Hidden Illness in the White House (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Hidden Illness in the White House. By Kenneth R. Crispell and Carlos F. Gomez. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1988. Pp. 267. $27.50. This is an excellent book written by a distinguished emeritus professor from the Univeristy of Virginia and a young scientist, currently a fellow of the PEW Foundation at the University of Chicago. The book is short and well indexed, and each of the six chapters is documented with appropriate references. It is different from others of this type in that it emphasizes the significance of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, which outlines presidential succession. The authors allude briefly to sicknesses of other world leaders, including Marshal Tito (Yugoslavia), Generalissimo Francisco Franco (Spain), Georges Pompidou (France), Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai (China), and also illnesses of a few presidents of the United States, James Madison's bilious fever, Grover Cleveland's oral cancer, Dwight D. Eisenhower's regional enteritis, myocardial infarct, and stroke. However, the major part of the book concentrates on the illnesses of three presidents—Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. Woodrow Wilson's career is traced as professor of history at The Johns Hopkins , president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey, and finally president of the United States. In May 1896, Wilson suffered the first of six incapacitating strokes, with weakness and pain continuing through 1897. On December 11, 1911, during his campaign for governor, Wilson had an occurrence of what appeared to be neuritis with cramping pain in his right hand. Although depression followed his wife's death in 1914, it was largely rectified by his marriage to Mrs. Gait in 1915. Of most interest was a detailed description of his meetings at the Peace Conference in Versailles. Wilson, almost without staff, would spend hours studying details of other parties' proposals by himself— "then singlehandedly type out the American response." He quickly became fatigued and developed influenza. On September 25, 1919, on a trip through the West to take his case to the people, he suffered a near-fatal stroke. For over a year he was severely incapacitated, protected by his wife and physician. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a documented sick man for at least 3 years before his death. In 1943, Roosevelt met Churchill in Casablanca; later, in Tehran, they met with Stalin. At this time his physician, Dr. Mclntire, cautioned that no presidential flight should be over 7,500 feet, obviously to avoid pressure changes and oxygen deficit. Roosevelt had been in excellent health as a child until his stay at Campobello in August 1921, when he developed polio. In the first 8 years of Permission to reprint a book review printed in this section may be obtained only from the author. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 33, 1 ¦ Autumn 1989 | 145 Roosevelt's presidency, his physician's duties were minimal. By 1940, the heavy toll of the economic crisis and the beginning of the war showed their effects. In 1944, before his election he took 9 weeks off for rest with a markedly restricted schedule. Roosevelt's health was deliberately kept from the public at the time of his election in 1944, and Steve Early, his press secretary, charged inquiring reporters with "underhandedjournalism." After the election his blood pressure was at one time recorded at 260/150; he died of a stroke in 1945. John F. Kennedy was the second son ofJoseph Kennedy, and only when his older brother died was he groomed for high office. He was always a sickly child and in adolescence had "jaundice, hepatitis, and blood disease." During a year in England he had to return with a recurrence; after that he enrolled in Princeton. Later he checked into the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he stayed 2 months, and then he went to a ranch in Arizona. In the summer of 1936, he resumed studies at Harvard. He probably would not have passed a Navy physical , but through his father's friend Rear Admiral Kirk, John was sworn in without a physical examination on September 25, 1941. Kennedy was sent for PT boat training at Northwestern and reported to the Solomon Islands on February 19, 1943. After...