User:Grungeosmunge/sandbox: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

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Some have been [[Physical disability|physically disabled]] while in office. [[James Madison]] had [[epilepsy]], resulting in [[Seizure|seizures]]. [[William Howard Taft]] had [[sleep apnea]] resulting from [[obesity]]; he generally weighed 330 pounds. After his stroke, Wilson had [[paralysis]] on his body’s left side and partial [[Visual impairment|blindness]]. As an adult, [[Paralytic illness of Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed]] in his lower body, perhaps after getting [[polio]]. He used a [[wheelchair]], and made a “[[Gentlemen’s agreement|gentleman’s agreement]]” with [[Photojournalism|photojournalists]] to not capture him using it. Kennedy had [[Addison’s disease]] and chronic [[back pain]].

Some have been [[Physical disability|physically disabled]] while in office. [[James Madison]] had [[epilepsy]], resulting in [[Seizure|seizures]]. [[William Howard Taft]] had [[sleep apnea]] resulting from [[obesity]]; he generally weighed 330 pounds. After his stroke, Wilson had [[paralysis]] on his body’s left side and partial [[Visual impairment|blindness]]. As an adult, [[Paralytic illness of Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed]] in his lower body, perhaps after getting [[polio]]. He used a [[wheelchair]], and made a “[[Gentlemen’s agreement|gentleman’s agreement]]” with [[Photojournalism|photojournalists]] to not capture him using it. Kennedy had [[Addison’s disease]] and chronic [[back pain]].

Furthermore, many presidents have had what may be considered [[Substance dependence|substance dependencies]] while in office. [[George Washington]] used [[laudanum]] for his [[bone pain]], partially located near [[George Washington’s teeth|his false teeth]]. [[Franklin Pierce]], [[Ulysses S. Grant]], and [[Richard Nixon]] were binge drinkers. Lincoln took [[Mercury (element)|mercuric]] [[blue mass]] pills for [[Health of Abraham Lincoln|his depression]], which may have given him [[mercury poisoning]]. Franklin D. Roosevelt used a liquid [[cocaine]] solution to manage chronic [[sinusitis]] and [[nasal congestion]]. [[Max Jacobson|Kennedy’s personal physician]] frequently gave him a “drug cocktail” of [[painkillers]] and [[Substituted amphetamine|amphetamines]] for his conditions. [[Barack Obama]] was addicted to [[Cigarette|cigarettes]] for much of his term.

Furthermore, many presidents have had [[Substance dependence|substance dependencies]] while in office. [[George Washington]] used [[laudanum]] for his [[bone pain]], partially located near [[George Washington’s teeth|his false teeth]]. [[Franklin Pierce]], [[Ulysses S. Grant]], and [[Richard Nixon]] were binge drinkers. Lincoln took [[Mercury (element)|mercuric]] [[blue mass]] pills for [[Health of Abraham Lincoln|his depression]], which may have given him [[mercury poisoning]]. Franklin D. Roosevelt used a liquid [[cocaine]] solution to manage chronic [[sinusitis]] and [[nasal congestion]]. [[Max Jacobson|Kennedy’s personal physician]] frequently gave him a “drug cocktail” of [[painkillers]] and [[Substituted amphetamine|amphetamines]] for his conditions. [[Barack Obama]] was addicted to [[Cigarette|cigarettes]] for much of his term.

== White House medical staff ==

== White House medical staff ==

The health of presidents of the United States is determined and managed by White House officials, including the Physician to the President, the White House Medical Unit, and the White House Military Office. The office of Chief Medical Advisor to the President, founded in 2019, has been vacant since 2023.

Out of the 45 presidents so far, eight died in office: William Henry Harrison, from pneumonia and enteric fever; Zachary Taylor, from gastroenteritis; Abraham Lincoln, from a gunshot to the head; James A. Garfield, from septic shock resulting from improper care of a gunshot to the back (another shot grazed his arm); William McKinley, from a gunshot to the chest; Franklin D. Roosevelt, from a cerebral hemorrhage; and John F. Kennedy, likely from two gunshots to the neck and head. Three survived gunshots in or after office: Theodore Roosevelt, to the chest (the bullet was then lodged in him); Ronald Reagan, to the chest; and Donald Trump, the current president, in the ear.

Many historians and journalists allege certain presidents to have lacked, for all or part of their terms, enough cognitive ability to appropriately serve as president. While serving, Woodrow Wilson had a stroke which made him irritable, disorientated, and paranoid. His wife Edith secretly made many presidential decisions for him afterwards. Calvin Coolidge suffered hypersomnia resulting from depression. Lyndon B. Johnson may have had bipolar disorder. Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, after leaving office, but according to his son, exhibited symptoms during his term. Trump and Joe Biden have exhibited symptoms of dementia in office—and with Trump, narcissistic personality disorder as well—but both deny having been cognitively impaired.

Some have been physically disabled while in office. James Madison had epilepsy, resulting in seizures. William Howard Taft had sleep apnea resulting from obesity; he generally weighed 330 pounds. After his stroke, Wilson had paralysis on his body’s left side and partial blindness. As an adult, Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralyzed in his lower body, perhaps after getting polio. He used a wheelchair, and made a “gentleman’s agreement” with photojournalists to not capture him using it. Kennedy had Addison’s disease and chronic back pain.

Furthermore, many presidents have had substance dependencies while in office. George Washington used laudanum for his bone pain, partially located near his false teeth. Franklin Pierce, Ulysses S. Grant, and Richard Nixon were binge drinkers. Lincoln took mercuric blue mass pills for his depression, which may have given him mercury poisoning. Franklin D. Roosevelt used a liquid cocaine solution to manage chronic sinusitis and nasal congestion. Kennedy’s personal physician frequently gave him a “drug cocktail” of painkillers and amphetamines for his conditions. Barack Obama was addicted to cigarettes for much of his term.

White House medical staff

1. George Washington (served 1789–1797)

2. John Adams (1797–1801)

3. Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)

4. James Madison (1809–1817)

5. James Monroe (1817–1825)

6. John Quincy Adams (1825–1829)

7. Andrew Jackson (1829–1837)

8. Martin Van Buren (1837–1841)

9. William Henry Harrison (1841)

10. John Tyler (1841–1845)

11. James K. Polk (1845–1849)

12. Zachary Taylor (1849–1850)

13. Millard Fillmore (1850–1853)

14. Franklin Pierce (1853–1857)

15. James Buchanan (1857–1861)

16. Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)

Assassination

17. Andrew Johnson (1865–1869)

18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)

19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881)

20. James A. Garfield (1881)

Assassination

21. Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)

22 and 24. Grover Cleveland (1885–1889, 1893–1897)

23. Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893)

25. William McKinley (1897–1901)

Assassination

26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)

27. William Howard Taft (1909–1913)

28. Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)

29. Warren G. Harding (1921–1923)

30. Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929)

31. Hebert Hoover (1929–1933)

32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945)

33. Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)

35. John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)

Assassination

36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)

37. Richard Nixon (1969–1974)

38. Gerald Ford (1974–1977)

39. Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)

40. Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)

41. George H.W. Bush (1989–1993)

42. Bill Clinton (1993–2001)

43. George W. Bush (2001–2009)

In office, Bush had a regular exercise regimen. If he was at the White House, he ran on a treadmill, and if he was at Camp David or his ranch in Texas, he went on three-mile-long jogs. Exercise improves heart health, but the regimen’s effect on Bush was negated by his having sinus bradycardia, a type of below-average heart rate, which is termed bradycardia. As of 2002, he had a regular resting pulse of 35 to 45 beats per minute—extremely low compared to the average human rate of 70.^[1][2]

On January 13, 2002, while watching a football game on TV from a couch in the White House Executive Residence, Bush choked on a pretzel, and briefly fainted (or had a “syncope”). Prior to this, he had been feeling generally unwell for a few days. The specific type of fainting was a reflex syncope, caused by Bush’s “vasovagal syndrome”—to say that, while Bush swallowed the pretzel, which was not chewed thoroughly, it hit his throat’s vagus nerve, which regulates heart rate. Vasovagal syndrome, a rare condition, overstimulated the nerve and sent a signal to his heart that causes a reflex syncope, a type of temporary decrease in heart rate. This decrease added to Bush’s already low bradycardiac rate, so it was low enough for him to lose consciousness; for this reason, those with bradycardia are more prone to having vasovagal syndrome affect them if they are choking. In fainting, Bush fell off the couch and hit the floor, bruising his lips and left cheek. He woke up some time later. He believes he was only unconscious for a few seconds, because his dogs Barney and Spot Fetcher, who were right next to him, had the same positions and concerned expressions when he woke up as when he fainted. Bush was soon examined by White House Physician Richard Tubb.^[1][3][4] At the time, the public did not know Bush had sinus bradycardia; days after the incident, radio station KPPC publicly leaked that he had it. Tubb confirmed the leak to the press soon after, and said he did not believe the condition had any greater consequence to Bush’s health than that type of fainting spell.^[2]

Barack Obama (2009–2017)

Barack Obama was born in 1961.^[5] He was 47 years old when he was inaugurated president,^[6] and 55 when he left office.^[7] When he was in his teens, he often drank alcohol, and smoked marijuana that he bought from local drug dealers. He sometimes snorted cocaine, but it was more expensive to buy from dealers, so he did it less often. He was public about this during his term.^[8][9] In his 2020 memoir, Obama revealed that he was addicted to smoking cigarettes for much of his presidency, and tried to hide it from both the public, and others in the White House. At the addiction’s peak, he would smoke eight to ten cigarettes a day, and try to find discrete locations in the White House to do it. He said he stopped when his daughter Malia once smelled his breath and frowned. He broke his addiction by “ceaselessly” chewing on nicotine gum.^[10] Nicotine gum is considered less harmful to the body than cigarettes, and is recommended for those wanting to break an addiction to them, but contains many of the same harmful chemicals.^[11]

Obama’s hair color was black in his youth, and started minorly greying around 2005. In the case of people with mentally or physically demanding jobs, such as the President, it is hard to gauge if greying of hair results from the stress they are under, genetics, or a mixture of the two, as both are theorized to be causes. However, there is evidence to suggest that in Obama’s case, it was mostly by stress. When he began his 2008 presidential campaign, he still had generally black hair, but between May and October 2008 specifically, when he was the Democratic Party nominee and approaching election day in November, he greyed significantly.^[12][13][14] It continued during his presidency, and he was mostly grey by 2016.^[14]

While in office, Obama frequently had pick-up games of basketball with other government workers, both at the White House and elsewhere. He played the sport in his youth, and was reported in 2010 to be talented at it. Although he used basketball to relax in his presidency, the games he was involved in were known to be quite competitive. On November 26, 2010, as he was playing a game at Fort McNair, a military base in Washington, D.C., he was unintentionally elbowed hard in the mouth by his opponent Rey Decerega, Director of Programs at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Obama’s lip was cut up, and started bleeding, and he received twelve stitches from the White House Medical Unit. The latter described the experience of accidentally injuring the president as feeling as bad as a car accident.^[15][16][17]

45 and 47. Donald Trump (2017–2021, 2025–present)

46. Joe Biden (2021–2025)

See also

References