"It seems to be a custom frequently honored in the observance to call in a Philadelphia doctor when a President is ill," wrote the New York Tribune in 1919. And, one might add, not just a Philadelphia doctor but very often a Jefferson doctor.
Jefferson alumni or faculty have treated no less than eighteen U.S. Presidents. Fittingly, the earliest of these Presidential patients was Thomas Jefferson, our institutional namesake. The most recent was Ronald Reagan. Medical care for the Presidents, and their families, has been provided by Jefferson physicians under a variety circumstances - often with a significant impact on American history. President Grover Cleveland's "secret" operation, President Woodrow Wilson's stroke, and President Dwight Eisenhower's heart attack were all treated by Jefferson physicians.
The exhibit highlights details of these and other cases, but it also demonstrates the change in how information regarding the Presidents health was released or not released to the public. In both Cleveland and Wilson's case, medical information was deliberately withheld from the press regarding the seriousness of the situation. In Eisenhower's case, the Jefferson physician in charge released an unprecedented amount of detailed medical information.
Now on display on the 2nd floor of the Scott Library, "Polyps and Presidents" looks at some of the Jefferson doctors whose medical skills have been deemed worthy of the "highest office in the land."
