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The politics of presidential medical care: The case of John F. Kennedy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2016

Rose McDermott
Rose McDermott*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science Brown University 36 Prospect Street Providence, RI 02912 [email protected]
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Abstract

Political concerns often compromise the delivery of high quality medical care in ways that can be both problematic and dangerous for political leaders. President John F. Kennedy's medical care offers a particularly rich exposition of the many ways in which these dynamics can play out and how additional factors can complicate matters, such as when the patient is himself duplicitous, when family members try to intervene in care, and when public exposure risks political future. This article examines the politics and management of Kennedy's medical conditions by the various physicians involved in his care and explores how these considerations may have compromised not only the quality of his care but, in turn, exerted an influence on his behavior. This happened not only through the downstream effect of his treatment on his thoughts and behavior but also through the tremendous allocation of time and attention that his care required—attention a healthier man would have been able to direct toward problems of greater national concern.

Keywords

John K. KennedyJacqueline Bouvier KennedyMax JacobsonJanet TravellGeorge Burkleypresidential illnessdecision makingleadership
Type
Research Articles
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , Fall 2014 , pp. 77 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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