Master of His Fate: Roosevelt's Rise from Polio to the Presidency

(Hardback)

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Description

In 1921, Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted polio. Just as he began to set his sights on the New York governorship-and, with great hope, the presidency-FDR became paralyzed from the waist down. This riveting, intimate biography chronicles the harsh medical facts of his condition, while also shedding light on what Roosevelt felt, and how he took action in a crisis. FDR faced a radical choice: give up politics or reenter the arena with a disability, something never before seen. With the help of Eleanor and close friends, Roosevelt made valiant strides toward rehabilitation and became even more deadset on becoming president, proving that misfortune sometimes turns out to be a portal to unexpected opportunities and rewards-even to greatness. Christy Ottaviano Books

Reviews

A nuanced, engaging, and thought-provoking blend of biography and disability history. --Kirkus

A tightly focused biography. --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Author Bio

James Tobin is an award-winning biographer and the author of the adult book The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency, as well as the children's books The Very Inappropriate Word and Sue MacDonald Had a Book. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography for Ernie Pyle's War and the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight. He teaches narrative nonfiction in the department of media, journalism, and film at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.