One of only a few known photographs of Roosevelt in a wheelchair
Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s paralytic illness began at age 39, when he got a fever after exercising heavily during a vacation in Canada. He went sailing on the Bay of Fundy
with his three oldest children, put out a fire, jogged across Campobello Island, and
swam in Lake Glen Severn and the Bay. While his bout with the illness was well
known, it was kept from public view.
The establishment of the Veterans Administration (VA) came in 1930 when
Congress authorized President Hoover to "consolidate and coordinate
Government activities affecting war veterans." The three component
agencies became bureaus within the Veterans Administration. Brigadier
General Frank T. Hines, who directed the Veterans Bureau for seven
years, was named as the first Administrator of Veterans Affairs, a job
he held until 1945.
President Herbert Hoover
Henry Louis "Lou" or "Buster" Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941)
Lou Gehrig was a baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major
League Baseball for the New York Yankees (1923–1939) until his career
was cut short by ALS, a disorder now commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s
disease. Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. In
1969 he was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball
Writers’ Association, and was the leading vote-getter on the Major
League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fans in 1999.
