Franklin Roosevelt was nominated as the vice presidential candidate for the 1920 election. He campaigned vigorously and was joined by Eleanor who, along with all other women, were going to vote for the first time. Although the Republican Warren G, Harding won the election, FDR was seen to have done well and was well placed to gain the presidential nomination in 1924. In August 1921 however, FDR fell ill while at his summer retreat on Campobello island in Canada. Doctors had great difficulty determining the exact nature of the disease - he suffered from high fevers and had lost the use of his legs - but eventually realized he had polio. His medical treatment was painful and any progress was very slow in coming. Eleanor wrote that that winter was the most trying of her life. Eleanor took on a more important public role in 1922 and Franklin returned to work on October 1922 - but having fallen trying to the into the elevator didn't return for months. At the 1924 Democratic convention he nominated of Al Smith, governor of New York, but Smith was unsuccessful. Afterwards he discovered Warm Springs, where he would spend a good deal of his time and money creating a place where polio victims could benefit from the warm waters. At the 1928 Democratic convention he again nominated Al Smith to be their candidate for president. Although Smith lost, FDR ran for governor of New York and won. With the Wall Street crash of 1929, the great depression set in.
—garykmcd