Health and Medical History of President

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson did not learn the alphabet until he was 9 years old, and could not read until he was 12. This raises the possibility he had a learning disability, perhaps similar to dyslexia 13. Wilson eventually earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins and became President of Princeton.

Wilson had an annoying habit of busily polishing his eyeglasses while people were talking to him 3a.

His physician missed the signs of Wilson's atherosclerosis before becoming president. 5b

A photograph of Wilson on the day of his 1913 inauguration shows astonishingly bad teeth [see photo MORE ].

Comment: This is relevant to Wilson's later stroke(s) because poor dentition has been suspected to increase the risk of atherosclerotic disease.

Dr. E. A. Weinstein has carefully analyzed Wilson's medical history in a book 14. He finds evidence of multiple strokes.

Wilson's first stroke was in May 1896. It caused marked weakness of the right upper limb plus sensory disturbances in the fingers. The finger problems were mis-diagnosed as neuritis. Wilson was unable to write normally for almost a year afterwards. Comment: There may be some dispute about this event, in a later article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In June 1904 Wilson developed weakness in the right upper limb that lasted for several months 14.

On May 28, 1906, Wilson suddenly lost vision in his left eye. This persisted. Weakness of the right upper limb was present 14.

Wilson had multiple other neurological events that were presumably vascular in origin 14:

• November 1907 -- Developed weakness and numbness of fingers or right upper limb that lasted several months;
• July 1908 -- Two attacks of "neuritis" affecting the right upper limb;
• December 1910 -- Transitory weakness of the right hand.

Wilson's problems with blood circulation in his brain and eyes continued after he became President 14:

• April 1913 -- Attack of "neuritis" involving right upper limb;
• May 1914 -- Abnormal retinal arteries observed;
• May-Sept. 1915 -- Episodes of transient weakness in his right hand.

On what must have been a slow news day, the President's cold was front-page news in the New York Times on Dec. 12, 1913 1 MORE -- underneath a story about the 70-pound weight loss achieved by former President William Taft.

From 1915 to 1919 Wilson had episodic severe headaches, lasting for days. It is possible these were due to [uncontrolled] hypertension 14.

In September 1919 Wilson was having severe headaches, double vision, and signs of a weakened heart. On Sept. 25 he developed a transitory weakness on the left side of his body 14.

Wilson suffered a catastrophic, disabling stroke while President (Oct. 3, 1919), as recounted in multiple sources 4a 5c 7a 8a, including an entire book on the subject 11. (Any biography covering Wilson's presidential years should devote extensive coverage to this event.) This was the most serious illness suffered by any sitting President. Wilson had bad headaches before becoming president, but presidential physician Cary Grayson ascribed the stroke to a thrombosis, stating it was not hemorrhagic 4b.

Wilson's condition was hidden from his Cabinet, from the Vice President and, of course, from the public. This could only be done by keeping Wilson physically isolated. Some members of the Cabinet were uneasy. On Oct. 5, 1919, ex-President Taft wrote to A. L. Lowell 9a:

[Secretary of the Treasury] McAdoo says the President [Wilson] is in a state of collapse -- that his mind is clear but that he is so weak that his doctors would not permit him to discuss or think about any of these matters. ... He says that he would like to help, but he is in a delicate situation, being the son-in-law of the President.

Taft was no fan of Woodrow Wilson, but it is interesting that even an ex-President in the opposing political party did not (could not?) act on behalf of the people.

After his stroke, Wilson was driven around in his car and took the opportunity to apprehend speeders! 5d

This may be an exaggeration, however. Dr. Mark Benbow of the Woodrow Wilson House reports that "He didn't actually try to catch speeders himself, but he did send his secret service agents after them in their separate car. They would usually come back and claim that the speeder was going too fast so they could not catch them. Wilson also asked his Attorney General if he had the power to give speeding tickets. The Attorney General said no. This probably started before Wilson had his stroke. The speed limit in Washington then was 22 mph" 2 [? source = "Starling of the White House"]. Wilson used to tease his family and friends at the dinner table asking "Well, who's been pinched today?" 14a.

His physician conspired to keep the extent of Wilson's disability secret, along with Mrs. Wilson. Wilson's chief of staff, Tumulty, was even cut out. (Tumulty's son later became chief of internal medicine at Johns Hopkins.) To do: Talk about the tumble that may have changed history -- led to selection of both Wilson's and FDR's incompetent physicians.