 😮😮😮

I wish I could go back in time.

This was almost 100 yrs ago... and it seems so modern with the blimp flying above the white house... no way that would be allowed today for obvious reasons but aside from the fashions... everything looks like it could be last year.

This reel was purchased by Rick from Pawn Stars a few years ago

This is NOT the only known footage of FDR 'walking.' I know of at least 3 other clips that exist of him 'walking' One was at his first inauguration where he 'walked' from inside the Capitol to the platform. Another was of him leaving some kind of event. I think this is the one that shows his fake 'walk' perfectly. It was shown on The American Experience documentary about FDR. Another was taken by one of the baseball players when FDR attended a Washington Senators game to throw out the first pitch as is tradition. That film, never seen, surfaced about 15 years ago I think.

Note that FDR still needed assistance to walk, which is why he had his armed around the arm of an aide as he walked. And I read that by the symptoms, some doctors today think that he did not get polio, instead he got GBS, Guillain-Barré Syndrome. GBS is an ailment of the nervous system where today, the paralysis would not have been permament. With FDR, obviously they may not have the methods to treat it like today, but the hydrotherapy at Warm Springs, GA certainly helped alleviate the illness, giving him some form of mobility again.

All in their Easter best

I wished I lived in this time before the internet

FDR was incredibly popular when he was president so most people were just willing to look past his infirmity or rationalize it away somehow. Most people knew he had a disability. People are still the same way today. They’ll overlook any number of faults or lousy behavior if the person is charming and/or good looking enough, just like in high school.

amazing footage

That had to be painful with all that steel on your legs.

I am surprised that infrastructure from the 1930s looks the same as today 😅 Color shows it all

0:12 - They don't look they're having much fun.

He didn’t experience symptoms of the disease until he was 39 years old.

I have seen a newsreel of him walking to his Presidential car, only a few steps, mind.

Back in the day, when job performance was given greater emphasis than health issues or sex scandals..

Alles ordentliche Menschen in einer noch intakten Umwelt. So nah würden sie die Menschen heutzutage nicht mehr an eine Präsidenten lassen. Heute herrscht nur noch Chaos und Angst und Selbstinzinierung. Schöne alte Zeit! Danke fürs Posten!

He was present at all times during the Second World War and participated in the Potsdam conference.

Was a progressive by most measures, especially for the time. Founder of Social Security and the 40 hour workweek.

He was walking!

The footage quality from these early iPhones was quite good!

Was amazing to see this footage. Of course knew FDR was paralyzed, and knew he could "walk" as it were.. but have never seen it with my own eyes, until now. Absolutely fascinating!

They actually think he had Guillain-Barré syndrome now.

It looks like he was at least able to stand up and go and sit in a chair. And go to the bathroom and get to bed by himself. If so that would have made a huge difference.

Note that the balcony called the Truman Balcony (for a reason 😂) doesn’t exist in the film

... und die Menge der Masse an Menschen stand gestanden unten zum Volke nah - ohne Foto und Kamera 😅

1:52 you made me having a crush on someone who has long been gone

I like that boat. It would be considered small, for the upper class, today, which Roosevelt was a member of, but I would love to own it.

Again, I am interested in where all of this footage has come from. Where has it been all this time?

Such a good man and president. Rip

FDR walking (with assistance) at 2:10

There is newsreel footage of him walking (in the broad sense) to his first inauguration. We can't see his legs or hands, because spectators are in the way. Just from looking at it, I suspect that a ramp with rails was set up for him and spectators were positioned to conceal the rails.

This is the only known footage of him walking as president… There’s quite bit of footage of him walking as the 1920 Vice presidential candidate.

The whole video is interesting, giving a flavor and realism to that time period. Mrs. Roosevelt cuts a nice figure too; thinner than I realized.

.75 speed makes it better

Amazing. God bless Roosevelt for my social security!

Can’t wait till they can restore footage like this so that it looks as real as if it were captured today. It will give you a real sense of what things looked like back then. However I think it will just look like a Hollywood movie then haha.

Very good

Walking clip at 2:12. Not true, there's another clip of him getting out of a car, same type of walk with the braces.

Greatest list: FDR then JFK then Lincoln then Washington

His lower body had already been paralyzed for years prior to being elected president. He is not "walking" here.

he's walking like he's drunk

Please, fix the demonstrably inaccurate, misleading title of this KZfaq video. If you just Google "films of FDR walking", you'll find plenty, from plenty of places, shot during his presidency, well after he was crippled by polio. His usual method for these moments was braces on legs + arm on Navy man to one side + other arm on cane or other man: this was how he made it in public from one place of sitting to another place of sitting (such as a car) or to a place of standing still (such as a lectern) without being seen rolling in his wheelchair. If you want something rare, find a movie of him rolling in his chair.

This is nice to see. Yes, the public has a right to know. But respect for an otherwise able president should be counted here. Imagine Fox Snooze getting wind of this. That said, I love that Easter Egg Roll! The parade was so charming. It was so much easier to have these gatherings than it is today.

Think of how safe you must have felt in America. No bomber, no missile, no army, no navy could reach you. The rest of the world must have seemed so far away. True, antibiotics were just coming on so even simple infections could kill you but science and medicine were making great strides. The horrible war years and the bomb were not even imagined.

Hardly the only know footage. But you got your clicks.

Back then the press would cover up things for politicians.

Any idea what this event was.

I thank God for FDR. THE GREATEST President in history.

Epic!

Not true. There's (color) footage of FDR "walking" to the podium on Inauguration Day, 1936.