Profiles of US Presidents in the 20Th Century: Merits and Maladies
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Profiles of US Presidents in the 20th Century: Merits and Maladies Robert W. Schrier Professor of Medicine University of Colorado School of Medicine Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) Twenty-sixth President (1901-1909) Theodore Roosevelt, Conservationist National Treasures Created or Enlarged 1901-1909 • U.S. Forest Service • National Forests (150) • National Parks (6) • National Monuments (18) • Federal Bird Reservations (51) • National Game Preserves (4) Theodore Roosevelt Sr., Father of Teddy Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt in his Rough Rider uniform Teddy Roosevelt as Governor of New York from 1899-1900 Teddy and Edith Roosevelt with their children Quentin, Theodore III, Archie, Alice, Kermit, and Ethel Teddy’s bloody shirt from assassination attempt William Howard Taft (1857-1930) Twenty-seventh President (1909-1913) Mrs. William Howard Taft (Helen “Nellie” Herron Taft) William Howard Taft, the Governor of the Philippines, on a carabao Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) Twenty-eighth President (1913-1921) President Taft and Woodrow Wilson heading to Presidential Inauguration WOODROW WILSON • 1896 - First stroke at age 40 while a Professor at Princeton University • 1906 - Second stroke at age 50 while President of Princeton University • 1910 - Elected Governor of New Jersey at age 54 • 1912 - Elected President of the United States at age 56 WOODROW WILSON’S MEDICAL ILLNESSES DURING HIS PRESIDENCY (1912-1920) • 1912 – Symptoms on left side compatible with right internal carotid ischemia • 1914 – Wife’s death led to severe depression with suicidal tendencies • 1914 – Medical records showed high blood pressure with hypertensive and atherosclerotic changes and exudates in fundi • 1918 – “Cerebral atherosclerosis with lapses in memory and judgment, diminished emotional control and increased suspiciousness” Wilson with his second wife, Edith WORLD WAR I AND THE VERSAILLES TREATY • April 1917 – United States declares war against Germany • 1918 – Versailles Treaty • ENTENTE POWERS – Severe reparations • Clemenceau – France • Lloyd-George – Great Britain • Orlando – Italy • WILSON’S “FOURTEEN POINTS” – humane peace WOODROW WILSON AT VERSAILLES “He was beaten out that he could only remember with effort what the council had done in the afternoon.” Wilson Aide Versailles, France WILSON’S POST-VERSAILLES CROSS COUNTRY SPEAKING TOUR • September 25, 1919 – Third stroke at age 63 in Pueblo, Colorado • October 2, 1919 – Fourth stroke with complete paralysis on the left side • March 1921 – Finished second term bedridden Wilson early (above) and later (right) in his Presidency Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) Twenty-ninth President (1921-1923) Warren and Florence Harding The U.S. Senate investigation of the Teapot Dome Scandal Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) Thirtieth President (1923-1929) President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge Silent Cal with Indian chiefs President and Mrs. Coolidge at their son’s funeral Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) Thirty-first President (1929-1933) The Herbert Hoover family Herbert Hoover’s support for starving children in World War I Vice President Charles Curtis A “Hooverville” during the Great Depression A shanty in a Hooverville Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Thirty-second President (1933-1945) POLITICS, POLIO AND FDR • 1905 – Married Eleanor Roosevelt • 1910 – Elected to New York State Senate • 1913 – Roosevelt appointed Assistant Secretary of Navy by Woodrow Wilson • 1920 – Lost election as Democratic candidate for Vice President • 1921 – Developed polio at Campobello, New Brunswick • 1922 – Returned to New York law practice and many other activities with increased vigor FDR’S PATH TO THE PRESIDENCY • 1924 – Nominated Governor Al Smith for Presidency at Democratic Convention • 1928 – Al Smith asked FDR to run for Governor of New York; FDR replied, “You’re asking me to run, Al, but I can’t even walk.” • 1928 – Elected Governor of New York • 1932 – Elected 32nd President of United States - 49 years old - major issue of campaign was FDR’s health (public release of medical exam; BP – 140/100 mm HG, LVH by EKG) FDR photo in wheelchair in support of polio victims President Roosevelt’s strong upper body and withered lower limbs President Roosevelt’s leg braces President Roosevelt being supported by Eleanor and his son President Roosevelt with his daughter Anna and Eleanor FDR AND POLIO Asked if her husband’s polio had affected his mental ability, Eleanor Roosevelt replied, “Yes, any person who has gone through great suffering is bound to have a greater sympathy for and understanding of the problems of mankind.” Changing of the guard: Hitler and Hindenburg In Potsdam, March 1933 WORLD WAR II AND FDR • 1937 – Hitler annexed Austria • 1938 – Czechoslovakia falls • 1939 – Poland invaded • 1940 – France surrendered • 1940 – FDR elected for third term • December 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor FDR’S FOURTH PRESIDENTIAL TERM • 1944 – Normandy invasion • 1944 – Democratic convention – FDR did not attend; Harry Truman replaced Henry Wallace as Vice Presidential candidate • 1944 – FDR elected for fourth term in spite of congestive heart failure, anorexia and cardiac cachexia • 1944 – Admiral Ross McIntire stated that FDR was “in better condition than the average man of his age;” FDR’s health was “very good,” he was in “splendid shape.” • 1944 – James Roosevelt – campaign “was Father’s Death Warrant” Natural History of Essential (?) Hypertension (Franklin D. Roosevelt) FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S HYPERTENSION • 1935-1941 – Blood pressure (BP) rose from 140/100 to 188/105 mm Hg • March 1944 – Digitalis started; lungs cleared; decreased heart size; BP was 220/118 mm Hg • May 1944 – BP was 240/130 mm Hg • November 1944 – Reelected to fourth term • February 1945 – Yalta conference with Stalin and Churchill • April 12, 1945 – Died of massive cerebral hemorrhage The question about whether Roosevelt’s fatal brain hemorrhage was due to a melanoma YALTA CONFERENCE OF THE BIG THREE • FDR’s trip to Yalta – A total of 12 days. FDR was accompanied by Harry Hopkins who had terminal cancer and new Secretary of State Stettinius had replaced moribund Cordell Hull • Resulted in the division of Europe • Did FDR’s illnesses (28 hospitalizations from 1942-45) contribute to the failure to coordinate military and foreign policy throughout the war and thus the imbalance at Yalta and the ultimate division of Europe? Roosevelt making a point to Churchill at Yalta President Roosevelt at his Warm Springs Polio Retreat The deadly hiatus in American leadership – from the point when Roosevelt’s health and judgment began to fail to the point when Truman woke up to the reality of Soviet intentions – led to Yalta and Potsdam, the betrayal of the Poles, the imposition of Communist governments in Eastern Europe, the Czechoslovak coup, and, on the other side of the world, the loss of China and the invasion of South Korea. (Jeffrey Hart, National Review, September 15, 1989) Ochsner Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) Thirty-third President (1945-1953) Truman in his National Guard uniform Truman and Bess on their wedding day Chicago Tribune gets it wrong Margaret Truman was a vocalist, pianist and novelist Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) Thirty-fourth President (1953-1961) The MacArthur years - Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower George Patton, Ike and Bernard Montgomery Ike at time of Fitzsimons Hospital for heart attack Ike’s room at Fitzsimons Army Hospital Ike and Mamie on his discharge from Fitzsimons Army Hospital “ … But three illnesses in three successive years, any one of which could have been completely disabling if not fatal, convinced me that I should make some specific arrangements for the Vice President to succeed to my office if I should incur a disability that precluded proper performance of duty over any period of significant length.” Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964 President Eisenhower with Vice President Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President (1961-1963) He and his aides had created the image of a young, heroic politician, full of vital energy, an image which both the general public and the media accepted, and which carried the patient, with his back troubles, three episodes of near deaths with the last rites, and Addison’s disease, into the White House. JOHN F. KENNEDY’S ILLNESSES • 1942 – After P.T. boat school – “out of commission for several weeks” – fatigue, back pain • 1943 – PT 109 wreck – stranded with crew for 6 days on an island • 1943 – Assigned to PT 59 but “back ache, mental and physical exhaustion” kept him from assuming command and ended his military career Kennedy after PT 109 episode JOHN F. KENNEDY’S ILLNESSES • 1944 – First back surgery in Boston • 1947 – Post-election trip to Europe; admitted to London clinic where Addison‘s Disease first diagnosed by Sir Daniel Davis – “Young American friend of yours hasn’t got a year to live.” • 1948 – Collapsed after 5 mile Bunker Hill Day Parade walk during campaign for Congress Sickly-looking Kennedy five months after the diagnosis of Addison’s disease JOHN F. KENNEDY’S ILLNESSES • 1952 – During round-the-world trip with Robert Kennedy, JFK developed high fever and became seriously ill • Given last rites by the Catholic Church • Treated with increased corticosteroids and antibiotics • 1954 – Second back operation in Boston - Given last rites by the Catholic Church - Developed severe infection - 5 months of hospitalization and treatment with antibiotics and larger doses of cortisone President Kennedy and Jackie after back surgery KENNEDY’S ILLNESSES BECAME A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ISSUE IN 1960 “John F. Kennedy does not now nor has he ever had an ailment described classically as Addison’s disease, which is a tuberculous destruction of the adrenal gland. Any statement to the contrary is malicious and false … in the post war period (he had) some mild adrenal insufficiency. This is not in any way a dangerous condition and it is possible that even this ACTH stimulation test for adrenal function was considered normal in 1958.” JFK spokesperson Medical History of John F. Kennedy “Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome Type 2” (Ann Int Med, Sept 2009) Family History Younger sister, Eunice, had Addison’s disease John F.