The Health of the First Ladies: Medical Histories from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama

This first comprehensive study of the medical histories of America's first ladies--from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama--discusses their illnesses, their treatments and their physicians in the context of their times. As the categories of illness afflicting Americans have changed through history so have the kinds of maladies affecting the first ladies. Infectious diseases and the consequences of poorly supervised pregnancies have been replaced by cerebrovascular accidents and malignancies. The secrecy with which the White House has traditionally handled inquiries about the health of the president's wife is explored in detail; however, several first ladies, notably Betty Ford, have been transparent about their illnesses in order to educate the public. The effects of a first lady's responsibilities on her health is examined. This book also seeks to discern how the well-being of the first lady influences presidential performance.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword by Dr. Connie Mariano Preface Introduction Part I: Before the Advent of Modern Medicine One. Martha Washington and Dolley Madison: The First First Lady and the First Mistress in the White House Two. Malaria in the White House: Abigail Adams, Sarah Polk and Lucretia Garfield Three. Letitia Tyler: A First Lady Dies in the White House Four. Retiring and Sickly First Ladies in Antebellum Washington: Elizabeth Monroe, Anna Harrison, Margaret Taylor and Abigail Fillmore Five. Depression in the White House: The Sad Stories of Jane Pierce, Louisa Johnson Adams and Mary Todd Lincoln Six. Julia Grant and Lucy Hayes: Healthy, Supportive, Socially Successful and Minimal Political Impact Seven. Tuberculosis: The White Plague Kills Caroline Harrison and Ravages Other First Ladies Part II: The Twentieth Century Eight. Ida McKinley and the Audition of the First White House Physician Nine. Strokes, Stress and Smokes: Nellie Taft and Pat Nixon Ten. Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson’s Two Wives Eleven. Homeopathic Physicians and the Kidney Disease of Florence Harding and Grace Coolidge Twelve. Mamie Eisenhower and Menière’s Disease Thirteen. Obstetrics in the White House: Jackie Kennedy, Frankie Cleveland, Edith Roosevelt and the Second Mrs. Tyler Fourteen. Twentieth Century Stalwarts: Lou Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman and Lady Bird Johnson PART III: MODERN TIMES AND INTO THE TWENTY–FIRST CENTURY Fifteen. Breast Cancer and Other Maladies. Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan Sixteen. Modern-Day First Ladies: Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama Seventeen. The Diseases, Burdens and Confidentiality of First Ladies Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Ludwig M. Deppisch, M.D., is a professor emeritus of pathology, Northeast Ohio Medical University. A native of New York, he lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Review :
“Deppisch has written an extensively detailed book with copious notes. He emphasizes the women’s health during their time in the White House, thus tracing the rise of modern medicine in the U.S. and common health practices from the Revolutionary War to the present...recommended”—Choice; “the first book to comprehensively recount details of the health of the most important person in a president’s life: his spouse”—Johns Hopkins Medicine.