George Washington's Tumor Surgery
After three weeks of current events, I find myself jonesing for some history. I know this seems like an odd and dour subject for a series of posts, but I found myself thinking about times when sitting presidents found themselves challenged in the performance of their duties because of serious health challenges. Examples of this can be found in Eisenhower's heart attack, Chester Alan Arthur's kidney ailment, Grover Cleveland's cancer, Nixon's phlebitis, and Reagan's recovery from a gunshot wound. (There are probably other examples I'm forgetting about, please feel free to mention any you think of in a comment.) Probably the first incident of this occurred during the early part of George Washington's first administration in an incident described by authors David and Jeanne Heidler in their recent book Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President.
Washington was inaugurated as the first President on April 30, 1789. He took the first presidential oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City. At that time the capitol was located in New York City and Washington left his home in Mount Vernon, Virgina, to take up residence in the new capitol city. As with most of the early presidents, Washington was besieged with office seekers, especially in the early days of his administration. To try and relax and get some exercise, his favorite activity was long horseback rides.
In mid-June of 1789, Washington developed an irritation on his left buttock that began as a minor saddle-sore and became a painful and infected boil. According to the authors, the injury was reported to be on Washington's upper thigh in an effort to preserve "Presidential dignity". As the infection became more serious, a "very large tumor" developed, and along with it came a fever which robbed Washington of much of his energy and apparently became life-threatening. Doctors diagnosed the malady as cutaneous anthrax, also known as Hide Porter's disease. It manifests as a black circle in the center of flaming red skin. Without proper treatment, the condition can lead to toxemia and death.
In 1789 "proper treatment" had a different meaning than it does today. Washington's doctors were concerned about the fever and also about the mass of the tumor which they describe as being the size of "two fists". They recommended surgery immediately. The authors of Washington's Circle describe the surgery as follows at page 73:
Two physicians, a father and a son, came to the bedroom at Cherry Street on June 17, 1789, to conduct a procedure more resembling a butcher's job than a doctor's. After a brief preparation, the son's scalpel commenced cutting away the infected mass, but there seemed no end to it, and the initial cut turned into a wholesale excavation. Washington had no anesthesia, but neither flinched nor made a sound. The father knew that leaving in place any trace of infection would make the operation pointless, so he finally blurted out as his son paused, "Cut away - deeper, deeper still!" The son continued slicing. "Don't be afraid," the father exclaimed, not to Washington, but to his son; he glanced at the President, certainly in amazement, and said "You see how well he bears it!"
Towards the end of the month Washington's fever had broke and his appetite returned. He could not sit normally for weeks and had difficulty sleeping. His left side was tender and his right side became numb. The block in front of Washington's residence was roped off to block horse and carriage traffic and straw was spread on the sidewalks to deaden the sound of pedestrian footsteps. In July Washington gradually eased himself back into a work schedule and later into a social schedule. He was concerned that false rumors of his health would spread so he made public appearances in a carriage fitted with a mattress and began seeing visitors primarily for the purpose of stopping the spread of rumors about his having one foot in the grave. This was important because, as James Madison is reported to have later said about the incident, "his death at this precise moment would have brought on another crisis in our affairs."
Fortunately the worst did not come to pass. Washington regained his health, completed his term and another one after that and was able to resume horseback riding. Just over a decade later, in December of 1799 Washington would once again suffer health problems following a horseback ride, one which would claim his life.
Washington was inaugurated as the first President on April 30, 1789. He took the first presidential oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City. At that time the capitol was located in New York City and Washington left his home in Mount Vernon, Virgina, to take up residence in the new capitol city. As with most of the early presidents, Washington was besieged with office seekers, especially in the early days of his administration. To try and relax and get some exercise, his favorite activity was long horseback rides.
In mid-June of 1789, Washington developed an irritation on his left buttock that began as a minor saddle-sore and became a painful and infected boil. According to the authors, the injury was reported to be on Washington's upper thigh in an effort to preserve "Presidential dignity". As the infection became more serious, a "very large tumor" developed, and along with it came a fever which robbed Washington of much of his energy and apparently became life-threatening. Doctors diagnosed the malady as cutaneous anthrax, also known as Hide Porter's disease. It manifests as a black circle in the center of flaming red skin. Without proper treatment, the condition can lead to toxemia and death.
In 1789 "proper treatment" had a different meaning than it does today. Washington's doctors were concerned about the fever and also about the mass of the tumor which they describe as being the size of "two fists". They recommended surgery immediately. The authors of Washington's Circle describe the surgery as follows at page 73:
Two physicians, a father and a son, came to the bedroom at Cherry Street on June 17, 1789, to conduct a procedure more resembling a butcher's job than a doctor's. After a brief preparation, the son's scalpel commenced cutting away the infected mass, but there seemed no end to it, and the initial cut turned into a wholesale excavation. Washington had no anesthesia, but neither flinched nor made a sound. The father knew that leaving in place any trace of infection would make the operation pointless, so he finally blurted out as his son paused, "Cut away - deeper, deeper still!" The son continued slicing. "Don't be afraid," the father exclaimed, not to Washington, but to his son; he glanced at the President, certainly in amazement, and said "You see how well he bears it!"
Towards the end of the month Washington's fever had broke and his appetite returned. He could not sit normally for weeks and had difficulty sleeping. His left side was tender and his right side became numb. The block in front of Washington's residence was roped off to block horse and carriage traffic and straw was spread on the sidewalks to deaden the sound of pedestrian footsteps. In July Washington gradually eased himself back into a work schedule and later into a social schedule. He was concerned that false rumors of his health would spread so he made public appearances in a carriage fitted with a mattress and began seeing visitors primarily for the purpose of stopping the spread of rumors about his having one foot in the grave. This was important because, as James Madison is reported to have later said about the incident, "his death at this precise moment would have brought on another crisis in our affairs."
Fortunately the worst did not come to pass. Washington regained his health, completed his term and another one after that and was able to resume horseback riding. Just over a decade later, in December of 1799 Washington would once again suffer health problems following a horseback ride, one which would claim his life.