What Happens When Political Leaders Get Sick?

JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy pose at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington with their son, John F. Kennedy Jr., on Dec. 8, 1960. Kennedy was diagnosed with Addison's disease in 1947. Associated Press File Photo / Associated Press
JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy pose at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington with their son, John F. Kennedy Jr., on Dec. 8, 1960. Kennedy was diagnosed with Addison's disease in 1947. Associated Press File Photo / Associated Press

What Happens When Political Leaders Get Sick?

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For days we’ve followed the story of Hillary Clinton concealing her pneumonia. Donald Trump just released another letter attesting to his good health.

But American presidential candidates aren’t the only political leaders who face scrutiny about their health. There is also a long list of presidents and rulers who have hidden an illness from the people they were governing, including democratic politicians such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Tony Blair, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Ariel Sharon, and more.

We take a look at some of the most memorable cases and explore public perceptions about strength and weakness and physical health with Dr. Jerrold Post, professor emeritus of psychiatry, political psychology and international affairs at George Washington University and co-author of When Illness Strikes the Leader: The Dilemma of the Captive King.