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Health and Medical History of President George WashingtonPresident #1: 1789-1797
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"Washington died exceedingly hard." 1a |
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This style... | ... means the event occurred while President. | |||||
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![]() multiple serious infections |
Although Washington was physically strong, he was not the indomitable human force that popular
history paints. He was often sick, particularly with infections. These were serious infections,
many of them life-threatening. The table below is an overview
2a.
The rest of this page has details about each illness.
It was fortunate for the country that Washington's health was comparatively good during the Revolutionary War (1776-1783). |
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![]() malaria |
From the age of 17 to almost the end of his life, Washington had recurrent attacks of malaria.
Malaria was then common in Virginia. Interestingly, an effective treatment for malaria had
been discovered in the previous century. But for some reason, Washington did not receive the
treatment until 1784, when he was in his 50s
2b
MORE.
To add to the mystery, soldiers in the Revolutionary Army were treated for malaria as early
as 1776
2c.
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![]() ![]() smallpox |
At age 19 Washington and his half-brother Lawrence spent time on the island of Barbados, hoping
the climate would benefit Lawrence. Lawrence was ill with tuberculosis. Around this time George
developed a severe case of smallpox, which ultimately left his skin scarred for life
2d
4a.
Comment:
It is possible that his sterility (see below) resulted from this episode of smallpox
5.
Later, as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the 1770s, Washington took an unprecedented
step by insisting that no recruit could join the army until vaccinated against smallpox
4b
6a
MORE.
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![]() ![]() tuberculosis |
Shortly after returning to Mount Vernon from Barbados, Washington developed tuberculosis. (Tuberculous
pleurisy, to be precise.) This, no doubt, he caught from Lawrence. It occurred soon after the
smallpox. Washington took two years to recover fully.
2d
He had another episode of fever and pleurisy at age 25, in conjunction with an attack of dysentery
2e.
It has been proposed that tuberculosis of the vas deferens caused Washington's sterility
(below) and that tuberculosis of the gut caused his multiple episodes of bloody diarrhea (below)
7.
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![]() diphtheria |
Washington "had also apparently had diphtheria"
3.
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![]() muscular |
The US National Archives
8
reports "An often quoted description of GW ...
of uncertain authenticity is said to come from a letter written by
George Mercer in 1760" and gives the text of the letter:
He may be described as being straight as an Indian, measuring 6 feet 2 inches
in his stockings, and weighing 175 lbs when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses
in 1759. His frame is padded with well developed muscles, indicating great strength.
His bones and joints are large as are his hands and feet. He is wide shouldered but
has not a deep or round chest; is neat waisted, but is broad across the hips, and
has rather long legs and arms. His head is well shaped, though not large, but is
gracefully poised on a superb neck. A large and straight rather than a prominent
nose; blue-grey penetrating eyes which are widely separated and overhung by a heavy
brow. His face is long rather than broad, with high round cheek bones, and terminates
in a good firm chin. He has a clear tho rather colorless pale skin which burns with
the sun. A pleasing and benevolent tho a commanding countenance, dark brown hair which
he wears in a cue. His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time
to time discloses some defective teeth. His features are regular and placid with all the
muscles of his face under perfect control, tho flexible and expressive of deep feeling
when moved by emotions. In conversation he looks you full in the face, is deliberate,
deferential and engaging. His demeanor at all times composed and dignified. His movements
and gestures are graceful, his walk majestic, and he is a splendid horseman.
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![]() height |
"Very tall for his generation -- over six feet -- with reddish hair and gray-blue eyes,
his face massive, his shoulders narrow for his height but his hands and feet tremendous, George
exuded such masculine power as frightens young women just wakening to the opposite sex."
His half-brother was rather short
4a
MORE.
After his death, Washington's frozen corpse was measured as 6 feet 3.5 inches in length
3a.
The body was 1 foot 9 inches across at the shoulders and at the elbows.
Another reference cites Washington as 6 feet 2 inches tall
9a.
Comment:
A post-mortem frozen height would be greater for at least two reasons: (1) If the corpse
really was frozen, a frozen Washington would be taller because our bodies are 70% water and
because water expands as it freezes -- the only liquid with this property. (2) A laid-out
corpse would be relieved of gravity pressing on the spine. As astronauts know, people "grow"
a few inches when weight on the spine is removed.
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![]() ![]() recurrent dysentery |
In 1755 Washington, then 23, was aide to British General Edmond Braddock, who was to lead an
expedition against the French in Pennsylvania. But, as the army began its 100-mile trek from
Virginia, Washington was ordered to stay behind because he developed severe dysentery
2f.
Ultimately, he followed, riding painfully in a wagon, and caught up with the army near Fort
Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh) on July 8
4c.
On July 9, "the most catastrophic [day] in all Anglo-American history," Washington
was so ill that he had to tie pillows to his saddle in order to ride his horse. As the army
rode through a 12-foot-wide road cleared through the thick woods, the French and their Indian
allies engaged the English, firing unseen from the surrounding trees. The English regulars,
accustomed to fighting on open ground in formation, panicked, and the carnage began. "Braddock
indignantly denied Washington's request to lead troops into the woods and `engage the enemy
in their own way'"
4c.
The officers, perfect targets atop their horses, went down in succession. Washington had
two horses shot out from under him. Braddock crumpled. Washington's hat was shot off. Bullets
tore his coat. Washington was left as the only person able to distribute the wounded general's
orders, and led the retreat. Somehow Washington was then able to ride 40 miles through darkness
to summon reinforcements, though he occasionally had to crawl on his hands and knees to find
the road. He later admitted that the ride left him "in a manner wholly unfit for the execution
of the duty"
4c.
Braddock died, and Washington staggered home to Mount Vernon on July 25, "weak and
feeble"
4c.
He continued to have attacks of fever and dysentery the rest of the year. In 1757 he had a
severe recurrence of dysentery, accompanied by fever and pleurisy. He became "acutely
and dangerously" ill from dysentery (and malaria) in 1761
2e.
Less severe attacks continued
2c.
Tuberculosis of the gut has been blamed for these episodes of "dysentery"
7.
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![]() "gloomy apprehensions" |
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![]() ![]() quinsy |
While the revolutionary army was camped at Morristown, New Jersey in spring 1779, Washington
developed a severe attack of quinsy (an abscess of the tonsils). "He was so weak and feverish
that he feared for his own survival. He instructed General Nathaniel Green to take over if
he failed to survive"
2h.
Comment:
It is unclear how specific was the meaning of the word "quinsy" in the 1700s.
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![]() ![]() sterile |
Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759. He was 26. She was a 28 year old widow
who had borne four children during her eight year marriage to Daniel Custis
10a.
Yet Martha never became pregnant during her 40-year marriage to Washington. Given her previous
fertility, it could well be concluded that the difficulty was not in her but in her husband. However, [Washington,] the magnificent athlete, who possessed in abundance every other physical prowess, could not altogether admit to himself that he was sterile. He believed, even when approaching old age, that if Martha died and he became remarried to a "girl," he might father an heir. In the meanwhile, his lack was a grievous one. 4dGiven the way the Custis children turned out MORE, Washington may have been lucky. The United States may have been lucky, too. The lack of an heir made it difficult to anoint Washington as King, which some elements favored at the time 11a. There is speculation that the lack of an heir made it difficult for Washington to accept an offer of Kingship 9b. Washington's height, sterility, large hands, pockmarks, plus certain personality features and even his dental problems have led to the suggestion he had a syndrome associated with an XYY chromosome karyotype 9c. A geneticist concludes, however, "although there does seem to be a strong case that George Washington was affected with XYY syndrome, the evidence is just not conclusive" 9b. There are also speculations 12 -- dismissed by some 7 -- that Washington had Klinefelter syndrome, which is associated with an XXY karyotype. At least one historian believes that Martha was the cause of the marriage's childlessness 13, but his reasoning is unsupported and arrogant MORE. |
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![]() ![]() "Stallion" |
Was known as "The Potomac Stallion"
4e.
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![]() snored |
Reliability of this information is uncertain.
14
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![]() presbyopia |
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![]() deafness |
Washington's hearing worsened in 1789 to the point where he could not hear ordinary conversation
15.
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![]() ![]() pneumonia |
Washington almost died of pneumonia in 1790. He was unable to function as Chief Executive for
several weeks.
16a
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![]() skin lesion |
On February 25, 1795 Washington wrote a testimonial letter on behalf of a
Dr. James Tate.
The letter described a skin lesion that Tate had treated: I have, myself, experienced the fruits of his skill, in this art; being cured by him of an irritable spot on my right cheek which had for years been increasing in pricking and disagreeable sensations; and in June last assumed the decided character of a Cancer; of which I was perfectly relieved by Doctr. Tate in about two months by an easy course, under the operation of which I felt no confinement, or other inconvenience at that time, nor any injury to my constitution since. 17Modern commentators speculate that the lesion might have been an actinic keratosis which underwent an acute solar degeneration. They also speculate that the treatment was most likely repeated application of an escharotic or paste. 17 |
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![]() teeth |
By middle age Washington had no teeth left. But he did have several sets of dentures, made
from such materials as hippopotamus ivory, seahorse ivory, and lead. Other sets used the teeth
of pigs, cows, elks, and humans
2i
MORE.
Paul Revere made him a set of false teeth
18a.
There is a set of Washington dentures in the University of Maryland Dental Museum in Baltimore
19.
Washington's clumsy, ill-fitting dentures distorted his lips. This contributed to the dour
expression Washington has in various portraits
2j.
Also, painter Gilbert Stuart disliked Washington and accentuated the distortion in what became
the most famous of all Washington portraits
11b.
The Peale portrait of 1776 shows a long scar along Washington's left cheek. This resulted from
an incision to treat an abscessed tooth
2j.
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() epiglottitis, doctors |
No one is quite sure what killed Washington. He was in fine health at age 67 when he contracted
hoarseness and a sore throat a few days after helping to move a snow-mired carriage near his
home. There was little alarm until he awoke in the middle of the night with difficulty breathing,
almost unable to talk. A doctor was summoned, but Washington did not wait, ordering an employee
to bleed him. The doctor arrived and, according to the principles of the day, bled him again.
Eventually, Washington requested no further bleeding be performed, but he was bled again anyway.
First suggested in 1838, most authorities today believe Washington's final illness was
acute bacterial epiglottitis
3
-- an infection of the small tissue flap that plugs the entrance to the lungs during swallowing.
Since the invention of antibiotics, this infection has become rare, but even now its occurrence
is exceedingly serious. When the epiglottis swells (as it will do in response to an infection)
it can block airflow into the lungs -- an obviously fatal outcome.
The bleedings inflicted
by Washington's doctors hastened his end. Some 80 ounces of blood were removed in 12 hours
3
(this is .63 gallons, or about 35% of all the blood in his body).
A British physician of the era, John Reid, estimated that up to 90 ounces had been removed, and
sarcastically remarked that the "current of blood" drained from Washington reflected
the mighty currents of American rivers.
20! Reid also criticized the heavy dosing of calomel plus the administration
of emetics, vinegar vapors, and blistering to a man in his late 60s.
One of the three doctors atteding Washington, Elisha Cullen Dick, objected to continued bleeding,
arguing instead for tracheotomy. Tracheotomy is a surgical procedure recognized today as potentially
life-saving in epiglottitis, but was then almost unworkable. Dick was overruled by the senior
physician, James Craik. "Undoubtedly, the specter of failure with a grisly, painful (in
the absence of anesthesia), and untried surgical experiment on the former president weighed
heavily in Craik's decision to veto this radical suggestion"
3.
(It should also be remembered that "former president" does not begin to describe
Washington's stature. He was the most famous man in the world, for 20 years the pre-eminent
man in American life, and was held in almost religious esteem by his countrymen.)
A detailed
description of Washington's agonizing final hours survives
MORE.
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![]() ![]() proposed reanimation |
A fourth physician, William Thornton, arrived at Mount Vernon on Dec. 15, the day after
after Washington died. Thornton hoped that Washington was in a suspended state, from which
he could be aroused and then treated with tracheotomy.
Thornton "proposed that the
body be thawed gradually, first in cool water and then with warm blankets and rubbing of the
skin, with the subsequent performance of a tracheotomy, artificial respiration at the tracheotomy
site, and transfusion of lamb's blood"
3.
Martha Washington vetoed the plan. Interestingly, Washington had once revived a slave thought
to be dead
3.
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a p. vi (introduction by Philander D. Chase)
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a pp.1-8 b pp.1, 4, 6 (year might have been 1786) c p.4 d p.1 e p.3 f p.2 g pp.3, 4 h pp.4-5 i pp.5-6 j p.6
Comment: Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
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a Tobias Lear recorded these measurements in his journal. He does not say the corpse was frozen.
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a p.8 b p.132 c p.24 d p.42 e p.198 f pp.165-175
Comment: Distillation of Flexner's four-volume biography of Washington published from 1965 to 1972.
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a p.108
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![]() | Comment: Reviews the differential diagnosis of Washington's sterility, and identifies genitourinary tuberculosis as the most probably cause. Fails to consider smallpox as a possible cause. Also identifies enteric tuberculosis as a possible cause of Washington's recurrent "dysentery," and expresses skepticism that he had Klinefelter syndrome. |
![]() | Comment: Checked on 2014-11-29. |
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a p.67 b p.72 c pp.41-74
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a p.16 b p.45
Comment: Maps -- in great detail -- the ancestors and descendants of American presidents through Ronald Reagan. They would have had an exhausting time with President Obama's family tree! MORE
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a pp.13-14 b p.6
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![]() | Comment: Credibility is dubious. Just before a list of Presidents, the article states: "Twenty of the 32 Presidents ... are proved or believed on a thick web of circumstance to have been nocturnal nuisances in the White House." |
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a pp.15-16
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a p.96
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![]() | Comment: Picture of a set of Washington's dentures, complete with springs. |
![]() | Comment: Cites The Medical and Physical Journal 1800;3:473. |
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a pp.38-39
Comment: Widely regarded as the best one-volume biography of Lincoln, covering his entire life.
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![]() | Comment: Part of the "J Street" column. |
![]() | Comment: From the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia. Accessed 17 December 2002 at: http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/articles/wallenborn/index.html |