The following is a list of politicians who hold or held office while having a physical disability.
Name | Party | State | Office(s) | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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[19] | |||
Republican | Indiana | U.S. Representative | Lost his left arm during a combat injury in the Vietnam War[20] | |||
Republican | Michigan | U.S. Representative | Amputee, lost right arm in American Civil War | |||
Republican | North Carolina | U.S. Representative | Lost use of his legs in a car accident in 2014[21] | |||
Democratic | Georgia | U.S. Senator | Triple amputee, both legs and one arm, due to a grenade blast in the Vietnam War[22] | |||
Democratic | California | U.S. Representative | Epilepsy[23] | |||
Democratic | Massachusetts | Mayor of Boston | Both he and his children contracted polio | |||
Republican | Maryland | 2006 Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland | Blind from Stargardt disease[24] | |||
Republican | Texas | U.S. Representative | Lost right eye due to an IED attack in Afghanistan[25] | |||
Republican | Kansas | U.S. Senator 1996 Republican nominee for President of the United States | Injured arm in World War II[26] | |||
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[27] | |||
Republican | North Carolina | U.S. Senator | Paraplegic due to polio contracted in 1955[28] | |||
Republican | Michigan | Michigan Legislator | Paraplegic due to accidental fall[29] | |||
Democratic | Oklahoma | U.S. Senator | Blind from childhood accidents[30] | |||
Democratic | Missouri | Missouri Legislator | Paraplegic after being involved in an automobile accident at 16[31] | |||
Democratic | Washington | Lieutenant Governor of Washington | Blind due to childhood cancer[32] | |||
Democratic | Hawaii | U.S. Senator | Lost his right arm due to grenade shrapnel in World War II | |||
Republican | Michigan | Governor of Michigan | Lost his right leg in World War I | |||
Democratic | Nebraska | Governor of Nebraska U.S. Senator | Lost one leg below the knee due to combat injury in the Vietnam War[33] | |||
Republican | Illinois | U.S. Senator | Had a stroke in 2012, but recovered after nearly a year and a half after receiving physical therapy[34] | |||
Democratic | Rhode Island | U.S. Representative | Quadriplegic; injured in an accidental shooting when 16[35] | |||
Democratic | Vermont | President pro tempore of the United States Senate U.S. Senator | Legally blind in his left eye from birth | |||
Republican | Minnesota | Minnesota Representative | Lost parts of two fingers in an accident | |||
Democratic | Minnesota | Minnesota Representative | Blind | |||
Democratic | Michigan | Mayor of Ann Arbor | Amputee, lost his left arm in American Civil War | |||
Republican | Florida | U.S. Representative | Lost both his legs and one of his fingers when he stepped on an IED in Kandahar[36] [37] | |||
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[38] [39] | |||
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 | |||
Democratic | Michigan | Michigan Senator | Amputee, lost his left arm in American Civil War | |||
Democratic | New York | Governor of New York | Legally blind from birth[40] | |||
Republican | Michigan | U.S. Senator | Amputee, lost legs in World War II | |||
Democratic | New York | President of the United States | Paraplegic due to either polio or Guillain–Barré syndrome[41] | |||
Republican | New York | President of the United States | Blind in one eye after a boxing accident | |||
Democratic | Michigan | Michigan Representative | Blind | |||
Democratic (before 2017) | Illinois | Chicago City Council | Wheelchair user with multiple sclerosis[42] | |||
Independent (2017–present) | ||||||
Democratic | Michigan | Governor of Michigan | Lost both legs due to a land mine in World War II[43] | |||
Democratic | Montana | U.S. Senator | Lost three fingers in a meat grinding accident[44] | |||
Republican | Washington | Washington Representative | Blind[45] | |||
Democratic | South Carolina | U.S. Senator | Lost eye due to cancer | |||
Democratic | Arizona | U.S. Representative | Lost his right eye in a childhood accident[46] | |||
Democratic | Alabama | Governor of Alabama | Paraplegic due to a bullet wound sustained in a 1972 assassination attempt[47] | |||
Democratic | New Jersey | President of the United States | Partially paralyzed due to a stroke[48] |