Keith brings to our attention a recently discovered home movie from January 20, 1941 on the day of FDR's third inauguration.
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No snark here: take five minutes and watch this extraordinary vignette from American history – an FDR inauguration of 70 years ago, in which he declared “The Four Freedoms” filmed, in perfect color, by his son-in-law. You’ll see everybody from his son Jimmy in military uniform, walking him to the podium, to the first lady, to Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in a judicial cap that makes him look like a French magistrate. The audio of the speech is here
FDR can first be seen at 2:45, heavily supported by his oldest son James. This is one of the rare moments on film where Roosevelt can actually be seen walking, and it’s obvious how difficult it was for him to walk after polio left him paralyzed from the hips down in 1921
The image of a strong leader stepping up to the challenge of those perilous times gives us all hope. Enjoy the quality of the video as well as the quality of the leader. May FDR inspire such greatness in our time.