In the `footsteps' of FDR

At some time in their lives, everyone needs a role model. For Steve Mikita, a Utah assistant attorney general, it was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the legendary American president who guided the country through the Great Depression and World War II.

Few people realized that FDR, as Mikita affectionately refers to him, couldn't walk because he was stricken with polio in 1921. Mikita, who from age 2 has used a wheelchair because of a severely debilitating muscle disease, gained inspiration by looking at a photo spread of Roosevelt that appeared in the Jan. 21, 1960, issue of Look magazine.Mikita was 4 years old when his parents started thumbing through the photos with him. Every morning, he says, "I asked Mom to give me FDR. When I looked at those pictures, I was excited to be me. I knew I was different, but I also knew I was just like FDR."

The photos showed his hero in heavy leg braces, swimming in his beloved Warm Springs, Ga., and being lifted out of the ocean by his two sons. Mikita loved the photo of FDR's first wheelchair, one he made himself from an ordinary kitchen chair.

Mikita's father told him how FDR had been stricken with polio as an adult. The magazine quoted FDR's good friend, Louis Howe, who said the president "rode, he swam, he played golf and tennis, he sailed, he collected stamps, he politicked, he did every damn thing under the sun. Then, suddenly, he was flat on his back. He began to read, he began to think, he talked. . . . Lying there, he grew bigger day by day."

Mikita liked that story. He was interested in the assertions of Roosevelt confidants that FDR may have never been president had it not been for his affliction. His press secretary, Steve Early, said that before he was stricken with polio, he "he wouldn't prepare his speeches in advance, preferring to play cards instead."

During Roosevelt's long illness, he began to read deeply and study public questions. He also became more appreciative of other people's problems and identified with human misery.

His determination increased. Roosevelt insisted on going from floor to floor unaided, slowly pulling his dead weight up the stairs by the power of his hands, sweat pouring off his face.

One day, Mikita's dad closed the magazine and gave him some tough love.

He said, "Stevie, you're never going to be able to walk and run like the other children. You're never going to be able to play baseball, football or basketball. But you have a strong mind. You can excel in the classroom. You must never feel sorry for yourself. Don't worry, son. If FDR did it, so can you."

That was an important turning point for young Steve.