Medicine: President's Health

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Organs of Head. Eyesight somewhat affected but fairly well corrected by the use of glasses. Difficulty of hearing, probably due to an extension of catarrhal inflammation from the throat into the eustachian tube. Teeth lost, or removed on account of decay.

Endocrine System. Well balanced.

Summary and Conclusions. The health impairment in this case may be considered as affecting especially three systems; namely, the gastrointestinal system, as exemplified by the attacks of dysentery; the circulatory system, as a result of the persistent malaria, and the respiratory system, as shown by the susceptibility to colds in the head, throat and chest. All signs seem to point to the respiratory system as presenting the place of least resistance of the body.

Special Recommendations: "You must remember, Mr. Washington, that you are not as young a man as you once were, and certainly you are not as strong. Remember that you came of a family noted for their short life, their tendency to respiratory troubles, even to consumption.

"You have been through some serious illnesses which were bound to leave their traces; they have impaired your health and lowered your resistance. Your chief weakness is evidently in your respiratory organs. You have a marked susceptibility to colds and to serious inflammation in the head, throat and chest.

"It is our advice that you go in the beginning of the winter to a mild, warm, southern climate and remain through the season. If, however, you elect to remain in your Virginia home on the Potomac, it is important that you take every precaution against catching cold. Be especially careful to avoid undue exposure in cold, wet weather.

"If, in spite of all precaution, a cold happens to develop, then let us particularly advise that you take extraordinary care to keep it from extending or getting worse. In such an event, it is especially important that you do not go out in the cold but that you remain in the warm indoors, take warm drinks, a warm bath and a laxative, and go to bed."

Epilog. Thursday, Dec. 12, 1799, the weather being very bad, rain, hail and snow falling alternately, Washington rode out to his farm as usual, returned with coat and hair wet by snow, and sat down to dinner without changing his clothes. Next day he showed signs of a cold. His throat was hoarse. Washington, answering remonstrances: "I never take anything for a cold. Let it go as it came."

Everyone knows the rest: the swift, relentless progress of the disease, the evidence of a streptococcic infection, the edematous swelling of the larynx, the painful swallowing, the labored breathing and the agonizing death from suffocation.