Addison s Disease, but Kennedy chose her because during the campaign she said little about his
Addison s disease. To treat Kennedy s back problems, Travell gave him a rocking chair, a corset,
and anesthetic injections. Kennedy quickly got addicted to the shots. Other physicians realized
Kennedy was addicted to the injections and told Travell she could no longer be in charge of the
President s health care. Dr. Burkley became Kennedy s new physician. After Kennedy s death,
an autopsy was performed and Addison s was not mentioned. Burkley refused to comment on
this (Ferrell 154-156).
After Kennedy s death in 1967, the 25th Amendment was passed (Annas 3). It provides
instructions for the transfer of power from the President to the Vice-president. Section One says
that was the President is removed from office by death, illness, resignation, or impeachment, and
that power will go to the Vice-president. Section Two says after the Vice President moves up to
the President that he should nominate a new Vice-president. He should choose the new Vice
President from members of Congress or the Cabinet. Section Three says the President can send a
letter to Congress saying he can no longer fulfill his duties. When the President is ready to take
the office back, he can write a letter to Congress saying he is ready to fulfill his duties again.
Section Four gives the Vice-president and Congress the power to declare the president disabled
(Young 3).
Lyndon Johnson was a healthy child with the exception of whooping cough in the first
grade. Johnson was never confident about his political career. When he was threatened with a
loss, he spoke of withdrawing or got sick. When Johnson was twenty-nine years old he ran for
the House of Representatives. During the campaign, Johnson got appendicitis. Two days before
the vote, he was hospitalized because his appendix almost ruptured. He won the election because
the hospitalization was widely publicized, giving people a reason to vote for him (Gilbert
178-179).
Johnson was nervous about his new job in the House. He developed a very bad rash on
his hands. When signing letters, he had to wrap his hands in a towel so the blood oozing from his
hands did not smear on the letter. He began to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day, worked
long hours, and skipped meals. This took a heavy toll on his physical well being (Gilbert 179).
In 1941, Johnson ran for a place in the Senate. When he heard that his opposing party
was Texas governor, O Daniel, he had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and went into depression.
During the first week of his hospitalization, it was kept a secret. In the second week, the press
found out and spread the news. His loss in this election would be the only one in his political
career (Gilbert 179-180).
In late 1941, Johnson applied for Commissioner to the Navy. He had tonsillitis, sinusitis,
and kidney problems. His bronchial difficulties made him eligible for disability pay. He didn t
want the money, just the recognition of service related disabilities. He left the navy because
President Roosevelt made all Congressmen in the military go to inactive duty (Gilbert 181).
In 1948, Johnson ran for the Senate again. His opponent was Stevenson, the man who
took O Daniel s senate seat. During the campaign, Johnson got kidney stones that wouldn t pass.
He agreed to have surgery and recovered quickly. He won the election by a very narrow margin.
In 1955, Johnson was the Democratic Majority Leader. He smoked heavily, worked eighteen
hour days, and gained weight. He had a mild heart attack in June of 1955, and two weeks later,
he suffered a severe heart attack. He wouldn t go see a doctor because he did not want to ruin
his chances for the Presidency. He finally agreed to go see a doctor, who diagnosed him with
bradycardia syndrome, low blood pressure and pulse rate. He was very depressed and talked of
leaving politics. He stopped smoking, dieted, and lost weight. When he returned to the Senate,
he immediately started all the long hours and hard work again (Gilbert 180-186).
In the election of 1955, President Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice-president. It was
an easy job and would be good for Johnson s health. Johnson did not like being Vice-president
because he did not have any real power. On November 22, 1963 President Kennedy was shot and
the twenty-fifth amendment was enacted and Johnson assumed the Presidency. It was a bad
situation, but the transition went smoothly. Johnson began to worry that the stress of the
Presidency would hurt his health and told his family that he would not run in 1964 because his
health would not last. The first lady told him that he should run in 1964 because he would get
depressed watching someone else do his job (Gilbert 186-190).
Johnson won the election of 1964 by a huge landslide. Three days after his inauguration,
he was hospitalized for chest pains and a hacking cough. It was not a heart attack, just cold with
tracheal and bronchial infection. During his hospitalization, Winston Churchill died. When
Johnson heard the news, his temperature immediately went up and he was advised by doctors not
to attend the funeral. After three days, he went back to the White House, and assumed his busy
schedule, although, Mrs. Johnson told him to take it easy and rest (Gilbert 190-193).
In 1965, it was discovered that President Johnson had a large gallstone. It had to be
removed and would be risky with his heart condition. On October 8, the surgery took place at
Bethesda Navel Hospital, and went smoothly. He recovery was slow but that was expected for
his age. Johnson developed post-operative depression and wanted to resign from the Presidency.
In the middle of December, his doctors said he was fully recovered (Gilbert 193-197).
In 1973, the President called the Secret Service and told them he was ill. They rushed to
his bedside with an oxygen machine and found him lying on the floor beside the bed. Doctors
failed at attempts to revive him. He had suffered from a heart attack because two of his three
arteries were completely blocked. He was sixty-four years old (Gilbert 202).
The fortieth President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, was the only President to
survive being shot in office (Lamb 3-4). In 1981, President Reagan was the target of an
assassination attempt. One half of his blood was lost, his left lung collapsed, and he had no
recordable blood pressure (Young 5-6). The public was told that Reagan was joking with his
doctors during surgery, but he was really with in five minutes of death (Lamb 12-13). The twenty
fifth amendment should have been invoked but, Mr. Darman locked up the succession papers so
they would be unavailable (Ferrell 158). His children were told not to rush to the hospital and the
first lady did not spend the night in the hospital so that the public would be unaware of the
seriousness of the situation (Young 5-6).
In 1985, President Reagan had an operation for colon cancer, lasting about 10 hours.
During that time, the vice-president became the acting President. Two years later in 1987,
Reagan had prostate surgery. The doctors were flown in just in time for the surgery and flown
out as soon as it was over. The press was not allowed to question the doctors because of
the short time period that they were in Washington, D.C.. Updates on the President s health
came only from the Press Secretary (Ferrell 158-159).
President George Bush was the first US President to draw up a contingency plan
(Dougherty 1-2). Shortly after taking office, Bush held a meeting to discuss a plan of succession
in case he became ill in office. He wanted the public to be well informed of his health, therefore
the results of his annual physical were always released to the public (Bush 282).
In May of 1991, Bush noticed his heart beating irregularly after taking a jog. He was
hospitalized for three days. His personal physician, Burton J. Lee III, diagnosed him with Graves
Disease. He had an overactive thyroid (Ferrell 159). He was also becoming tired from the
stresses of the Gulf War and needed some rest. Medication cured his thyroid (Presidency 1). In
1992, the President collapsed while at dinner with the Prime Minister of Japan. Dr. Lee
diagnosed this as gastroenteritis (Ferrell 159-160). Mrs. Bush said by the next after noon, he was
much better, just terribly embarrassed (Bush 450-452).
The current President of the United States, Bill Clinton, is one of the youngest Presidents
in history. During his two terms, he has kept the public well informed of his health (Lamb 6). In
1997, he had surgery to repair a torn tendon. The twenty fifth amendment should have been
invoked, but was not (Young 6). President Clinton has cronic laryngitis which is caused by
excess acid in his stomach. While Clinton sleeps, the acid travels up his esophagus and effects his
vocal cords. His weight swings up and down dramatically, causing stress to his heart. He has
been urged by doctors to keep his weight more stable. Clinton has a considerable amount of
trouble with allergies and takes allergy shots several times a month (Lamb 6-7).
There have been many medical cover-ups during the terms of the forty-two Presidents of
the United States. Candidates feel it will hurt their political career if American citizens find out
they are not in perfect health. The United States should not elect a President on the basis of their
health, but on their ability to perform the duties of the President. Citizens should respect the
privacy of political officials or candidates will be discouraged from running for office in the future
(Annas 7).
Works Cited
Annas, George A. The Health of the President and Presidential Candidates– The Public s Right
to Know. The New England Journal of Medicine. 333.14 (5 Oct. 1995): 8pp. Online.
Netdoor. 11 Oct. 2000.
Bush, Barbara. Barbara Bush-A Memoir. New York: The Easton Press, 1994.
Dougherty, Jill. What To Do When A President Becomes Disabled? CNN/Time. (3 Dec.
1997): 2pp. Online. Netdoor. 11 Oct. 2000.
Ferrell, Robert H. Ill Advised: Presidential Health and Public Trust. Columbia: University of
Missouri Press, 1992.
Gilbert, Robert E. Interview with Lamb. National Cable Satellite Corporation. 1997.
Gilbert, Robert E. The Mortal Presidency: Illness and Anguish in the White House. New York:
Fordham University Press, 1998.
Gilbert, Robert E. The Presidency Can Be A Killer. Wall Street Journal. (25 Jan. 2000):
2pp. Online. Netdoor. 11 Oct. 2000.
Young, James, Lawrence Moore, Robert Robinson, and Robert Gilbert. Interview with Dean
Cal Farak. Annenberg Presidential Series; Presidential Illness and the 25th Amendment.
Bookings Institution. Washington, D.C.: Federal News Service. 21 Oct. 1998.
.
Netdoor. 11 Oct. 2000.