Presidents Plagued by Physical Limitations
By drawing mostly from cited data at Dr. Zebra, a list of presidential ailments is compiled in honor of our nation’s all-too-mortal Commanders-in-Chief.
1. George Washington: poor dentition, possibly due to mercury oxide treatments for various infectious diseases
2. John Adams: depression; hypochondria
3. Thomas Jefferson: recurrent, persistent headaches; chronic back pain
4. James Madison: psychogenic epilepsy; chronic biliousness
5. James Monroe: recurrent malaria; possible pulmonary tuberculosis
6. John Quincy Adams: cerebrovascular disease
7. Andrew Jackson: smallpox; malaria; heart failure
8. Martin Van Buren: alcoholism; obesity; gout
9. William Henry Harrison: generally healthy; died of pneumonia
10. John Tyler: transient, generalized paralysis—possibly Guillain Barre syndrome; cerebrovascular disease (TIAs, stroke)
11. James K. Polk: generally healthy; died of cholera
12. Zachary Taylor: yellow fever; recurrent malaria
13. Millard Fillmore: generally healthy (medical history as boring as his Presidency)
14. Franklin Pierce: chronic depression; alcoholism; tuberculosis
15. James Buchanan: blepharospasm?; alcoholism
16. Abraham Lincoln: malaria; depression; smallpox
17. Andrew Johnson: typhoid fever
18. Ulysses S. Grant: alcoholism; tobacco abuse
19. Rutherford B. Hayes: generally healthy (see Millard Fillmore)
20. James Garfield: malaria
21. Chester Arthur: alcoholism; Bright’s disease; hypertension
22. Grover Cleveland: obesity; alcoholism; tobacco abuse; cancer of the jaw
23. Benjamin Harrison: recurrent “breakdowns” or “nervous collapse”
25. William McKinley: generally healthy; possible bout of influenza (“grippe”)
26. Theodore Roosevelt: severe myopia; unilateral deafness; overweight (if not obese)
27. William H. Taft: morbid obesity; gout; sleep apnea
28. Woodrow Wilson: possible dyslexia; cerebrovascular disease
29. Warren G. Harding: recurrent mental illness; tobacco abuse; cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease
30. Calvin Coolidge: chronic depression
31. Herbert Hoover: cholecystitis; intestinal cancer
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt: polio; hypertension; cerebral hemorrhage; possible melanoma
33. Harry S. Truman: paralytic diphtheria as child; presbyopia; cardiac failure
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower: history of tobacco abuse; Crohn disease; coronary artery disease; cerebrovascular disease
35. John F. Kennedy: chronic back pain; possible autoimmune endocrine deficiency (hypothyroidism, Addison disease)
36. Lyndon B. Johnson: coronary artery disease; cholecystitis and/or cholelithiasis
37. Richard M. Nixon: venous thromboembolism; possible blepharospasm; cerebrovascular disease
38. Gerald Ford: tobacco abuse; tongue abscess due to Actinomycetes; coronary artery disease
39. James Carter: hemorrhoids
40. Ronald Reagan: myopia; chronic prostate problems; colon cancer; Alzheimer disease
41. George H. W. Bush: history of “bleeding ulcers”; atrial fibrillation; Graves disease
42. William J. Clinton: gastroesophageal reflux disease; coronary artery disease
43. George W. Bush: hemorrhoids; alcoholism; substance abuse; syncope; colonic polyps
44. Barack Obama: tobacco abuse
A native East Tennessean, Barbara Martin is a formerly practicing, board-certified neurologist who received her BS (psychology, summa cum laude) and MD from Duke University before completing her postgraduate training (internship, residency, fellowship) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She has worked in academia, private practice, medical publishing, drug market research, and continuing medical education (CME). For the last 3 years, she has worked in a freelance capacity as a medical writer, analyst, and consultant. Follow Dr. Barbara Martin on Google + and Twitter.
