A Disabled POTUS

I have read in a few articles that FDR mightn't have been elected in a modern age with TV and snooping reporters because of his polio. People's opinions on that are all well and good, but I'm interested in testing that assumption.

Are there any modern day (say, post-1950 or 1960) Senators, Representatives, etc. that were handicapped or disabled in some respect? Would any of them have a chance of becoming President? If not, what effect of a hypothetical disabled President have on the world, and would there be any butterflies?
 

Thande

Donor
I think it would make a difference if they were disabled due a birth problem/childhood disease (like FDR) or whether it was due to an injury - either accidental or (significantly) a war wound.
 
given FDR, i really don't think any one would a problem with a disable President. in fact JFK could barely walk because of his bad back so i guess we did have a seconded disable President.
 
given FDR, i really don't think any one would a problem with a disable President. in fact JFK could barely walk because of his bad back so i guess we did have a seconded disable President.
Make that three:
[Insert snide comment about: Gorge W. Bush, lack of intelligence thereof]
:rolleyes:
 
I've mentioned before on the board that I think Max Cleland would make a good VP for Obama. He's a triple amputee Vietnam vet from Georgia. There are plenty of scenarios where Obama's veep might run for president, and not just in a dramatic, LBJ-like capacity.
 
I've also read that a man with a beard, or who is bald, would have a snowball's chance of becoming POTUS.
 
I've also read that a man with a beard, or who is bald, would have a snowball's chance of becoming POTUS.
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Presidents Eisenhower, Lincoln, Hayes and Garfield might disagree with you there...

Nowadays, a man with a beard might have a problem- and as for being bald, do you count McCain.

However, I accept that a woman with a beard or who is bald has no chance of becoming president in the near future!
 
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Presidents Eisenhower, Lincoln, Hayes and Garfield might disagree with you there...

Nowadays, a man with a beard might have a problem- and as for being bald, do you count McCain.

However, I accept that a woman with a beard or who is bald has no chance of becoming president in the near future!

In the age of tv the rules of democracy work differently:D
 
In the age of tv the rules of democracy work differently:D

That was exactly the point that was made.

I was reading that in the '50s and '60s, beards became more associated with the hippy and alternate movement in the US, leading to their unpopularity amongst more mainstream people.
 
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Presidents Eisenhower, Lincoln, Hayes and Garfield might disagree with you there...

Nowadays, a man with a beard might have a problem- and as for being bald, do you count McCain.

However, I accept that a woman with a beard or who is bald has no chance of becoming president in the near future!

Didn't Lincoln grow his beard after becoming president? :confused:
 
I was reading that in the '50s and '60s, beards became more associated with the hippy and alternate movement in the US, leading to their unpopularity amongst more mainstream people.

Beards and moustaches fell out of favor thanks to the Great War and the 1920s. Taft was the last president to have a moustaches and Bork was the last individual nominated to the Supreme Court that sported a beard.
 
The last bearded presidential candidate: Charles Evans Hughes, 1916.
The last non-clean shaved presidential candidate: Thomas Dewey, 1948.

Interestingly, both 1952 and 1956 featured bald (or mostly bald) men running for BOTH parties: Adlai Stevenson wasn't quite in Ike's league but he didn't have a full head of hair as I recall.
 
McCain is seriously handicapped because of his long imprisonment as a POW in Vietnam. Can't even lift his arms above his shoulders...

And that guy who followed Spitzer in NY is legally blind...
 
McCain is seriously handicapped because of his long imprisonment as a POW in Vietnam. Can't even lift his arms above his shoulders...

And that guy who followed Spitzer in NY is legally blind...

Good thing about McCain is that you know he'll never be one to surrender since he can not lift his arms above his shoulders. However, what was interesting in a recent editorial about McCain was all the jokes about his age. While one doesn't joke about Hillary's gender or Obama's race it is perfectly fine - for some reason - to make jokes about senior citizens.

In regard to Spitz's successor, legally blind is different than being blind.
 
Good thing about McCain is that you know he'll never be one to surrender since he can not lift his arms above his shoulders. However, what was interesting in a recent editorial about McCain was all the jokes about his age. While one doesn't joke about Hillary's gender or Obama's race it is perfectly fine - for some reason - to make jokes about senior citizens.

In regard to Spitz's successor, legally blind is different than being blind.

True, but the info I have on Paterson is that he's pretty much blind, minus limited sight in one eye.
 
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