--- title: The Iconic Photo of FDR | TIME description: Near his home, in his car, cigarette in hand, on the 4th of July: FDR was at ease and smiling in one of the most memorable photos taken of him canonical: https://time.com/video/p61VfGqg/ og:title: The Iconic Photo of FDR og:description: Near his home, in his car, cigarette in hand, on the 4th of July: FDR was at ease and smiling in one of the most memorable photos taken of him og:url: https://time.com/video/p61VfGqg/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/p61VfGqg/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Iconic Photo of FDR twitter:description: Near his home, in his car, cigarette in hand, on the 4th of July: FDR was at ease and smiling in one of the most memorable photos taken of him twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/p61VfGqg/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The Iconic Photo of FDR > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Iconic Photo of FDR [Watch (HLS stream): The Iconic Photo of FDR](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/p61VfGqg.m3u8) (5:21)  _Published 2009-07-03. Near his home, in his car, cigarette in hand, on the 4th of July: FDR was at ease and smiling in one of the most memorable photos taken of him_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:11 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [FDR in a Wheelchair](/video/6xxq0Zkm/) ### FDR in a Wheelchair [The Iconic Photo of D-Day](/video/8CmPFMLD/) ### The Iconic Photo of D-Day [The Iconic Photo of D-Day](/video/PohPLQUq/) ### The Iconic Photo of D-Day --- ## Transcript >> Will there end up being only a handful of photographs that we, at the library, turn to over and over and over again, when we're trying to, you know, portray Roosevelt in his confidence, in his optimism, in his friendliness and in his accessibility? Franklin Roosevelt often came home to Hyde Park. He loved to come up here and, particularly for holidays like the 4th of July. So he was in Hyde Park and when this photograph was taken, he was driving around in his 1936 Ford, and-- which had hand controls because of, you know, he was-- he was completely disabled, he was stricken with polio in 1921 and could not walk unassisted. But this Ford gave him the freedom of movement that nothing else provided for him. So here he was, driving around and he considered himself a tree farmer. If you look at his tax returns, you'll see that that's what he enters as his occupation. And it was his pride and joy-- was to be managing what he called his plantations, his forest plantations here. So he's happy and enjoying life and at ease with the reporters. Now, one of the remarkable things about Franklin Roosevelt, is that he met with reporters twice a week. By the end of his 12- year presidency, he had conducted exactly 998 press conferences. -[ unk ] >> All right, right-- >> They had a camaraderie together, that is perhaps not seen today between the president and the press-- >> What's your problem? -[ unk ] >> It was almost a gentlemen's understanding that he did not wish to be photographed in a wheelchair or being carried-- Although there are instances of that that have come to light, so it's not as though it never happened. But I think there was an understanding that, for the good of the country, remember this country was in crisis throughout the Roosevelt presidency, and given the kinds of prejudices that some people have about people with disabilities, it was felt that it was better for them to see him as a man who was able to walk, who was capable and strong in every sense of the word. >> Civilization in the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes-- >> Roosevelt, of course, was in the newsreel all the time. So, he had motion pictures, as well as still photography and even knew that he needed to communicate through pictures to the extent that he did his famous Fireside Chats-- >> It is three months, my friends, since I have talked with the people of this country about our national problems, but during this period, many things have happened. And I am glad to say the major part of them have greatly helped the wellbeing of the average citizen. >> But he also recorded an advance of the Fireside Chats, publicity photos and a newsreel that then played in the movie houses-- >> I thank you for your faith, our troubles will not be over tomorrow, but we are on our way and we are headed in the right direction. >> Well it was the FDR centennial, and he was a famous stamp collector. It was a-- it was a natural that there should be a stamp issue on the centennial of his president and it was very important. He would personally be involved in the design of stamps and always had the first of any stamp, delivered to him by the postmaster general, James Farley, paying for it [ unk ] the first sheet. So he-- So stamp was a very fitting way to commemorate his centennial. It's the smile. He had a smile that was just absolutely magnetic. People loved it, it drew people in. And of course, there are-- there are a 130, 000 photographs here in the archives of the Roosevelt Library, so there are many to choose form and there are many opportunities to see him smiling. But this one showed him in his car, it showed him here in Hyde Park and it showed him with that famous cigarette, which also became an emblem of Franklin Roosevelt. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Iconic Photo of FDR","description":"Near his home, in his car, cigarette in hand, on the 4th of July: FDR was at ease and smiling in one of the most memorable photos taken of him","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/p61VfGqg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-07-03T14:58:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/p61VfGqg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/p61VfGqg/","duration":"PT5M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/p61VfGqg/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```