So let’s have a chat about disability in US presidents for no particular reason. Out of the 44 people to hold that office (thanks Grover for throwing off the count) there have been 11 who have identified with some form of disability. And no, the current office holder has not identified as one of them despite rampant speculation.
What? I hear you say. Surely it was only Roosevelt who was in a wheelchair? And if that was your response then you need to re-evaluate your implicit ableism and determination of “disability” as not all are obvious and there have been 11 US presidents with recognized disabilities so far and that should be celebrated.
Let’s go back to George Washington who was known to have a learning disability. He was an awesome speaker and leader but had significant trouble with a learning disability and as such his grammar was notoriously poor. Yes, this is a disability. Ask anyone who suffers the same and see if they don’t feel it impairs them in some way. While I’m at it Thomas Jefferson also had a learning disability.
Then there’s James Madison who had epilepsy, again a disability. Obviously.
Next there’s Abraham Lincoln. What did he have apart from an awesome hat? He had major depression. Yes, that’s a disability as well. Ask anyone suffering from it and see if it doesn’t stop them from functioning occasionally. Honestly, if you don’t think it is then screw you.
Moving to the more modern ones, there’s Theodore Roosevelt who had serious visual impairments due to a detached retina from a blow to the back of his head. Woodrow Wilson who had a learning disability and dyslexia… and then had a stroke in office which caused partial paralysis.
Then of course we had Franklin D Roosevelt who of course suffered from Polio and very successfully ran the country from a wheelchair. It should be noted how few wheelchair pictures there are of him because out of respect the press only published “flattering” photos of him while he was in office which a) imagine that, and b) wheelchairs can be freaking flattering and I would have liked some awareness back them TYVM!
Lastly theres Eisenhower who had a learning disability, Kennedy who had both a learning disability and chronic back pain, Reagan who had hearing impairments, and lastly Clinton who also had/has a hearing impairment and wore hearing aids.
So next time people talk about or insinuate that disabled people are less than, 11 of them have run the USA (I mean not all of them well, but that’s a side issue).