FDR and the Legacy of the White House Pool

Few Americans in the 30's and 40's knew that President Franklin Roosevelt, who suffered from polio, was a paraplegic who was unable to walk without assistance during his administration. They knew he was handicapped, but he was never shown in his wheelchair and he always projected a robust image of himself. 

The reality of his condition was much more grievous, both physically and mentally -- his battle with polio was brilliantly depicted by Kenneth Branagh in the HBO film "Warm Springs", viewable below:

A pool was installed in the White House in 1933 to allow the President to exercise regularly. Housed between the White House and the West Wing, the room had french doors which opened to the rose garden. Below are photos and a rare article detailing FDR's workout routine projecting him as being in prime physical shape and as an avid swimmer. 

Subsequent presidents also used the pool, Harry Truman swam laps while wearing his eyeglasses, but JFK got more use of it than any other -- he even remodeled the room, putting up a mural of a tropical paradise along the walls, painted by Bernard LaMotte:

Aside from swimming nearly every day at noon, author Seymour Hersh asserted that the pool was allegedly a convenient place for skinny dipping and sexual escapades with numerous women, including Marilyn Monroe. One such event that Hersh detailed was an incident when First Lady Jackie Kennedy was en route back to the White House. Her pending arrival went unannounced causing the secret service to scramble into the pool room to evacuate the President, and his guests. Upon exiting with little time to spare, JFK is said to have handed off his bloody mary to the agent, merely saying "here, take this."

Similar claims were corrobarated by former White House intern, Mimi Alford Beardsley, in her book "Once Upon A Secret".

Lyndon Johnson used the pool following Kennedy:

Motivated by his distain for Kennedy, Richard Nixon paved over the pool in 1970 to create a press room in the space, which remains to this day.

Upon taking office, Gerald Ford had an outdoor swimming pool installed, which he showed to members of the press in 1975:

Here, Ford's daughter Susan helps her father take a dive:

More on the outdoor pool here.

The Tea Party, FDR, Obama & the Constitution

While the Tea Party platform is still fairly broad and difficult to define, we've seen that it embodies countless themes including nativist sentiment, anti-Wall Street populism and the conflation of liberalism with socialism. However, it is apparent that the most common underlying theme is strict constructionism, which is essentially the belief that the constitution should be interpreted as closely to the original text as possible. Criticism of American political leaders on these grounds is hardly new, dating back to the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 when John Adams was President -- but long before the tea party and Barack Obama, there was FDR, who perhaps took more flack than any American President for reinterpreting of disregarding the constitution during his four terms. 

Here are two fun anti-FDR cartoons, per the above, and a third that cleverly ties Obama to FDR:

2 Roosevelt Homes Within 4 Blocks

Most historians are aware of Franklin Roosevelt's townhouse at 47-49 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side of New York City, which is now owned by Hunter College's Public Policy Institute. However, few know of its close proximity to the residence of another Roosevelt -- President Theodore Roosevelt. Yes, TR occupied many different residences during his upbringing and subsequent political career in New York City, but it is interesting to note that his last residence in the city was a townhouse on Madison Avenue and 62nd street which he occupied until 1904 -- only one year and 4 blocks from the house occupied by his fifth cousin from 1905-1941. 

While TR's house was torn down in 1955 (now the present-day site of Church's Shoes), these 2 historical townhouses existed within 4 blocks of each other for several years, a little-noted and unique piece of New York Presidential history. 

The below clipping is from the New York Times, October 22, 1905, and shows a picture of TR's townhouse: