Health Leader - Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland: Secret surgery performed on presidential yacht

STORY BY

Shannon Rasp

Politics aside, American presidential history is full of surprising medical facts. Every week until the election, Health Leader will focus on the medical histories of a variety of presidents. This week, we will learn more about Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States.

Grover Cleveland liked many things – including beer, good food and cigars. His fondness for them resulted in gout, obesity and oral cancer.

Although overweight and suffering from gout in his right foot, Cleveland remained active and in relatively good health until 1893. At age 56, he complained to his doctor of pain in the left side of the roof of his mouth, where he chewed his cigars before inhaling the smoke as deeply as his lungs could hold.

Soon diagnosed with cancer, Cleveland and his doctors hid the news from the public. A secret operation to remove the cancer took place aboard Cleveland’s yacht while anchored in Long Island Sound on July 1. Doctors excised the lesion in the roof of the mouth, using the utmost care to not leave any telltale scars, but the cancer necessitated removing part of the president’s upper left jaw and hard palate, using a cheek retractor the president’s doctor had bought in Paris. The operation, while a success, left the president’s mouth disfigured.

“I would guess that President Cleveland’s surgery site was packed with gauze to allow him to speak and swallow without fluids leaking out his nose, and it was allowed to heal somewhat on its own, since at the time there were no antibiotics or grafting procedures,” says Robert Engelmeier, DDS, assistant professor of prosthodontics at The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. “He was surely given heavy opiates for pain, but Cleveland had to have been a tough guy with a good basic constitution to have endured the procedure. Everything from the anesthesia and surgical technique to the wound care and pain control were pretty primitive by our modern standards.”

Yachts and vulcanite

Sixteen days later, another shipboard operation took place in which the president was fitted with a hard prosthesis that restored his appearance and corrected his speech. “The appliance was actually made of vulcanite, which is what was the base material for dentures at the time,” says Engelmeier. “I’m sure they had to make multiple appliances for him as he healed, as vulcanite couldn’t be modified like modern acrylics.

“Today, a surgical obturator – a simple acrylic plate – would be wired or screwed into his mouth to cover the defect during the surgery,” explained Engelmeier. “It would support the medicated packing, enable him to swallow fluids, and speak. It also would lessen the pain and protect the wound. About 10 days later, he would be fitted with a new plate that would include any necessary false teeth. After about six months, he would finally be fitted with a final appliance that would consist of a metal framework and acrylic similar to a removable partial denture.”

A suspicious press was told that Cleveland had had two rotten teeth removed, and for the next 25 years the secret was kept. It was only in 1917, when one of the surgeons on board the yacht published an article detailing the surgeries, that the truth was known.

Cleveland left office for the final time in 1897. As far as we know, he never experienced another bout with cancer. He also never gave up his cigars, beer or rich food. Cleveland died at 71, on June 24, 1908.

Share your thoughts:

Send us your questions for the experts, comments or suggestions.

Last Updated: 9-04-2008

Follow us on:

Presidential Illnesses:

Health Tip:

Packing Bag Lunches Safely

If you pack lunches for your child to take to school, be careful that you do not accidentally expose them to foodborne illness.

Bagged lunches, especially those containing perishable foods, need to be packed and handled properly in order to keep the food safe. In general, perishable foods should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. If left out too long, the temperature of the food can enter the danger zone where bacteria grow most rapidly, which is between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Below are some tips to help families pack bagged lunches safely:

Pack foods that are nonperishable and won't require refrigeration.
If you do pack perishable foods such as luncheon meats or prepackaged cheese and crackers, include a frozen gel pack or a frozen juice carton with the food in an insulated lunch bag or box.
Pack only the amount of perishable food that your child can eat at lunch.
Preparing lunches the night before and storing them in the refrigerator until you pack your child's lunchbox in the morning can help keep food cold longer the next day.
Don't reuse packaging materials such as paper or plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc. as they can contaminate other foods and cause foodborne illness. Have your child discard all used food packaging and paper bags after lunch.

Before eating lunch or snacks at school, make sure your child washes his or her hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If your child's school does not have a handwashing program in place, encourage them to adopt a such a program, as handwashing is one of the best ways kids and parents can protect health and stop the spread of germs.