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Health and Medical History of President Richard NixonPresident #37: 1969-1974
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This style... | ... means the event occurred while President. |
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![]() ![]() ![]() 1960 debate |
It's widely acknowledged that Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election to
John Kennedy
because of his physical appearance during a television debate with JFK. According to Don Hewett,
who produced the televised debate, Nixon looked bad that day on television for several reasons:
(1) Nixon had a staphylococcal infection at the time, (2) Nixon "smacked his
knee" in the studio and was in pain, (3) After Kennedy declined to have make-up applied,
Nixon declined, too, fearing the consequences if it became known that he had accepted make-up
when Kennedy had not. To cover his five o'clock shadow, Nixon instead had one of his people
smear a product of dubious quality, known as "Shave Stick," on his face
1.
MORE
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![]() phlebitis |
Episode of phlebitis in left leg during a trip to Japan in 1965
2.
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![]() smoked pipe |
Habitually smoked a pipe (when meeting with
Gerald Ford,
at least)
3a.
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![]() psychology |
Psychological problems while president, in wake of Watergate scandal
4
It is widely believed that Nixon ordered US military forces to DEFCON 3 during the Arab-Israeli
war of 1973 to warn the Soviet Union that American vital interests were at stake. In fact,
the National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, gave the order alone (which included launch
of nuclear-armed B-52 bombers to airborne holding points). Nixon was indisposed, having "sufferred
something like a nervous breakdown, telling Kissinger that he was being attacked [by his critics
in the worsening Watergate scandal] 'because of their desire to kill the President. And they
may succeed. I may physically die.'"
5a
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![]() psychology |
Enormous pressure bore on Nixon during the protracted Watergate investigations.
At one point he told visiting lawmakers: "I can go into my office and pick up
the telephone and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead."
This prompted California Senator Alan Cranston to call Defense Secretary
James R. Schlesinger about "the need for keeping a berserk President from
plunging us into a holocaust."
6a
In Nixon's final days as President, Schlesinger instructed the military to
double-check attack orders from the White House with him or with Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger
7.
It has been correctly stated that "This was an unambiguously illegal circumvention
of the president's authority. But everyone should be grateful Schlesinger acted."
7
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![]() ![]() eye blinking |
"Furious [eye] blinking" was exhibited by Nixon during his speech resigning the Presidency.
Mentally unpleasant or uncomfortable situations are known to increase blink rate. Psychologist
Joseph Tecce of Boston College has called this the "Nixon effect" precisely because
of Nixon's speech
8.
Dr. Zebra also remembers the sweat on Nixon's upper lip during the speech. A commentator
at the time said it was a chronic problem for Nixon, but in this case no attempt was made to
disguise it.
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![]() despondent |
Gerald Ford
described Nixon's immediate post-White House mental status: "I was hearing that he was
terribly distraught. I don't know whether you could call it irrational, [but] he was despondent,
had an unhealthy state of mind. I heard that." Ford further elaborated that he had heard
Nixon was exhibiting "general despondency, distressed attitude," but could not recall
(this seems to have been 1994) whether he'd heard that Nixon was suicidal
3b.
About this time, the Secretary of Defense, James Schlesinger, told the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff to get his (Schlesinger's) approval before executing "any emergency order
coming from the president"
9a.
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![]() ![]() clot and pulmonary embolism |
In September 1974 (the month after leaving the Presidency and returning to California), developed
left leg enlargement, tenderness in the left calf and thigh, and episodic shortness of breath.
Was admitted to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where he was anti-coagulated with heparin, and
where lung scans "showed evidence of pulmonary embolism in the right lung." He was
discharged on coumadin.
2
On October 23, he had groin pain and persistent left leg enlargement. He was re-admitted
to the hospital. A retrograde venogram showed a clot extending into the left iliac vein. On
October 29
Dr. Eldon Hickman
performed a one-hour operation, clipping the vein above the clot.
2
The remainder of the hospital course was difficult. About six hours post-operatively, Nixon
stood up to urinate and fainted. Fearing a bleed, his anti-coagulation was stopped and reversed
(with vitamin K) and he was given three units of packed red cells. Platelets and more red cells
were given in the days to come. Nixon developed a large hematoma in the flank, and a left pleural
effusion (felt secondary to the bleed).
2
Comment:
Thus, Nixon had the Grey Turner sign of retroperitoneal hemorrhage.
When discharged on November 14, he had lost 15 pounds, was depressed, and tired.
2
In his Sept. 8 speech granting Nixon's pardon,
President Ford
cited the threat to Nixon's health as part of the justification for the pardon
3c.
Ford visited Nixon in the hospital in October
3d.
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![]() ![]() ![]() chronically ill |
In November 1974, i.e. very soon after the complicated hospital admission described above,
there was a possibility Nixon would have to testify in court in Washington. The judge sent
three physicians to evaluate whether this was medically reasonable.
2
On Nov. 25, the physicians found Nixon unsteady on his feet, quiet, subdued, and appearing
chronically ill. Nixon told "how awful the intravenous Heparin therapy" had been
in the hospital. He took one or two short walks each day, still had pain in his leg, had difficulty
concentrating, had noticed a change in personality, had a poor appetite, and was sleeping 12
hours a day (never sleeping more than 7 previously). The physicians examined him (see
2
for findings).
The physicians concluded that Nixon could clearly not travel, and could not even give a
deposition at his home for another 6 weeks.
2
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![]() phenytoin use? |
For many years, and at great expense, financier Jack Dreyfus has been touting the the anti-seizure
drug phenytoin for many indications besides seizures. "Dreyfus recently made news when
a biography of Richard M. Nixon reported that the financier gave the drug to Nixon. The Nixon
family disputed the report."
10
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![]() ![]() stroke |
hemorrhagic or thrombotic?
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In Congress (maybe) | After Presidency |
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Ampres Series
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Kansas Series
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a p.35 b p.104 c p.45 d p.102
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a p.227; the DEFCON 3 alert happened on Oct. 24, and the Watergate "Saturday Night Massacre" had been Oct. 20. DEFCON 3 is the highest peacetime state of alert.
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a p.289
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![]() | Comment: Available on the web at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/01/no-president-should-have-absolute-authority-launch-nuclear-weapons/ |
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a p.360 b pp.358-359
Comment: Fantastic book that tells a gripping, almost unbelievable story. Was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
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a p.430 b p.480 c p.567
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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