surgery account article, 209–16
surgery cover–up revelation and, 148, 149–50
as surgical team member, 63–64, 84, 87, 90, 91, 93, 94, 117
Keller, Friedrich Gottlob, 133
kidney disease, 56, 87, 114
Klondike gold rush, 194
labor unions, 180–81, 186–90
Lamont, Daniel S.
as Cleveland’s private secretary, 33, 33–34
Cleveland surgery and recovery planning, 53, 54, 55, 74
death, 210
meeting Benedict, 101–2
O’Reilly and, 61
postoperative cover–up, 105–6, 107–8, 112, 114–15, 116, 148
storm relief response, 168
surgery day, 88, 90
travel day, 83, 84
laughing gas (nitrous oxide), 87–88, 90, 91
legal training conventions, 22
letters of recommendation, 14–15
Lewelling, Lorenzo, 119
Leyendecker, J. C., 213
Liberal Republicans, 157
Lincoln, Abraham, 56, 75, 156
Lister, Joseph, 68, 69–70
Lorimer, George Horace, 211–12
MacDonald, Carlos, 78, 127–28, 142
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Crane), 139
Maine (battleship), 81
“Ma! Ma! Where’s My Pa?” (song), 37
mantras, 30
March, Alden, 215
Marshall, Thomas, 57
mayoral positions, 30–31
McClure, Alexander K., 155–64, 203, 215–16
McKinley, William, 192, 193, 193, 208, 209
McLaughlin, Frank, 156
medical schools, 67–68, 72
medicines, 40, 42, 152–53
metal detectors, 60
meteors, 166
Miller, Judith, 204
Mills, Roger, 203
modesty conventions, 170
money debates, 10–13, 51–52, 121–22, 192. See also Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Morgan, J. P., 190–91
Mott, Frank Luther, 133, 134, 158
moustaches, 75–76, 77
muckraking, 137
mudsill, 83–84
mugwumps, 37
Mütter Museum, 223
names, baby, 50, 172
National Cordage Company, 15
nephritis, 87
Nevins, Allan, 197
Newcomb, Simon, 60
Newspaper Row, 132
newspapers. See also press; specific names of newspapers
battles between, 158–64, 161
as Cleveland supporters, 135–36, 157–58
disaster relief donations, 169
header styles, 144
newsroom descriptions, 132, 133
news transmission and paper distribution, 134
New York competition, 129–32, 134–37
Philadelphia competition, 137–39, 155–58
popularity and circulation, 133, 134–35
printing technology, 133–34
reporters, descriptions of, 130–33
writing styles and conventions, 130–31, 134, 135, 158
New York Evening Post (newspaper), 48
New York Evening Sun (newspaper), 136–37
New York Institute for the Blind, 20
New York Mail and Express (newspaper), 204
New York Stock Exchange, 15, 178
New York Sun (newspaper), 129, 130–33, 135, 136–37
New York Times (newspaper), 158, 204
New York Tribune (newspaper), 158, 178
New York World (newspaper), 134–36, 150, 169
Niagara Falls stunts, 93
nitrous oxide (N2O)2 87–88, 90, 91
O’Brien, Robert Lincoln
on Cleveland’s postoperative personality change, 185–86
on Cleveland’s pre–surgery condition, 74
on Cleveland’s working arrangements, 13
postoperative cover–up, 107, 108–9, 112, 115, 116
obstetrics, 170–71
obturators, 115–16
Ochs, Adolph, 215, 216
office seekers, 14–15, 84, 86
O’Hanlon, Virginia, 131
Olney, Richard, 113–14, 188
Oneida (yacht)
crew, 79, 89, 150
deck view with Cleveland and Benedict, 87
history of, 85, 85, 221
second surgery location, 117
as surgery location, 55, 79, 88–89, 97, 104, 105
One Thousand Beards (Peterkin), 77
O’Reilly, Robert M.
background, 61
death, 210
as surgical team member, 53, 55, 78, 84, 91, 117
as White House physician, 17, 61–62
Origin of Species, The (Darwin), 66
Palmer, John, 193
Pan–American Medical Congress, 153
“Panic–Monger’s Degradation, The” (Philadelphia Times article), 159
Panic of 1893
Cleveland’s inaugural speech on, 8–9
Cleveland’s popularity and, 191
currency debates, overview, 10–13, 184
financial crisis and bankruptcies, 5–6, 12–13, 15, 81, 118–19
paternalism opposition, 8, 119, 168, 184
relief programs, 119–20
robber barons during, 198
shantytowns, 83–84
suicides, 177–80
unemployment, 119
union organizations and strikes, 180–81, 186–90
vagrancy, 83–84, 119
paper banknotes, 11–12
papermaking technology, 133
Park Row (Churchill), 129, 130
partying pastimes, 23
Pasteur, Louis, 69
paternalism, 8, 119, 168, 184
paternity scandals, 27–28, 35–36
patronage, 14
Peary, Robert, 81
Pendleton Act, 14, 136
Perkins, Edwin, 177–80
Perkins, Hosea, 177–78
Perry, Charles, 179–80
Peterkin, Allan, 77
Peterson, Charles, 89, 150
Philadelphia Inquirer (newspaper), 161, 226
Philadelphia Press (newspaper)
on confidential source protection, 204
correspondents for, 138–39
Curtis purchase of, 216
founding and history, 137–38
newspaper competition, 155
Sugar Trust scandal article, 199–200
surgery revelation article, 144–48, 145
surgery revelation discredit and response, 158–64, 161
Philadelphia Public Ledger (newspaper), 150, 216
Philadelphia Times (newspaper), 155–64, 161, 215, 216
physicians
female patients and modesty conventions, 170–71
and obstetrics, 170–71
selection of White House, 58–62
surgical team, 63–64, 77, 78, 84–93
Plame, Valerie, 204
Post Office Department fraud, 136
Pott, Percivall, 41
pregnancy, 104
presidential campaigns
Cleveland’s first term, 34–38
Cleveland’s reelection attempt, 49–52
Cleveland’s second term, 51–52
running mate selection practices, 52
“President is a Very Sick Man, The” (Philadelphia Press article), 144–48, 145
presidents. See also names of specific presidents
assassinations of, 14, 30, 59–61
cancer and, 15–17, 39–44, 197, 225–26, 227–28
facial hair of, 75
illness concealment of, 56–58, 164
pensions, 194
physician selection and health care quality, 58–62
transfer of power procedures, 54
press. See also newspapers
Cleveland’s relationship with, 36, 48–49, 196
and
First Lady’s pregnancy, 104
Grant’s cancer coverage, 42
Sugar Trust scandal, 197–205
surgery cover–up, 84, 96–97, 103–9, 111–14, 117, 148–52
surgery revelation, 142–48, 147
surgery revelation discredit and rebuttal battles, 158–65, 161
Preston, Thomas J., 210–11
Princeton University, 196
printing press technology, 133–34
public works projects, 119
Puck (magazine), 48
Pulitzer, Joseph, 134–36, 137
Pullman, George, 186
Pullman Palace Car Company, 186–87
railroads, 5–6, 12–13, 111, 118, 180–81, 186–90
Randolph, James Madison, 171
reading law, 22
Reading Railroad, 5–6, 12–13
Reagan, Nancy, 227, 228
Reagan, Ronald, 227–28
recommendation letters, 14–15
Red Badge of Courage, The (Crane), 139–40
relief programs, 119–20, 168–69
reporters, 130–33. See also newspapers; press
Resolute (British warship), 13
retractors, cheek, 70–71, 91, 222
Riis, Jacob, 137
riots, 24–25
Roach, John, 85–86
robber barons, 198
Rockefeller, William, 40
Rockwell, Norman, 211
Rogers, Henry W., 22
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 46, 52, 194, 219
Roosevelt, Theodore “Teddy,” 75, 137, 138
running mate selection practices, 52
Saturday Evening Post (magazine), 211–15
Sawyer, Charles, 58–59
Sayre, Francis B., Jr., 171
Schermerhorn Building, 139
Sea Islands storm, 167–70
secrecy. See surgery cover–up
Secret Service, 83
shantytowns, 83–84
sheriff positions, 26–27
Sherman Silver Purchase Act opponents of (goldbugs), 13, 14, 82, 83, 120
passage of, 11–12, 51
repeal of, 113, 114, 122–26, 181–84, 190
supporters of (silverites), 12, 51–52, 108, 111, 120, 124–26, 181–82, 192
Shriver, John, 204
silver. See also Sherman Silver Purchase Act
books as currency debate allegories, 121–22
currency standard debates, overview, 10–12
supporters of (silverites), 12, 51–52, 108, 111, 120, 124–26, 181–82, 192
silver certificates, 11, 190, 194
Simpson, James, 69
Sims’ position, 170
skin cancer, 228
slavery, 24
smallpox, 56
Smith, Charles Emory, 138, 155, 215
smoking, 23, 34, 41, 45, 133
Socialist Party of America, 190
Sousa, John Philip, 47
Spanish–American War, 194
Speakes, Larry, 227–28
squamous cell carcinoma (epithelioma), 17, 39–40, 41, 91, 95. See also cancer; surgery, Cleveland’s
St. Louis Post–Dispatch (newspaper), 134–35
St. Paul Daily Globe (newspaper), 178
Stevenson, Adlai
currency debates and, 182
family background, 6
recommendation letters for office seekers, 15
surgery cover–up and, 54, 110–11
as vice president, 52, 110, 111
stockjobbers, 162
storms, 166–70
Strauss, Nathan, 179
strikes, 180, 186–90
strokes, 56–57, 59
Sugar Trust scandal, 197–205
suicides, 177–80
surgery. See also surgery, Cleveland’s; surgery cover–up
brain, 71
germ theory and antiseptic, 69–70
mortality rates, 53, 68–69, 70
nineteenth–century conditions and practices, 68, 88, 89
presidents and, 89
surgery, Cleveland’s. See also surgery cover–up
effects of, 185–86, 190
Keen’s published account, 209–16
moustache and, 75
patient risk factors, 72
physician team recruitment, 63–64, 77, 78
postoperative condition, 93–96
postoperative recovery, 113–18, 123–24, 151–53, 184–85
preoperative examinations, 86–87, 89
preparation and planning, 53–55, 62, 64, 77–79
surgical tools used, 92
travel day, 81–86
surgery cover–up
childbirth events assisting, 170–72
Cleveland’s letter on, 172–73
confidants of, 74, 103–4, 107, 114
natural disasters assisting in, 166–70
preparations for, 53–55
press coverage, 84, 96–97, 103–9, 111–14, 148–52
prosthesis and voice quality, 115–16
purpose of, 54, 72
revelation, 127–28, 142–48, 145
revelation discredit, 158–64, 161
surgical team instructions, 106
yacht crew, 79, 89, 150
“Surgical Operations on President Cleveland in 1893, The” (Keen), 209–16
syphilis, 95, 224, 226
Taft, William Howard, 75, 208
Teller, Henry, 182
Thompson, Frank, 83
Thornton’s Banking House, 118
Thurber, Henry, 158–59
Tilden, Samuel, 15
Tillman, Ben “Pitchfork,” 168, 192
Torrance, Cyrenius, 24
Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (medical journal), 226
transfer of power, presidential, 54
Trenton Gazette (newspaper), 164
Troy Times (newspaper), 165
tumors of Cleveland, 87, 91, 92, 95, 221–26, 222
Twain, Mark, 43, 81
Twenty–Fifth Amendment, 54
Tyler, John, 171
unemployment, 119, 180, 186
unions, 180–81, 186–90
United States Senate, 181–84, 199–205
United States Treasury, 11, 12, 190–91
vagrancy, 83–84, 119
Van Buren, Martin, 75
verrucous carcinoma (VC), 225–26
Vest, George, 202
veto power, 30, 46
vice president nomination process, 52
Voorhees, Daniel, 14, 181, 182, 203
Waite, Davis H., 120
Washington, George, 56, 89
Weaver, James B., 52
Welch, William, 17
Wells, Horace, 87
Westland, 194, 196
“What’s the Matter with Kansas” (White), 120
White, Edward, 110
White, William Allen, 120
White House
children born in, 171
Cleveland reelection and return predictions, 49, 53
former names of, 6
staff at, 13
weddings at, 47, 47
Wilson, Edith, 57
Wilson, Woodrow, 56–58, 75, 171, 196, 208–9
woman’s suffrage, 121, 186
women
at inaugural parade, 10
modesty conventions and health care, 170–71
as reporters, 132
right to vote, 121, 186
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The (Baum), 121–22
World’s Fair, 81–82, 96
yellow journalism, 135, 144
Yukon gold rush, 194
Also by Matthew Algeo
* * *
Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
The True Story of a Great American Road Trip
One of the Best Books of 2009—Washington Post
“Utterly likeable.”—Christopher Buckley
&
nbsp; “An engaging account.”—Wall Street Journal
“[An] enchanting glimpse into a much simpler age.” —Library Journal
* * *
Paperback • 978-1-56976-707-8
Includes a new afterword from the author
An excerpt from Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
* * *
Hannibal, Missouri,
June 19, 1953
On Friday, June 19, 1953, Harry skipped his morning constitutional and devoted himself to packing. He and Bess planned to hit the road that morning—and they would not travel light. Harry would fill the New Yorker with eleven suitcases before he was finished, the luggage spilling out of the trunk and onto the backseat. Most people hate packing, but Harry Truman, true to his obsessive nature, relished the task. “He prided himself on being an expert packer,” his daughter, Margaret, remembered, “and he was.”
Around 7:15, Harry and Bess climbed into the big black car. Harry slowly backed it through the narrow gate at the end of the driveway and onto Van Horn Road (soon to be renamed Truman Road). He had already scraped some chrome off the car backing through the gate, a process he likened to “the camel and the needle’s eye.” They drove the half-block up Van Horn, turned right onto Delaware Street, went about a mile, then turned right onto U.S. Highway 24. This they would follow 166 miles east to Monroe City, where they would pick up Highway 36.
A crude early version of air-conditioning was an option on the New Yorker in 1953, but Harry’s didn’t have it. (He never much saw the need for AC.) Missouri was in the grips of a heat wave, and the mercury would top 100 in much of the state that day. In Kansas City it hit 102. So the Trumans rode with the windows rolled all the way down, Harry with both hands on the wheel, Bess resting her elbow on the open window frame. They were, as usual, impeccably dressed: Harry wore a white suit, Bess a rayon print dress. Harry did make one small concession to the heat, however: he drove in his shirtsleeves, his jacket hanging from a hook above the left rear window.
As Independence faded in his rearview mirror, Harry Truman might have been the happiest man in Missouri, if not all forty-eight states. He loved to drive. Back when he was a county judge, he’d driven thousands of miles touring county courthouses from Colorado to New York before the construction of the new courthouse in Independence. When he ran for the Senate in 1934, he campaigned by car, crisscrossing the Show-Me State in his shiny new Plymouth. He enjoyed it so much, he said he felt like he was on vacation. As a senator, he drove thousands of miles investigating fraud and waste on military bases throughout the South and Midwest and, of course, he regularly drove between Independence and Washington. He always preferred the freedom of the road to the plush confines of a Pullman car. Even when he was president, he would occasionally take the wheel of his limo, much to the consternation of his Secret Service agents.