The emergency phone rings in the White House. The news is not good. The president keels over after having had a heart attack.
Advertisement
Horrible thought. But since 1841, four presidents have died of natural causes while in office (Harrison, Taylor, Harding and Roosevelt), and four have died after being shot by assassins (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy).
Assassinations aside, it isn't surprising that the health of presidential candidates is often an issue in the preamble to the presidential election. But, for some reason, this time around it hasn't received as much attention. CyberShrink checks out their health report cards.
In some previous contests, every candidate solemnly released detailed medical reports from their physicians, so we learned who had piles and who had scars where. We've seen a leading candidate in years gone by dropped by his party after admitting that he had been treated for depression. (Quite remarkable if you think of the behaviour with which some people in Congress manage to get away).
Interestingly enough, ill health hasn't put an end to the career of Vice-President Cheney. He has been in rather unstable health throughout both terms, with serious heart pathology, pace-makers and procedures, but this never seemed to be seriously considered by the electorate. As the main job of the vice-president is to be available to take over should something nasty happen to the president, this isn't great - and it's very surprising he made the grade twice.
Anyhow, I've been digging around to find out what we can learn about the health of the current crop of candidates and their families. I found the best source of all was our colleagues at the WebMD site who have been asking relevant questions.
Barack Obama
In a 1995 memoir (Dreams from My Father) he revealed that he had tried cocaine and smoked marijuana/dagga as a teenager. Which seems much more frank than Bill Clinton's admission that he had tried marijuana but didn't like it and "didn't inhale".
Responding to pressure from his wife, Obama gave up smoking during the holidays of winter 2006, and told a reporter he has been "chewing Nicorettes strenuously" to help him kick the habit. He exercises regularly, and especially enjoys playing basketball. His mother died of ovarian cancer. His wife, Michelle, knows what she's talking about: she was vice-president of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center until recently.
Hillary Clinton
She has said that she walks for exercise and tries to stick to a healthy diet, and she tries to carry apples, nuts and grapes with her when on the campaign trail.
Husband Bill was known for his fondness for fast food and junk food during his presidency, and not surprisingly, after his retirement needed emergency heart bypass surgery. He seems to have managed to lose weight and looks much healthier now than he did when he was in the White House. As they depicted in their odd little video based on The Sopranos, Hillary functions as the "health enforcer" making sure he keeps to his diet, or at least so she says.
John McCain
There have been concerns about McCain's age - if elected, he would be older on taking office than any previous American President. His health is an especially legitimate concern, and he has announced that he was passed as entirely fit at a very recent medical check-up. He had a cancerous mole removed from his shoulder back in 1993. WebMD says that this mole was diagnosed as a melanoma, which is an especially serious and dangerous form of skin cancer. If a melanoma is identified early, there can be a 10-year survival rate of 97 percent, so he may well remain healthy. But he had a recurrence in 2000, and had surgery to remove two further melanoma lesions, one on his left arm, and one on his left temple. No-one seems to have expressed concern about this in the context of his being able to serve out a full term in office.
It is well known that he was a POW (prisoner-of-war) held in a Vietnamese prison camp for over five years. During this time he suffered multiple injuries, such as a broken right knee in which he now has arthritis. In 2001 he had a procedure to treat an enlarged prostate. He was a smoker until he was 45.
His wife, Cindy, had a mild stroke in April 2004, associated with high blood pressure, but she seems to have recovered very well.
They have a daughter they adopted in 1993, (from an orphanage in Bangladesh), who was born with a cleft palate.
The failed candidates
Of the failed candidates, three have seen serious health problems in their wives.
Mike Huckabee
He was diagnosed in 2003 with type 2 diabetes, and has drastically changed his lifestyle since then, after stern warnings from his doctor. He has reportedly lost more than 45kg. His wife had a cancer diagnosis soon after they were married, but appears to have made a complete recovery.
Ron Paul
Though a generally overlooked candidate, candidate Ron Paul is a doctor himself, an obstetrician/gynaecologist who claims to have delivered over 4,000 babies. He also worked in the US Air Force as a flight surgeon. In August 2007, his wife had surgery to implant a pacemaker to deal with a known, pre-existing heart problem.
John Edwards
His wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2004, and received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They had to face the sad news, a year ago, that her cancer had returned, and described it as "treatable, but not curable". It was now considered to be stage 4, and had spread to the bone and possibly to the lungs. After discussion within the family, he decided to continue with his campaign, nonetheless. She has said that she considered working with his campaign to be a worthy use of her "precious time". Their son, Wade, was killed in a car accident in 1996, when strong winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway.
As a lawyer, Edwards worked on some major health-related cases. In 1984 he won $3.7 million (R29,7 million) for a client who suffered permanent brain and nerve damage after a doctor prescribed an overdose of Antabuse for his alcoholism; and he three times sued the American Red Cross for spreading Aids through contaminated blood products (winning confidential settlements).
In 1985 he won $6.5 million (R52 million) for a child aged five born with cerebral palsy, because a doctor chose not to do an immediate Caesarean section though a foetal monitor has showed marked distress. A judge overturned the award as excessive, but on appeal the family settled for over $4 million (R32 million). He conducted some 20 similar cases in the following years, winning more than $60 million (R480,4 million) for his clients and setting a national example. This was believed to have led to a national increase in Caesarean deliveries.
Mitt Romney
He was in a serious car accident in 1956, while driving fellow Mormon missionaries in France, when his Citroen was hit by a Mercedes. One person died, but the driver of the other car was held responsible. In 1998, his wife, Ann, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but she is in remission and has been active in his campaign. She thanks both orthodox and "alternative" therapy for keeping her out of a wheelchair. These therapies have reputedly included intravenous steroids, acupuncture, and reflexology.
So much for the health of the presidential candidates and the also-rans, and all of their spouses. It remains to be seen who gets chosen, and whether their health lasts the course of a stressful four-year presidency.
(Professor M.A. Simpson, aka CyberShrink, March 2008)
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?