Suffering from congestive heart failure and weakened by a grueling 14,000 mile journey to the Yalta wartime conference, Franklin Roosevelt apologized to The Congress for his “unusual posture” of a sitting position. It makes it easier, he explained, when I don’t have to carry around ten pounds of steel on my legs. This was the only time he ever publicly admitted that he was crippled.
As he reported to the Congress, (March 1, 1945), he spoke of the United Nations Charter which would be adopted in San Francisco. He said the Charter “will doubtless have to be amended time and time again over the years, just as our Constitution has been….”
Death stilled the voice of President Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. He was scheduled to speak at a Jefferson Day Dinner on April 13. Part of his undelivered message was “the only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”
The vision of FDR is needed in our new century. While many courageous leaders have called for the strengthening of the United Nations, the United Nations Charter has not been significantly changed since its inception in 1945.