When Roosevelt was 39 years old, a severe attack of poliomyelitis in 1921 resulted in total paralysis of both legs to the hips. Roosevelt’s health is one of the most intriguing as it demonstrates the capacity at which the White House will go to hide any evidence of a President’s disability.  There are very few photographs which show FDR in his wheelchair as photographers were instructed to photograph from the waist up, and it has been reported that Secret Service

agents would yank the film from cameras that they felt captured the President in his wheelchair.

Some scholars argue that Roosevelt actually had Guillain-Barre Syndrome rather than polio. Many believe there was a cover up and have questioned why FDR chose to run for a fourth term when it was evident that his health was deteriorating rapidly. FDR’s doctor, VADM McIntire, had proclaimed that FDR’s health was excellent. The FBI was investigating who might have knew about his condition at the time of the November 1944 election, and FDR’s medical record, which was kept in a safe at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, has been missing since the president’s death. VADM McIntire was one of three people with access to the safe.  A side note, Roosevelt also suffered from hemorrhoids.