List of physically disabled politicians

The following is a list of politicians who hold or held office while having a physical disability.

Afghanistan edit

Algeria edit

Argentina edit

Armenia edit

Australia edit

Federal
State

Austria edit

Brazil edit

Cambodia edit

Canada edit

Colombia edit

Czech Republic edit

Dominican Republic edit

Ecuador edit

  • Lenín Moreno, former President (2017–2021) and former Vice President (2007–2013) (paraplegic)[3]

Estonia edit

Fiji edit

  • Iliesa Delana, member of Parliament and Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports (since 2014); Paralympic gold medallist (leg amputee due to an accident as a child)

France edit

Gabon edit

Germany edit

Gibraltar edit

Hungary edit

  • Béla II, King of Hungary (1131–1141) (blinded by his father's political opponents in 1113)
  • Ferenc Hirt, Member of Parliament for Tamási (2006–2018) (wheelchair user since 1988 due to a car accident)
  • Katalin Szili, Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary (lost hand from undisposed grenade explosion at age 12)[7]

India edit

Indonesia edit

Iran edit

Ireland edit

Israel edit

Jamaica edit

Japan edit

Kingdom of Jerusalem edit

Malaysia edit

  • Ras Adiba Radzi, current member of senator (full-time wheelchair user, due to car accident on 15 November 1995, with her veterba was injured)[9]
  • Karpal Singh, member of parliament for Bukit Gelugor (a full-time wheelchair user, due to car accident, with neurological problems in his right arm)[10]

Mexico edit

New Zealand edit

  • Adam Adamson, Mayor of Invercargill (born without right hand)
  • Leon Götz, MP 1949–1963 (lost right arm and eye during the First World War)
  • Norman Jones, MP 1975–1987 (leg amputee; war wound during Second World War)
  • John A. Lee, MP 1922–1943 (arm amputee; war wound during the First World War)[11]
  • Mojo Mathers, MP 2011–2017 (born deaf)
  • Clutha McKenzie, MP 1921–1922 (blinded at Gallipoli during the First World War)
  • Margaret Wilson, MP 1999–2008 (leg amputee)

Norway edit

Philippines edit

Poland edit

Republic of Venice edit

Roman Empire edit

Romania edit

Russia edit

San Marino edit

Solomon Islands edit

  • Martin Magga, Minister for Health (became ill and needed to use a wheelchair in 2009 while serving); resigned from the Cabinet but retained his seat in Parliament in the 2010 general election; served as MP, in a wheelchair, until his death in 2014

Spain edit

  • Pablo Echenique, member of the Congress of Deputies (wheelchair user due to spinal muscular atrophy)
  • Charles II of Spain, ruled 1665–1700, described by historians Will and Ariel Durant as "short, lame, epileptic, senile and completely bald before 35, always on the verge of death but repeatedly baffling Christendom by continuing to live." An autopsy reported that his "heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water."

Syria edit

Sri Lanka edit

  • Senarath Attanayake, Member of Uva Provincial Council; first elected representative with a disability in Sri Lanka; first person with a disability to hold ministerial portfolios (Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Land and Forestry) and to become an Acting Chief Minister of a Province; first person with a disability to become a lawyer in Sri Lanka (full-time wheelchair user due to polio infection at the age of two)

Sweden edit

  • David Lega, wheelchair user, congenital. MEP. Second vice minister of Christian Democrats.

Thailand edit

  • Rama IX, King of Thailand 1946-2016 (blind in one eye for most of his reign following a road accident)

Timurid Empire edit

  • Timur, Amir of the Timurid Empire 1370–1405, injured by two arrow wounds to his right leg and arm, rendering hem unusable, also known as "Timur the Lame," or Tamerlane.

Turkey edit

  • Deniz Baykal, former leader of the CHP, member of the house of councils. (paralyzed)

Ukraine edit

United Kingdom edit

United States edit

Name Party State Office(s) Notes
Greg Abbott Republican Texas Governor of Texas
Attorney General of Texas
Paraplegic due to a 1984 freak accident when a falling oak tree hit him in the back[18]
Jim Baird Republican Indiana U.S. Representative Lost his left arm during a combat injury in the Vietnam War[19]
Roswell P. Bishop Republican Michigan U.S. Representative Amputee, lost right arm in American Civil War
Madison Cawthorn Republican North Carolina U.S. Representative Lost use of his legs in a car accident in 2014[20]
Max Cleland Democratic Georgia U.S. Senator Triple amputee, both legs and one arm, due to a grenade blast in the Vietnam War[21]
Tony Coelho Democratic California U.S. Representative Epilepsy[22]
John F. Collins Democratic Massachusetts Mayor of Boston Both he and his children contracted polio
Kristen Cox Republican Maryland 2006 Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Blind from Stargardt disease[23]
Dan Crenshaw Republican Texas U.S. Representative Lost right eye due to an IED attack in Afghanistan[24]
Bob Dole Republican Kansas U.S. Senator
1996 Republican nominee for President of the United States
Injured arm in World War II[25]
Tammy Duckworth Democratic Illinois U.S. Senator
U.S. Representative
Lost both of her legs and damaged her right arm due to a rocket propelled grenade attack in the Iraq War[26]
John Porter East Republican North Carolina U.S. Senator Paraplegic due to polio contracted in 1955[27]
Oramel B. Fuller Republican Michigan Michigan Legislator Paraplegic due to accidental fall[28]
Thomas Gore Democratic Oklahoma U.S. Senator Blind from childhood accidents[29]
Chuck Graham Democratic Missouri Missouri Legislator Paraplegic after being involved in an automobile accident at 16[30]
Cyrus Habib Democratic Washington Lieutenant Governor of Washington Blind due to childhood cancer[31]
Daniel Inouye Democratic Hawaii U.S. Senator Lost his right arm due to grenade shrapnel in World War II[25]
Harry Kelly Republican Michigan Governor of Michigan Lost his right leg in World War I
Bob Kerrey Democratic Nebraska Governor of Nebraska
U.S. Senator
Lost one leg below the knee due to combat injury in the Vietnam War[32]
Mark Kirk Republican Illinois U.S. Senator Had a stroke in 2012, but recovered after nearly a year and a half after receiving physical therapy[33]
Jim Langevin Democratic Rhode Island U.S. Representative Quadriplegic; injured in an accidental shooting when 16[34]
Patrick Leahy Democratic Vermont President pro tempore of the United States Senate
U.S. Senator
Legally blind in his left eye from birth
Arlon Lindner Republican Minnesota Minnesota Representative Lost parts of two fingers in an accident
Robert Mahoney Democratic Minnesota Minnesota Representative Blind
Charles H. Manly Democratic Michigan Mayor of Ann Arbor Amputee, lost his left arm in American Civil War[citation needed]
Brian Mast Republican Florida U.S. Representative Lost both his legs and one of his fingers when he stepped on an IED in Kandahar[35][36]
John McCain Republican Arizona U.S. Senator Limited use of arms and "off-kilter gait" due to torture as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War[37][38]
Mitch McConnell Republican Kentucky U.S. Senator
Senate Republican Leader
Upper left leg was paralyzed by a polio attack at age two, but recovered after receiving treatment and physical therapy
Allen B. Morse Democratic Michigan Michigan Senator Amputee, lost his left arm in American Civil War[citation needed]
David Paterson Democratic New York Governor of New York Legally blind from birth[39]
Charles E. Potter Republican Michigan U.S. Senator Amputee, lost legs in World War II
Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic New York President of the United States Paraplegic due to either polio or Guillain–Barré syndrome[40]
Theodore Roosevelt Republican New York President of the United States Blind in one eye after a boxing accident
Doug Spade Democratic Michigan Michigan Representative Blind
Nicholas Sposato Democratic (before 2017) Illinois Chicago City Council Wheelchair user with multiple sclerosis[41]
Independent (2017–present)
John Swainson Democratic Michigan Governor of Michigan Lost both legs due to a land mine in World War II[42]
Jon Tester Democratic Montana U.S. Senator Lost three fingers in a meat grinding accident[43]
F. B. Teter Republican Washington Washington Representative Blind[44]
Benjamin Tillman Democratic South Carolina U.S. Senator Lost eye due to cancer
Mo Udall Democratic Arizona U.S. Representative Lost his right eye in a childhood accident[45]
George Wallace Democratic Alabama Governor of Alabama Paraplegic due to a bullet wound sustained in a 1972 assassination attempt[46]
Woodrow Wilson Democratic New Jersey President of the United States Partially paralyzed due to a stroke[47]

References edit

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  3. ^ John Otis (11 February 2013) Ecuador's Paraplegic Vice President Lenin Moreno a Major Force for Disability Rights Pri.org. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
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