Could you imagine being hit by a deadly virus and that, if you survived, you would not be able to walk without assistance? In 1938, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's personal struggle with infantile paralysis led him to create the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) which would help find a treatment for infantile paralysis, better known as polio. This virus was usually contracted in childhood and attacked the central nervous system, and if the victim survived, they would suffer from debilitating paralysis for life. Major epidemics of polio had been widespread in many parts of the United States since the late 19th century, but the polio virus has since been largely eradicated in the United States. Although polio has been largely eradicated in the United States, this virus is still widespread in developing countries around the world. This foundation has since been given the name March of Dimes, coined early in the foundation's history. Although the March of Dimes now focuses on preventing premature births, birth defects, and infant mortality, when it was created its original mission was to raise money for a polio vaccine and, once the vaccine was created, prevent the effects negative effects of the vaccine. In the early stages of the NFIP, the foundation had to focus on raising money to fund research for a polio vaccine. To help raise money for the vaccine, the foundation centered its campaign on President Roosevelt's birthday, because after all the president was the creator of the foundation and funding the research needed to find the ultimate cure for polio was very close. . at the heart of the document......developing national perspective on vaccine-associated paralytic polio. Bulletin of the World Health Organization January 2004: 53-57. MasterFILE Premier. Web. March 9, 2014.Josephson, Eric. Because the dimes march on. The Polio Foundation's Dilemma." Nation November 3, 1956: 361-64. MasterFILE Premier. Web. March 5, 2014. Spencer, Steven M. "Where Are We Now with Polio?" Saturday Evening Post September 10, 1955: 19+. MasterFILE Premier. Web. March 6, 2014. Wetzel, Jan. “Volunteers Prepare for March for Children.” The Tribune [Seymour, IN] April 21, 2009: n : 100. MasterFILE Premier. Web. March 6, 2014. Morris, Michaela G. “NMMC, March of Dimes Help Babies Get Healthy Start.” Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal [Tupelo, MS] Feb 22. 2014: n. 2014.