John F. Kennedy

===Health===
Despite a privileged youth, Kennedy was plagued by childhood diseases, including [[whooping cough]], [[chicken pox]], [[measles]], and ear infections. These ailments compelled him to spend a considerable amount of time [[convalescing]]. Three months prior to his third birthday, in 1920, Kennedy came down with [[scarlet fever]], a highly contagious and life-threatening disease, and was admitted to [[Boston City Hospital]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=32}}<ref name="jfklibrary.org"/>
[[File:John F. Kennedy after spinal surgery cph.3c33052.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Kennedy and Jackie leaving the hospital following his spinal surgery, December 1954]]

During his years at Choate, Kennedy was beset by health problems that culminated with his emergency hospitalization in 1934 at [[Yale New Haven Hospital]], where doctors suspected leukemia.<ref name = "Dallek">{{cite journal|last1=Dallek|first1=Robert|title=The Medical Ordeals of JFK|journal=The Atlantic|date=December 2002|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/the-medical-ordeals-of-jfk/305572/?single_page=true|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801185019/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/the-medical-ordeals-of-jfk/305572/?single_page=true|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> While sick, he became a passionate reader and also a fatalist.{{sfn|Matthews|2011|p=15}} In June 1934, he was admitted to the [[Mayo Clinic]] in Minnesota; the ultimate diagnosis was [[colitis]].<ref name = "Dallek"/> After withdrawing from Princeton University, Kennedy was hospitalized for observation at [[Brigham and Women's Hospital|Peter Bent Brigham Hospital]] in Boston. He then spent the spring of 1936 working as a ranch hand outside [[Benson, Arizona]] under [[Jack Speiden]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=42}}

Years after Kennedy's death, it was revealed that in September 1947, while Kennedy was 30 and in his first term in Congress, he was diagnosed by Sir Daniel Davis at [[The London Clinic]] with [[Addison's disease]]. Davis estimated that Kennedy would not live for another year, while Kennedy hoped he could live for ten.<ref>{{cite episode|title=JFK (Part 1)|series=American Experience|series-link=American Experience|network=[[PBS]]|station=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]|date=November 11, 2013|season=25|number=7|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jfk/|access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=September 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925003921/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jfk/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1966, White House physician [[Janet Travell]] revealed that Kennedy also had [[hypothyroidism]]. The presence of two [[endocrine disease]]s raises the possibility that Kennedy had [[autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2]].<ref name="Mandel, Lee R. 2009 350–354">{{cite journal | author = Mandel, Lee R. | title = Endocrine and Autoimmune Aspects of the Health History of John F. Kennedy | journal = Annals of Internal Medicine | year = 2009 | issue = 5 | pages = 350–354 | pmid = 19721023 | doi = 10.7326/0003-4819-151-5-200909010-00011 | volume = 151 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Kennedy suffered from chronic severe back pain, for which he had surgery. Kennedy's condition may have had diplomatic repercussions, as he appears to have been taking a combination of drugs to treat back pain during the 1961 [[Vienna Summit]]. The combination included hormones, animal organ cells, steroids, vitamins, enzymes, and amphetamines, and possible side effects included hyperactivity, [[hypertension]], impaired judgment, nervousness, and mood swings.{{sfn|Kempe|2011|p=213}} Kennedy at one time was regularly seen by three doctors, one of whom, [[Max Jacobson]], was unknown to the other two, as his mode of treatment was controversial<ref>[http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/dr-feelgood/20251/ New York Sun September 20, 2005: "Dr. Feelgood"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410040218/https://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/dr-feelgood/20251/ |date=April 10, 2019 }} Retrieved July 11, 2011</ref> and used for the most severe bouts of back pain.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=42, 158–159}}

Into late 1961, disagreements existed among Kennedy's doctors concerning the balance of medication and exercise. Kennedy preferred the former because he was short on time and desired immediate relief.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=243}} The president's physician, George Burkley, set up some gym equipment in the White House basement, where Kennedy did stretching exercises thrice weekly.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=244}} Details of these and other medical problems were not publicly disclosed during Kennedy's lifetime.<ref>Online NewsHour with Senior Correspondent [[Ray Suarez]] and physician Jeffrey Kelman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20021122141641/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/jfk_11-18.html "Pres. Kennedy's Health Secrets"], ''[[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]]'' transcript, November 18, 2002</ref> The President's primary White House physician, George Burkley, realized that treatments by Jacobson and Travell, including the excessive use of steroids and amphetamines, were medically inappropriate, and took action to remove Kennedy from their care.<ref name="jfkwhmd">{{cite web|last1=Ghaemi M.D., M.P.H.|first1=Nassir|title=What Jackie Kennedy Didn't Say—and Didn't Know|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mood-swings/201109/what-jackie-kennedy-didnt-say-and-didnt-know|website=Psychology Today|access-date=August 22, 2016|date=September 14, 2011|archive-date=March 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331040111/https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/mood-swings/201109/what-jackie-kennedy-didnt-say-and-didnt-know|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?176034-1/an-unfinished-life-john-f-kennedy-1917-1963 Presentation by Robert Dallek on ''An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963'', May 20, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
In 2002, [[Robert Dallek]] wrote an extensive history of Kennedy's health based on a collection of Kennedy-associated papers from 1955 to 1963, including X-rays and prescription records from Travell. According to Travell's records, during his presidential years Kennedy suffered from high fevers; stomach, colon, and prostate issues; abscesses; high cholesterol; and adrenal problems. Travell kept a "Medicine Administration Record", cataloging Kennedy's medications: <blockquote>injected and ingested corticosteroids for his adrenal insufficiency; procaine shots and ultrasound treatments and hot packs for his back; Lomotil, Metamucil, paregoric, phenobarbital, testosterone, and trasentine to control his diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, and weight loss; penicillin and other antibiotics for his urinary-tract infections and an abscess; and [[Tuinal]] to help him sleep.<ref name = "Dallek"/></blockquote>