Lincoln and Medicine

Preface

xi Pr eface Did Abraham Lincoln have Marfan syndrome? Was Mary insane ? What did Willie die from? Many questions have been asked about the health of Lincoln and his family members. While there have been a number of articles addressing various aspects of the health of the Lincolns, there has been no overview volume since Lincoln and the Doctors: A Medical Narrative of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, published by Milton H. Shutes in 1933, on the sixty-eighth anniversary of Lincoln’s death. This book attempts to fill that gap. Shutes focused not only on Lincoln’s health but also on all the doctors Lincoln knew, even if they never treated him. This book does not include any of those doctors unless they are directly relevant to Lincoln’s health. Shutes did not include source notes, often making it difficult to determine where he got his information. This volume does include source endnotes, using short titles, as well as a bibliography giving full title and publishing information. In the roughly eighty years since Shutes published his book, Lincoln studies have taken many new turns, sometimes focusing on subjects unimaginable in the 1930s. This book attempts to take those new perspectives into account. Chapter 1 covers the young Lincoln, while chapter 2 focuses on the medical issues of Lincoln and his family during the Springfield years. The family focus continues in chapter 3, which discusses the period of Lincoln’s presidency. Chapter 4 addresses many questions raised in the past several decades about whether Lincoln had such conditions as Marfan syndrome, ataxia, MEN2B, or mercury poisoning or had a homosexual orientation. Chapter 5 xii | preface studies Lincoln’s interaction with wartime medical issues, both personally and as commander in chief. Chapter 6 analyzes Lincoln’s assassination , and chapter 7 briefly traces the postwar medical history of the remaining members of the Lincoln family—Tad, Mary, and Robert. Because this book is sharply focused on the subject of Lincoln and medicine, readers desiring more biographical detail may consult several excellent single-volume studies such as David Herbert Donald’s Lincoln or Ronald C. White’s A. Lincoln: A Biography. People who would like some additional background in period medicine may find useful the author’s The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine, the classic studies Doctors in Blue by George Worthington Adams and Doctors in Gray by H. H. Cunningham, or Alfred Jay Bollet’s more recent Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs. It is a privilege to thank those who have assisted and encouraged me in this study. When Sylvia Frank Rodrigue mentioned the idea of the Concise Lincoln Library and casually asked if I might be interested in doing a volume, maybe Lincoln and medicine, I considered the idea sort of a joke. Then I looked a little further and realized there actually would be enough information. And here it is. Sylvia has faithfully checked on my progress and provided great encouragement throughout the process. Colleagues at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield , Illinois, have proved most helpful: Mary Ann Pohl and Jennifer Ericson pulled items from the Lincoln Collection; Bob Cavanagh procured books and articles through interlibrary loan; James Cornelius answered some questions and loaned me a DVD; Gwen Podeschi and Dennis Suttles aided in various ways; and Cheryl Schnirring, Cheryl Pence, and Kathryn Harris provided support as necessary. I could not have done it without you. Daniel Stowell, David Gerleman, and Sean Scott of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, and John Lupton, formerly of that project, helped me to get copies of several useful documents. Jason Emerson supplied some information about Robert Todd Lincoln. Members of several Bible studies were a crucial support. Many thanks to Kathy, Rich, Joyce, Linda, Vince, Lin, Glen, Marilyn, Tom, Doris, Irene, John, preface | xiii Shonté, Dan, Chris, Jason, and Agnes. My husband’s colleagues at WLUJ Christian radio allowed me to spend two very productive days writing in their basement room. Cynthia Needham provided exceptional encouragement at a number of Panera brunches. Special thanks to Tom Schwartz, Jack Navins, and Michael Hiranuma for reading and commenting on the entire manuscript. Tom’s expertise, helpful materials, and periodic discussions on Lincoln questions eased some of the challenges of writing a Lincoln book. Jack supplied some crucial material on DNA and served as my medical reader. Michael demonstrated his longtime friendship by reading a second book for me and catching some...