Diagnosing Hillary: she needs more than a rest

THERE was a time when most Americans didn't know, and in most cases, couldn't care, about the medical problems of their presidents or for that matter, of the leading presidential candidates.

Franklin D Roosevelt - who won four presidential elections and led the United States out of the Great Depression into a military victory in World War II - was diagnosed with polio at the age of 39, leaving him with permanent paralysis from the waist down. He was unable to stand or walk without support and was confined to a wheelchair during his 16 years in office.

While FDR's bout with polio was known before and during his presidency, the extent of his paralysis, and in particular, his inability to stand or walk, was kept from public view. The journalists at the time collaborated with the White House in covering up the president's medical problems, including his diagnosis with congestive heart failure during his last term in office. In fact, there were only two or three pictures of FDR in a wheelchair.