How FDR “Walked” onto His Campaign Train’s Platform

Franklin D. Roosevelt “loved campaigning by train, speaking from the back platform at the whistle-stops along the way,” Hugh Gregory Gallagher wrote in his book, FDR’s Splendid Deception.

“The railings on the back platform were specially elevated for his use. Once the train was halted and the crowd gathered, FDR would ‘walk’ out onto the platform, leaning on the arm of a son.

“After brief remarks, introducing the members of his family, and joking with his son, he would say goodbye. As the train pulled out, he would remain, waving on the platform. Once out of sight, he would return to his bedroom, and his valet would remove his braces until the next whistle-stop.”

Source: Hugh Gregory Gallagher, FDR’s Splendid Deception: The Moving Story of Roosevelt’s Massive Disability—And the Intense Efforts to Conceal It from the Public (Arlington, Vandamere Press, 1994), 99