'I was with JFK for 11 years, Mr. Sorensen said in an interview, "and
for so many of those I was trying to refute, rebut rumors that he was
suffering from this disability or that, and that's why as a general
rule, if those medical files were placed in the library under very
restrictive conditions by the family, as the family's nominee, I just
couldn't agree that they would be opened to any Tom, DIck or Harry
because I knew a bunch of them would seek to exploit them"
"In JFK File, Hidden Illness, Pain and Pills", by Lawrence K. Altman &
Todd S. Purdim, New York Times, Sunday Nov. 17, 2002, pp 1 & 26.
Earlier in the article:
"While not aware of the exact details of my brother's medical condition,
Mr. (Ed) Kennedy said, 'I did see the great courage he exhibited
throughout his life in triumphing over illness and pain."
A pre-emptive remark on his part? Don't ask Ted why he never disclosed
this stuff after 1963. He didn't know his brother's medical condition.
Reminds me of the golfer Casey Martin who (as quoted in the book that's
not his autobiography) said his own brother of nearly the same age
living in the same small house, and often golfing with him, had no idea
what his leg disability put him through in terms of daily routines which
took much time for being upside-down to drain the swelling, getting the
elastic surgical stocking on, etc.; or Eleanor Roosevelt apparently
being a bit distant from the everyday facts of FDR's disability, as
suggested by her reportedly fleeing in tears when he showed her he'd
trained himself to be able to crawl to his (separate) bedroom door, in
case of a fire in the White House,)
continuing:
"Mr. Dallek first sought permission to examine the records three years
ago. The committee that controls them is led by Burke Marshall, 80, a
former Justice Dept. official under Robert F. Kennedy. The other
members are Mr. Sorensen, 74, and Samuel Beer, 90, an emeritus professor
of government at Harvard.
Mr. Marshall and Professor Beer favored granting Mr. Dallek's request,
he said, but Mr. Sorensen was reluctant."
later;
"'If true, he had remarkably washed out bones at an early age', Dr.
Kelman said. X-rays in the new files showed spinal fractures and metal
screws in the vertebrae (my note: Is that from the very innovative
operation he had?). This is especially intriguing because Kennedy's
autopsy report found 'no significant gross skeletal abnormalities'".....
the article's end:
"... Schlesinger Jr., the historian and Kennedy aide wrote in "A
Thousand days" that he asked Kennedy in 1958 about Addison's and was
told "No one who has the real Addison's disease should run for the
presidency, but I do not have it."
"In an interview this week, Mr. Schlesinger, 85 (my note: the
family-favored historian), said that Kennedy 'did draw a distinction
between true Addison's and broadly construed Addison's', but that he did
not know why. (My comment- article elsewhere says Addison's was
associated with TB. But no record shows him being tested for TB; one of
may things suggesting these records are still grossly incomplete.) He
said he had never been aware of the president's pain, except when he had
been unable to pick up his children, for example. 'I mean, he never
uttered a word of self-pity or complaint,' Mr. Schlesinger said.
Indeed, in one of his most famous presidential epigrams, Kennedy
declared in 1963 "Life is unfair." Most citations omit the words that
followed, 'Some people are sick, and others are well.'"
From paragraph 5:
"The new information shows how far Kennedy went to conceal his ailments
and shatters the image he projected as the most vigorous of men. It is
a remarkable example of a phenomenon seen many times, notably in the
case of Franklin D. Roosevelt."
On page one is a news photo (credit: Lynn Pelham, TImepix) of JFK being
hoisted on a crane with a sort of tent on it, up to the door of his
plane which otherwise is entered by a rolling staircase. Perhaps this
was before airports had those telescoping bridges to go to the planes?)
Caption: "President John F. Kennedy had to be hoisted aboard Air Force
One in 1961. He was known to have back pain, but his ills were more
extensive."
One suspects that one day this picture will appear in some DS text next
to one of FDR speaking at a campaign stop from his car on a stage with a
car-ramp added to it.
On page 26 another picture printed much larger than the others, shows
him using crutches to walk from his limo to a boat, (credit: Associated
Press, 1961).
--
I think the December Atlantic magazine isn't the first one to publish
some of this disability-related info. I seem to recall in Sept? either
Atlantic or Harper's published something that mentioned that JFK had to
be carried up the 2 steps to get into his surgeon's office in New York.
I think this was from another new book that's recently out (Robert
Dallek's book isn't out until next year). And it had info on how this
was very radical new surgery, he was warned against it by more
mainstream doctors; he was warned it might make him more disabled
(enough that it would be plainly visible; presumably a career-ender) and
that his decision to get the operation was thus said to have been
perceived by him as risking all for a small physical benefit, (but a
large career-preservation benefit).
--
Oh, BTW, on the television show "The West Wing", the president's
invisible impairment topic was framed as one of his refusal to disclose
it until he had no choice because others had found out. Not as a
question of public atitudes alone. And he does win re-election. The
issue comes up before a re-election vote, meaning that presumably he was
planning to stall until at least after the voters would no longer ever
again have a crack at him. (After FDR's having been elected 4 times,
presidents are now limited to 2 terms). I didn't see every episode, but
it was about his job's extraordinary duty to disclose things, vs. his
stalling; i.e., at least in the story's partisan political terms, a
dishonesty issue. None of that pesky complexity stuff like "The pubic
saw it, but they didn't see it".
So if you do the pity-rejecting stoic thing, they can hit you with
"dishonesty". If you're honest, they may hit you with the other stuff.
One suspects the whole discussion will devolve into "Nobody's lying and
none of this indicates an ableist social context, because it depends on
what you mean by 'disability'."
The context is also entangled with sexuality (the full medical record
reportedly including treatment for VD as a very young man; which
wouldn't have worked for a candidate in 1960 which was at a peak period
for family-type conformity in the US), which even harkens back to rumors
about FDR having not Polio as he said but instead some sort of paralysis
from alleged VD. Which may place FRD's famous doctor's letter certfying
his health, which he sent to party leaders all over the country before
the nominating convention, in a slightly different light.
Plus ca change.
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