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Is there a Doctor in the (White) House?
The Medical Care of our Presidents

Tracing the evolution of the White House Physician illuminates the changing practice of American medicine and the incredible pressures that confront physicians when their patient is the President.

There are no specific criteria for the selection of the White House Physician to ensure that the most qualified and appropriate person is selected for the position. Presidents have chosen their own physicians. Their choice has often been one of convenience, or as the result of friendship, geographical location, or expediency. Rarely has the choice been based solely on professional medical skills and experience.

In reaction to past cover-ups and criticisms of presidential medical treatment, questions have arisen regarding the current system of providing medical care to the President. Does the present system ensure that the President obtains state-of-the-art medical treatment? What can be done to ensure the best medical care?

Many point to the White House Physician as the logical person to determine the President's state of health and ability to carry out the responsibilities of the office. But how can we be sure that the White House Physician is the best person to provide this vital information? Can the public be assured of the White House Physician's objectivity? Should the White House Physician be loyal to the President or to the nation? Can the White House Physician be both?

18th Century Medicine

Physicians associated health with balances among the body's four fluids or "humors" - blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile - and the strength and elasticity of the blood vessels and nerves. The body was healthy when these fluids could freely circulate or be expelled from the body. There was no concept of specific diseases with specific causes and treatments. Doctors focused on their patients' symptoms and provided appropriate therapies. Preference was given to drugs and treatments that had observable results - stimulants such emetics, diuretics, and electricity, and sedatives such as narcotics, cathartics, and bleeding.

19th Century Medicine

Medicine underwent enormous changes in the 19th century. Diagnostic instruments progressed form the invention of the stethoscope in 1816 to the discovery of X-rays in 1895. Concepts of disease were transformed from the humoral theory to precise identification of specific disease-causing microorganisms. By the time of the Civil War, chloroform and ether had been used as anesthetics for almost 20 years. Lister's antiseptic surgical techniques followed the germ theory of Pasteur and the bacteriology of Koch in the latter half of the century.

20th Century Medicine

This century has seen major developments in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The body-imaging of X-rays has been complemented by CAT-scans and MRIs, providing more information on physical changes in the body, while biochemistry and molecular biology have provided new insights into how the body functions. Asepsis (infectious) and antisepsis (lack of infection), fully established by the beginning of the century, have expanded the range of successful surgical procedures, and the discovery of antibiotics such as penicillin in 1945 has helped diminish the threat of infection. New vaccines have made it possible to prevent many former public health hazards such as polio and rabies, and have drastically reduced mortality from childhood diseases.

Former White House Physicians

Robert King Stone, M.D.
Photograph, date unknown
Reproduced from Joshua L. Chamberlain (ed.), Universities and Their Sons... (1902)

Dr. Stone treated president Abraham Lincoln and his family while they were living in the White House.

 

James Craik, M.D.
Portrait, date unknown
Reproduced from James Evelyn Pilcher, The Surgeon Generals of the Army of the United States of America (1905)

During the 18th and most of the 19th centuries there was no physician on duty at the White House. Presidents used family physicians, or solicited treatment from prominent civilian or military physicians whose fees they paid out of their own pocket. Dr. Craik was a personal friend of President George Washington and his family.

 

Brigadier General Jedediah Hyde Baxter
Portrait, date unknown
Reproduced from James Evelyn Pilcher, The Surgeon Generals of the Army of the United States of America (1905)

Dr. Baxter served both Presidents James A. Garfield and Benjamin Harrison. It appears that professional competition and animosity kept his name from being included among the attending surgeons after Garfield was shot. Harrison appointed him Surgeon General of the United States Army in 1890. Often the president's physician was rewarded by being appointed Surgeon General of the Army or Navy. Today presidents continue to rely on military doctors for their treatment.

 

Basil Norris, M.D.
Photograph, date unknown
Reproduced from supplement to Notes and Abstracts, Vol. 11 (1927)

Presidents increasingly began to rely on government medical services in the mid-19th century. This was a custom rather than an officially sanctioned and financed activity that caused some controversy. Dr. Norris was a surgeon in the United States Army who attended Presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant during their terms of office

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