‘Dr. Win-the-War’: Using an Allegory to Launch Your Next U.S. History Lesson

Lesson Launch Blog

By Dr. Paul E. Binford

Past President, Mississippi Council for the Social Studies

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1938)

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

President Franklin Roosevelt knew the American public—in particular the electorate—was fatiguing.

Fatigue

His presidency of nearly eleven years was unprecedented. It straddled two profound crises—the Great Depression and World War II. There was increasing criticism of his big government approach to solving the nation’s problems. The public was weary of rationing and the shortages of a war-time economy.

Of course, this does not include the maiming and loss of life of thousands of U.S. fighting men around the world. By early 1944, the War and Navy Departments estimated that total casualties combined exceeded 150,000 (343). While this pales in comparison to the casualties suffered by other belligerents, such as Great Britain and the Soviet Union, it was exceeded in U.S. history only by the Civil War.

Allegory

In a December 1943 press conference, FDR used an allegory to justify a continuation of his leadership:

It was because there was an awfully sick patient called the United States of America, and it was suffering from a grave internal disorder—awfully sick—all kinds of things had happened to this patient, all internal things. And they sent for the doctor. And it was long, long process—took several years before those ills, in that particular illness of ten years ago, were remedied. But after a while they were remedied. . . .

Two years ago, on the seventh of December, he was in a pretty bad smashup—broke his hip, broke his leg in two or three places, broke a wrist and an arm, some ribs; and they didn’t think he would live, for a while.

And then he began to ‘come to’; and he has been in [the] charge of a partner of the old doctor. Old Dr. New Deal didn’t know ‘nothing’ about legs and arms. He knew a great deal about internal medicine, but nothing about surgery. So he got his partner, who was an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Win-the-War, to take care of this fellow who had been in this bad accident.

And the result is that the patient is back on his feet. He has given up his crutches. He isn’t wholly well yet, and he won’t be until he wins the war. (341-342)

As noted in the website Literary Terms, “an allegory is a story within a story. It has a ‘surface story’ and another story hidden underneath.” 

With emendations (in this case, the alteration of the historical text to improve the student activity), this allegory has the potential to make for an interesting lesson launch for your students. Adjust the text complexity and the number and subtlety of the clues provided in the surface story based on the ability level of your students and their background knowledge.

You might introduce the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by sharing this allegory and asking students key questions that help them make the connection between the people and events in this allegory with the actual people and events that FDR was referencing.

Or, you might share this allegory with students as a review of past content while helping them learn of Roosevelt’s justification for seeking a fourth term in 1944.

Pedagogy

This allegory, which you could share with students orally or post on a presentation slide for them to read—or both, might be altered as follows:

It was because there was an awfully sick patient [who] . . . was suffering from a grave internal disorder—awfully sick—all kinds of things had happened to this patient, all internal things. And they sent for the doctor. And it was long, long process—took several years before those ills, in that particular illness of ten years ago, were remedied. But after a while they were remedied. . . .

Two years ago, on the seventh of December, he was in a pretty bad smashup—broke his hip, broke his leg in two or three places, broke a wrist and an arm, some ribs; and they didn’t think he would live, for a while.

And then he began to ‘come to’; and he has been . . . [under the care of] a partner of the old doctor. Old Dr. New . . . didn’t know ‘nothing’ about legs and arms. He knew a great deal about internal medicine, but nothing about surgery. So he got his partner, who was an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Win[n] . . . , to take care of this fellow who had been in this bad accident.

And the result is that the patient is back on his feet. He has given up his crutches. He isn’t wholly well yet, [but he is on the way to triumphing over his injuries].

After sharing the definition of an allegory and explaining its essential elements (i.e., a surface story and a hidden story), the next step in making sense of this literary device is analyzing the essential elements of the “surface story,” which can be done with questions #1-2. Next, students use these essential facts to interpret the hidden story (with questions #3-7), as listed below:

1. Who are the three characters in this story?

   Answers: Sick patient, Dr. New, and Dr. Winn

2. What are the two major events in this story?

   Answers: The patient has become gravely ill with internal disorders. Later, the recovering patient is in an accident or “smashup.”

3. Who is the sick patient?

   Answer: The United States of America.

4. In reality, what were the internal problems?

   Answers: The Stock Market Crash in 1929, the Dust Bowl, farm foreclosures, the failure of the banking system, and high unemployment, among others.

5. Who was the old doctor that treated these internal problems?

   Answer: The New Deal with an expanded role of government in economic matters.

6. In reality, what was the smashup on December 7th?

   Answer: The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941.

7. Who was the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Winn?

   Answer: The massive economic and military mobilization to win the war.

A Final Note About Content:

Jonathan W. Jordan has written an account of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s war cabinet and high command, which along with the other Allied Powers—and sometimes in spite of them—led to triumph in World War II. In this narrative, FDR’s enigmatic leadership and administrative style are illuminated as well as the wisdom, personalities, rivalries, and foibles of his lieutenants including men such as Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Secretary of Navy Frank Knox, General George Marshall, and Admiral Ernest King.

The parenthetical page references previously noted are from this engrossing account, which largely provides the historical content for the student activity described above.

Lesson Launch

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For more information about this Lesson Launch blog post, or if you are interested in arranging professional development or a speaking engagement, please contact the author at: theringoftruth@outlook.com.