Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Charles Carroll Glover

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nearly 50 million people live with disabilities in the US. This population has included our nation's presidents. Dwight Eisenhower had a learning disability. Abraham Lincoln lived with depression. James Madison had epilepsy. Franklin D. Roosevelt had polio. John F. Kennedy lived with several medical issues. Places associated with these presidents, including those in NPS parks and recognized by NPS programs, continue to honor these presidents' memories.

In 1945, FDR and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia secretly met aboard the USS Quincy. It was the first time a U.S. president met with a Saudi Arabian king. Their friendship and the exchange of gifts is the story of a wheelchair in U.S. diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

President Roosevelt and four-month-old Fala on a picnic near Pine Plains, N.Y. on August 8, 1940.

From the start, FDR worked to prepare the navy for the coming war, and was troubled that others did not see it his way. Time would prove him right.

The Prologue Room of the Franklin Delano Memorial was added in 2001, four years after the dedication, and features a statue of Roosevelt in a wheelchair to demonstrate that after contracting polio at the age of 39, "this great President was great with his disability."

Memorials for the Future, is a competition that aims to rethink the way we develop and experience memorials in Washington, D.C.

There are several important birthdays connected with NAMA monuments and memorials. How can you use the birthdays of historical figures to connect students with concepts like family, struggle, equality, and leadership?

Our generous partners and volunteers provided more than $34 million in philanthropic contributions in 2018 helping us fund preservation projects, programs, commemorations, and celebrations.