Corona Daily 308: Founding Father’s Flu

Illnesses of American presidents often change the course of history.

George Washington, the founding father, managed to experience malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, dysentery, boils, loss of teeth (because he tried to break almonds) deafness, infertility, tonsillitis, depression, skin lesions, epiglottis and other ailments. We must remember Washington lived in the 18th century when illness was a default health setting. An accomplished horse rider and a fantastic dancer, Washington was fitter than this list suggests.

In 1789, an influenza epidemic started in New York, the temporary capital of the newly formed nation. Washington escaped the first wave. However, in late spring 1790, during the second wave, he “imprudently” set up a meeting with his advisor, James Madison. Two days later, Washington had difficulty breathing, sharp pains in the side, harsh coughing and blood in his spittle. Flu later combined with pneumonia.

Washington is the only US president not to have lived in the White House. (It was built after his death). When his health seriously deteriorated, a top doctor was smuggled into his house to avoid panic. But the grapevine was strong and people began speculating about his health. Washington’s personal secretary ran the government for a few weeks. In May, Washington took a turn for the better. He remained a president for another seven years, and died in 1799.

In 1790, the new constitution had no provisions for the incapacitation or death of a president. Historians believe Washington’s death in 1790 would have meant the United States dying along with him. The nation was still in its infancy.  

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In 1919, Woodrow Wilson caught the Spanish Flu. He still went for the critical post WWI negotiations to Paris. At the negotiating table, he had a high temperature, labored breathing, was disoriented and suffered hallucinations. His doctor lied telling the press the president had caught a cold from the Paris rains.

The French demanded war reparations, and military buffer zones with Germany. In his delirious state, Wilson accepted demilitarization of Rhineland and agreed to the French occupying it at least for the next fifteen years. The Treaty of Versailles negotiated by Wilson was so harsh and one-sided; it fuelled angry German nationalism, and contributed to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Back home, the ill president began campaigning for the League of Nations (predecessor to the UN). In September, he suffered a massive stroke and was paralyzed on the left side. His wife secretly became the de-facto president. Congress rejected the League of Nations. A healthy president might have succeeded in forming the League and avoided another world war.

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During the Second World War, Franklin Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill were expected to meet to create a strategy to bring peace and freedom to Europe and the world. Stalin was paranoid about flying; he took only one flight in his entire life. He claimed his doctor didn’t allow him to travel to the USA.

Roosevelt, paralyzed with polio (which he always tried to hide), weak with congestive heart trouble, and with blood pressure 260/150 flew 6000 miles to Yalta, a resort in Crimea. In the negotiations Stalin managed to grab parts of Poland and bring chunks of Asia under the Soviet sphere, by promising free and fair democracies in those nations. Roosevelt went home and boasted of achieving global peace. Roosevelt was so weak; he gave the speech sitting down.

It may sound incredible but Stalin was a much bigger liar than Trump. He reneged on all his commitments, installed a Communist government in Warsaw. He accused the USA and UK of making a secret pact with the Nazis. The division of Europe and the Cold War began. Roosevelt died two months after the Yalta conference.

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Ravi