Bronze statue of at the entrance to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Potomac Park shows the president seated in the wheelchair he designed to be unobtrusive (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Despite the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt was permanently paralyzed from the waist down, he never allowed himself to be seen in a wheelchair in public.  For that reason, this life-size statue of FDR seated in his wheelchair became controversial.

The bronze statue by sculptor Robert Graham of Venice, CA is at the entrance to the seven-acre FDR Memorial site located between the Potomac River and the Tidal Basin south of the Lincoln Memorial. President Clinton dedicated the FDR Memorial in May 1997 but there were not any depictions of FDR with a disability. A committee, that included FDR’s granddaughter Anne Roosevelt, was formed to raise private sector contributions. Their five-year campaign raised $1.65 million.

When the statue of FDR was dedicated by President Clinton in January 2000, Alan Reich, then president of the National Organization on Disability said, “This dedication represents a great victory for people with disabilities. The statue will be an inspiration to people worldwide, disabled and non-disabled alike. FDR’s Memorial will finally acknowledge his significant disability experience, which forged his leadership qualities and enabled him to successfully lead the nation through the worst crises it had ever faced.”