Only later — years later, in some cases — does the severity become clear. Grover Cleveland’s aides lied about a surgery in 1893 — performed on a friend’s yacht — to excise a tumor in his mouth. Woodrow Wilson spent his last year and a half as president debilitated by strokes while his wife and doctor secretly carried out some presidential duties. Dwight Eisenhower’s doctor initially described his heart attack in 1955 as “a digestive upset.” John F. Kennedy’s aides lied about his Addison’s disease. President Biden and his aides have become part of this presidential tradition.

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Persons: James Madison, Chester Arthur’s, Grover Cleveland’s, —, Woodrow Wilson, debilitated, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower’s, ” John F, Kennedy’s, Ronald Reagan’s, Donald Trump, Biden Organizations: The Times Locations: United States