Did we ever shutdown because of Polio?
“Did we ever shutdown because of Polio?”
Some places did. Polio affected the younger at a higher rate.
Certain things in areas where there was an outbreak of polio were shut down...swimming pools and movie theaters, for example. This was because they were places where children tended to gather, and children were more susceptible to it. Also, it tended to occur during the summer, so children were more likely to be at these places.
Polio shut downs were the basis of the 1905 or 1908 Jacobsen vs Boston ruling that the SCOTUS ruled on that provides the power to shut down to the state and local government.
This history of disease management in the country is full of examples. Transmission was not as fast because you could shut a town down in those days.
One of the most significant mistakes in this whole pandemic was a very poor explanation of the legal and well established roles of local, state, and Federal governments. Trump could have explained it over and over, siting the roles and structures the Fed took—and why.
Instead, he positioned himself as being “in charge.” He was “seen” to be in charge of things like state, economic shutdowns, and mask mandates in areas that he LEGALLY had no control.
This whole time he should have been taking credit for what he did well, and reminding the country that all the stuff that went wrong was due to mismanagement at the state level.
And have his legal team explaining it for the common man.
This would have been an excellent case study in Federalism vs States.