Roosevelt: A Handicapped Man Got the Cities to Move

This sprawling tale of the Great Depression and the apotheosis of Franklin D. Roosevelt summarizes Dial's iconography while mixing history, politics, religion, and daily life. The surface is dominated by rags and tin siding, two materials rich in Depression-era symbolism. Roosevelt, with useless twisted legs, floats above the scene at upper left. The "cross he bears" is umbilically attached to the steeple-like dome of a building that is part White House, part United States Capitol. On the opposite side, a bloody crucifix affirms the sacrifice made by Roosevelt for the American people. Enveloping Roosevelt are two "hungry dogs hunting for food," the "wild dogs" of Dial's mythology. A star of hope watches over the president. Symbols of the moon and sun (”the woman and the man, night and day") indicate the tireless efforts of the population to restore the nation's well-being.