From Native American legends to resort era beginnings, from direct involvement by the elite families of West Georgia to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s forty-one visits to his adopted state, and from the amazing polio generation and one of mankind’s most significant accomplishments to near closure, rebirth, and a myriad of what-might-have-beens. This is the complete story of Warm Springs, a story of pioneer beginnings and regional development, state and federal political intrigue, romantic suspicions and questionable ethics, social causes and lasting initiatives, civil and disability rights, medical origins and heartwarming success stories. It’s a compilation of individual stories that have never been told before. Designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1980, Warm Springs should always rank as a Georgia point of pride. Despite state ownership since 1974 and management by various state agencies ever since, it has never achieved the major destination status warranted by its historic significance. While the story of one of mankind’s greatest achievements, conquering polio, and nine decades of compassionate care provided FDR a living legacy in Georgia, it’s still a legacy that has never been capitalized on to its fullest extent. Perhaps by detailing major events, missed opportunities, and the inspiring stories of individual participants in the Warm Springs drama this oversight might finally get rectified. Maybe the potential for economic development will finally be recognized and acted upon. Not just another Roosevelt book, this story is one the historians mostly missed and in its telling, the great man is made even greater. Like Lincoln and Washington with whom FDR shares rarified status, his influence remains so universal that it is easy to understand how this happened. What is not so easy to understand is how Georgia let it happen.