A Fireside Chat with FDR

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a master of words, inspiring Americans during the depression and World War II. Aware of its growing power in making politicians look dynamic, the press never showed that Roosevelt was actually confined to a wheelchair (after being paralyzed by polio). Instead, FDR became a symbol of U.S. resolve and might. Here he addresses the nation over a radio hookup on August 23, 1938, while First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the president’s mother, Sara, observe—a far different image from that of Hitler and Mussolini. (Keystone / Getty Images.)