Dwight D. Eisenhower

=== Health issues ===
Eisenhower began [[chain smoking]] cigarettes at West Point, often three or four packs a day. He joked that he "gave [himself] an order" to stop [[cold turkey]] in 1949. However, [[Evan Thomas]] says the true story was more complex. At first, he removed cigarettes and [[ashtray]]s, but that did not work. He told a friend:
<blockquote>I decided to make a game of the whole business and try to achieve a feeling of some superiority&nbsp;... So I stuffed cigarettes in every pocket, put them around my office on the desk&nbsp;... [and] made it a practice to offer a cigarette to anyone who came in&nbsp;... while mentally reminding myself as I sat down, "I do not have to do what that poor fellow is doing."<ref>{{cite book|first=Evan|last=Thomas|title=Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World|url=https://archive.org/details/ikesbluffpreside0000thom|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/ikesbluffpreside0000thom/page/175 175]|year=2012|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=978-0316217279|access-date=April 28, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

He was the first president to release information about his health and medical records while in office, but people around him deliberately misled the public about his health. On September 24, 1955, while vacationing in [[Colorado]], he had a serious heart attack. While [[Convalescence|convalescing]] at [[Fitzsimons Army Medical Center|Building 500]]<ref>Newton, ''Eisenhower'' pp. 196–199.</ref> [[Howard McCrum Snyder]], his personal physician, misdiagnosed the symptoms as [[indigestion]], and failed to call in help that was urgently needed. Snyder later falsified his own records to cover his blunder and to allow Eisenhower to imply that he was healthy enough to do his job.<ref>Clarence G. Lasby, ''Eisenhower's Heart Attack: How Ike Beat Heart Disease and Held on to the Presidency'' (1997) pp. 57–113.</ref><ref>Robert P. Hudson, "Eisenhower's Heart Attack: How Ike Beat Heart Disease and Held on to the Presidency (review)" ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'' 72#1 (1998) pp. 161–162 [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/4010 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429000309/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/4010 |date=April 29, 2017 }}.</ref><ref>R.H. Ferrell, ''Ill-Advised: Presidential Health & Public Trust'' (1992), pp. 53–150</ref>

The heart attack required six weeks' hospitalization, during which time Nixon, Dulles, and [[Sherman Adams]] assumed administrative duties and provided communication with the president.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1984|p=272}}</ref> He was treated by [[Paul Dudley White]], a [[Cardiology|cardiologist]] with a national reputation, who regularly informed the press of the president's progress. His physician recommended a second presidential term as essential to his recovery.<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|1984|p=281}}</ref>

As a consequence of his heart attack Eisenhower developed a left ventricular [[aneurysm]], which caused a mild stroke during a cabinet meeting on November 25, 1957, when Eisenhower suddenly found himself unable to move his right hand or to speak. The president also suffered from [[Crohn's disease]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Butler Criticizes Illness Reports: Says News Has Been Handled in Terms of Propaganda—Hagerty Denies It |first=Richard J. H. |last=Johnston |work=The New York Times |date=June 13, 1956 |page=32A |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/113576174/ |quote=Paul M. Butler, the Democratic National Chairman,&nbsp;... declared that the physicians who operated on and attended the President in his most recent illness 'have done a terrific job of trying to convince the American people that a man who has had a heart attack and then was afflicted with Crohn's disease is a better man physically.' He added: 'Whether the American people will buy that, I don't know.' |access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=President's Heart Reported Sound; Surgery Is Indicated: Inflamed, Obstructed, Intestine Is Blamed |last=Clark |first=Robert E |work=Atlanta Daily World |date=June 9, 1956 |page=1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/491087844/ |access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref> which necessitated surgery for a bowel obstruction on June 9, 1956.<ref>{{cite news |title=President Undergoes Surgery on Intestine Block at 2:59 A.M.: Doctors Pronounce It Success : Condition Is Good: Operation Lasts Hour and 53 Minutes–13 Attend Him |first=Anthony |last=Leviero |work=The New York Times |date=June 9, 1956 |page=1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/113808030/ |quote=President Eisenhower was operated on at 2:59 A.M. today for relief of an intestinal obstruction. At 4:55 A.M., the operation was pronounced a success by the surgeons.&nbsp;... The President's condition was diagnosed as ileitis. This is an inflamation of the ileum—the lowest portion of the small intestine, where it joins the large intestine.&nbsp;... The President first felt ill shortly after midnight yesterday. He had attended a dinner of the White House News Photographers Association Thursday night and had returned to the White House at 11. Mrs. Eisenhower called Maj. Gen. Howard McC. Snyder, the President's personal physician, at 12:45 A.M. yesterday, telling him the President had some discomfort in his stomach. He recommended a slight dose of milk of magnesia. At 1:20 Mrs. Eisenhower called again, saying the President was still complaining of not feeling well. This time she asked Dr. Snyder to come to the White House from his home about a mile away on Connecticut Avenue. He arrived at 2 A.M. and has not left the President's side since. |access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref> To treat the intestinal block, surgeons bypassed about ten inches of his [[small intestine]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Eisenhower Out Of Danger; Will Be Able To Resume Duties And Seek Reelection: Doctors See Prospect of Full Return to Job in Four to Six Weeks: Operation Performed to Prevent Gangrene of Bowel: Signing of Official Papers Viewed as Likely by Tomorrow or Tuesday | last=Knighton | first=William Jr. |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=June 10, 1956 |page=1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/541066565/ |access-date=December 22, 2016 }}</ref> His scheduled meeting with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was postponed so he could recover at his farm.<ref>{{cite news |title=Out of Hospital Visit Postponed |work=The New York Times |date=July 1, 1956 |page=E2 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/113842058/ |access-date=December 22, 2016 }}</ref> He was still recovering from this operation during the Suez Crisis. Eisenhower's health issues forced him to give up smoking and make some changes to his diet, but he still drank alcohol. During a visit to England, he complained of dizziness and had to have his blood pressure checked on August 29, 1959; however, before dinner at prime ministerial manor house [[Chequers]] on the next day his physician, General Howard Snyder, recalled that Eisenhower "drank several [[Gin and tonic|gin-and-tonics]], and one or two gins on the rocks&nbsp;... three or four wines with the dinner".<ref>Williams, Charles ''Harold Macmillan'' (2009) p. 345</ref>

Eisenhower's health during the last three years of his second term in office was relatively good. After leaving the White House, he suffered several additional and ultimately crippling heart attacks.<ref name="drzebra">{{cite web|url=http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g34.htm|title=President Dwight Eisenhower: Health & Medical History|publisher=doctorzebra.com|access-date=January 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117084840/http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g34.htm|archive-date=January 17, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> A severe heart attack in August 1965 largely ended his participation in public affairs.<ref name=post/> On December 12, 1966, his [[gallbladder]] was removed, containing 16 [[gallstone]]s.<ref name="drzebra" /> After Eisenhower's death in 1969, an autopsy revealed an undiagnosed adrenal [[pheochromocytoma]],<ref>Messerli F. H., Loughlin K. R., Messerli A. W., Welch W. R.: The President and the pheochromocytoma. ''Am J Cardiol'' 2007; 99: 1325–1329.</ref> a [[benign]] adrenalin-secreting tumor that may have made him more vulnerable to [[Cardiovascular disease|heart disease]]. Eisenhower suffered seven heart attacks from 1955 until his death.<ref name="drzebra" />