Franklin D. Roosevelt’s active and intelligent mind helped him to get through the worst periods of his illness. He was always curious about every detail of the various treatments given to him. As soon as he could sit up he worked on his stamp collection, and he began to write a history of the United States and a book about John Paul Jones, a navy hero.
He was ready to try anything that might help him get well. A member of his family has written that Roosevelt got a great deal of exercise later by crawling (爬) around on the floor. Although he was over forty years of age then, he spent many hours crawling around on the floor of his library like a child.
Next he decided to learn how to go up the stairs by himself. Day after day he would pull himself up the stairs by the strength of his hands and arms. While doing this, he insisted that his family and friends watch him and talk with him. He wanted to give the impression that what he was doing was an everyday regular activity.

富兰克林.罗斯维尔特有着活跃而聪明的头脑，正是这头脑才使他度过了病中最糟糕的时刻。每当得知一种治疗方案时，他总是想知道这一方案的每一个细节。只要他能坐起来，他就开始整理他收集的邮票，撰写关于美国历史的书籍，和关于海军英雄约翰.保罗.琼斯的书籍。
只要是能帮助他恢复的方法，他就会立即尝试。罗家的一员曾经写到，罗斯维尔特曾在后来在地板上数次练习爬行。虽然那时他已经年过40，但是每天他仍旧像个孩子一样，在他图书馆的地上爬来爬去。
接下来，他决定学习如何独自上楼。凭借着手掌和上臂的力量，日复一日的，他把自己“拽”上楼。这样做的同时，他坚持要求他的家人和朋友看。着他，和他说话。他想给人留下这样的印象，他所做的只是日常的有规律的活动。