With Presidential health in the news lately, here is the first in my series on Presidents who had health problems.
After Grover Cleveland had been elected for the second time, he noticed a small bump on the roof of his mouth. When the bump rapidly grew, doctors diagnosed it as cancer and suggested a risky operation. Cleveland agreed, but because there was depression ongoing, he was worried about a stock market crash if his health became public. It was decided that the operation would be done in secret on a friend’s yacht. Cleveland disappeared for four days. On June 30, 1893 six doctors performed the operation. Cleveland was seated in a chair and put under with nitrous oxide and ether. It lasted 90 minutes and everything went well, even though there was a 15% chance of death. The doctors removed the tumor, and five teeth and part of the upper jaw. The President was fitted with a rubber prothesis so no one could tell anything had happened. However, two months later a reporter for the Philadelphia Press had one of the great newspaper scoops. He talked to a doctor who was familiar with the operation and his story was remarkably accurate. The Cleveland administration labeled the story fake news and launched an effective smear campaign against E.J. Edwards that ruined his career. The public bought the lie. 24 years later, one of the surviving doctors revealed that Edwards’ reporting had been true. Edwards got the national apology he deserved.
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/06/137621988/a-yacht-a-mustache-how-a-president-hid-his-tumor
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/65982/grover-clevelands-deadly-secret
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