The President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at Sea and Vilifies the Courageous Newspaperman Who Dared Expose the Truth

by Matthew Algeo

Overview

An extraordinary yet almost unknown chapter in American history is revealed in this extensively researched exposé. On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland boarded a friend’s yacht and was not heard from for five days. During that time, a team of doctors removed a cancerous tumor from the president’s palate along with much of his upper jaw. When an enterprising reporter named E. J. Edwards exposed the secret operation, Cleveland denied it and Edwards was consequently dismissed as a disgrace to journalism. Twenty-four years later, one of the president’s doctors finally revealed the incredible truth, but many Americans simply would not believe it. After all, Grover Cleveland’s political career was built upon honesty—his most memorable quote was “Tell the truth”—so it was nearly impossible to believe he was involved in such a brazen cover-up. This is the first full account of the disappearance of Grover Cleveland during that summer more than a century ago.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613744567
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/01/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	349,308
Product dimensions:	5.62(w) x 8.44(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Matthew Algeo is an award-winning journalist who has reported from three continents for public radio’s All Things Considered, Marketplace, and Morning Edition. He is the author of Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure and Last Team Standing. He lives in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I The Operation

1 A Rough Spot 5

2 Big Steve 19

3 The Dread Disease 39

4 DR. Keen 63

5 The Oneida 81

Part II The Scoop

6 The Cover-Up 101

7 The Newspaperman 127

8 Exposed 141

9 Liar 155

Part III Vindication

10 Aftermath 177

11 The Truth (At Last) 207

12 Postmortem 217

Acknowledgments 229

Cast of Characters 231

Sources 235

Bibliography 237

Index 243

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[A] breezy, enjoyable book."  —Washington Post

"One of the best non-fiction books of 2011."  —PopMatters.com

"Algeo writes entertainingly, but the themes he develops are serious ones, well worth the attention of serious readers."  —History Book Club

"A lively, cautionary tale—and one with a lesson for leaders that recalls Cleveland's own words of wisdom: Tell the truth."  —Wall Street Journal

"Author Matthew Algeo takes a little known part of presidential history and creates a page-turning ride."  —Associated Press

"Algeo paints a colorful portrait of political intrigue and journalism during the Gilded Age."  —Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

"[A] breezy, enjoyable book."  —Washington Post

"One of the best non-fiction books of 2011."  —PopMatters.com

"Algeo writes entertainingly, but the themes he develops are serious ones, well worth the attention of serious readers."  —History Book Club

"A lively, cautionary tale—and one with a lesson for leaders that recalls Cleveland's own words of wisdom: Tell the truth."  —Wall Street Journal

"Author Matthew Algeo takes a little known part of presidential history and creates a page-turning ride."  —Associated Press


"Algeo paints a colorful portrait of political intrigue and journalism during the Gilded Age."  —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Matthew Algeo's breezy, enjoyable book takes us back to 1893…[and] paints a startling portrait of an era when a politician could simply deny accurate reporting and be given the benefit of the doubt.
—The Washington Post

Mark Berman

Despite a reputation for honesty, says Algeo (Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure), "President Grover Cleveland, like FDR and JFK, went to great lengths to hide an illness from the public. In June 1893, having told the New York Times he was going away for a rest, Cleveland secretly boarded a friend's yacht and disappeared for five days as surgeons onboard removed a cancerous tumor from his mouth and much of his upper jaw. Reporters at the Cleveland's Cape Cod summer home became curious when the Oneida failed to arrive. Within weeks, Philadelphia Press reporter E.J. Edwards revealed the truth in "one of the greatest scoops in... American journalism," but the public accepted the official denials. Maligned by rival newspapers, Edwards was branded as "a disgrace to journalism," his career "seemingly tainted forever by allegations that he had faked the story." But he was vindicated in 1917 when the facts were finally revealed in a Saturday Evening Post article. Along with a solid reconstruction of these events, Algeo paints a colorful portrait of political intrigue and journalism during the Gilded Age. B&w photos. (May)

Publishers Weekly

In 1893, during his second term, President Cleveland went on a yacht trip from New York City without providing details to his cabinet, his vice president, the press, or the public. Cleveland, known for honesty, secretly had a cancerous tumor removed from his jaw. Algeo (Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip) makes good use of primary and secondary sources to give general readers a full history of these circumstances, known to presidential and medical historians but to few others. An investigative journalist who sought to reveal the truth was vilified by the skeptical public; one of the participating physicians published the story in 1917, almost ten years after Cleveland's death. Algeo explains the reasons for Cleveland's discretion: the country was in a financial panic, vice president Adlai Stevenson opposed the President on the matter of hard money policies, and Cleveland did not want to lose the upper hand. VERDICT Algeo's colloquial, even punchy account fills out our understanding of a press-shy President, the day's newspaper rivalries, and the role of First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland. Recommended for those who enjoy popular presidential histories and biographies, the history of U.S. newspaper reporting, and popular medical nonfiction.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress

Library Journal