The Mortal Presidency: Illness and Anguish in the White House

By Robert E. Gilbert

Book Overview

Available in a new digital edition with reflowable text suitable for e-readers

The presidency is hazardous to your health. Fully two-thirds of our presidents have died before reaching their life-expectancy- despite being wealthier, better educated, and better cared for that most Americans. In Mortal Presidency, the first complete account of death and illness in the White House, Robert E. Gilbert looks at modern presidents including Coolidge, FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan. He shows- in some cases, for the first time- that all suffered from debilitating medical problems, physical and/or psychological, which they frequently managed to conceal from the public but which, in important ways, affected their political lives. This edition is updated to include a brief look at Presidents Clinton and Bush, both of whom suffered sudden and unpleasant indispositions while in office which to some degree affected their presidencies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823218376
• ISBN13: 9780823218370
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Length: 353 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

I am a grad student at Northeastern University, taking a class on The Presidency with the author of this book, Robert Gilbert. He is amazing and extremly knowledgeable on every aspect of the presidency. My classmates and I alllllll love him and agree that he is one of the best professors we have ever had. Buy his book, and if you have the chance TAKE HIS CLASS!

Intresting for biographies of studied presidents

This book argues that the modern presidency is so stressful that it is a threat to the health of its occupants. After a short chapter on the general mortality rates of presidents, the author gives five fascinating case studies (of Presidents Coolidge, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan). I don't think the author really proves his main premise: in recent times Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan have comfortably exceeded their normal life expectancies, and, for that matter, it looks like Lyndon Johnson was actually kept alive by his presidency. (He looked after himself prudently while in office, but started chain-smoking again and gorged on fried foods after he left. He died four years later.) For all that, however, the case studies are quite fascinating and should be studied by anyone who wishes to know more about any of the men in the case studies. For example, Gilbert shows that, contrary to legend, neither Roosevelt nor Kennedy performed his duties less than well, however poor his health. In short, the book is well worth reading for its biographical detail, but it doesn't really add anything to the debate about reforming the American presidency