FDRs Little White House

Two days ago I visited Franklin Roosevelt's Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. FDR began coming here in 1924, three years after he was stricken with polio. He enjoyed swimming in the 88 degree water; he wasn't cured but the warm springs eased his condition and increased his mobility at least a little bit. He also enjoyed the area and the people, and in 1932 he bought this modest but comfortable house in the woods near Warm Springs. After becoming president the following year, this became the Little White House. FDR visited whenever he could, about twice a year. Here he made many decisions affecting economic policy during the depression, often after driving around the area and talking with the locals. Later, he often conducted the US effort in World War II from here. This is a beautiful area in the hills of western Georgia, and Roosevelt enjoyed driving around himself, in a car with special hand controls for the brake, clutch, and accelerator that he personally designed. A museum here has one of his cars and a host of Roosevelt memorabilia.

Roosevelt died here on April 12, 1945. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while sitting for a portrait. He was carried to this bed, in his bedroom at the Little White House, after suffering the stroke. He was 63 and had just been inaugurated for his fourth term as president less than three months earlier. An aristocrat by birth and upbringing, FDR from an early age showed real concern and empathy for the common folk. His 12 year presidency spanned one of America's most difficult eras, starting with depression and continuing with world war. The US emerged from the trauma in good shape politically, militarily, and economically. We need more people like FDR.