Health and Medical History of President
Zachary Taylor
President #12: 1849-1850
Lived 1784-1850
Lived 1784-1850
"In two days I shall be a dead man."
1a
Health and Medical History of President
Zachary Taylor
President #12: 1849-1850
Lived 1784-1850
Lived 1784-1850
↓
Lived 1784-1850
2023
1776
Revolutionary War1776-1783
War of 18121812-1815
Mexican-American War1846-1848
Civil War1861-1865
Spanish-American War1898-1899
World War 11917-1918
World War 21941-1945
Korean War1950-1953
Viet Nam War1964-1975
Desert Storm1990-1991
Bush's Wars2001-2021
Lived 1784-1850
2023
1776
Revolutionary War1776-1783War of 18121812-1815Mexican-American War1846-1848Civil War1861-1865Spanish-American War1898-1899World War 11917-1918World War 21941-1945Korean War1950-1953Viet Nam War1964-1975Desert Storm1990-1991Bush's Wars2001-2021
"In two days I shall be a dead man."
1a
Maladies & Conditions
· yellow fever · dysentery · malaria #1 · chewed tobacco · like a barrel · nearsighted · double vision · malaria #2? · malaria #3 · fever · cholera? · tired and haggard · typhoid? · poisoned?
Odds & Ends ·
Doctors ·
Resources ·
Cited Sources
Maladies and Conditions
Taylor joined the US Army in 1808 (age 23). He served under Brigadier General James Wilkinson
who, despite being a medical doctor, had almost half his men die from disease while encamped
in appalling conditions 12 miles south of New Orleans (during peacetime). Either there or at
Ft. Pickering (near today's Memphis, TN), Taylor contracted yellow fever. He returned
home to Louisville, KY to recover in Sept.-Oct. 1809
1b.
Returning to the Army after his recovery from yellow fever, Taylor developed dysentery at a
fly-infested camp in Virginia. He once again returned home to recover
1c.
Taylor, by now a captain, was in command of Ft. Knox in summer 1810, when he got malaria.
It recurred in late September, about the time the fort was attacked by Indians
1c.
Taylor's near-sightedness, it is supposed, unconsciously caused him to keep his eyelids half-closed
to sharpen his vision. This brought his heavy brows down and gave the impression of a fierce
scowl
1c.
At close range (including reading), Taylor had to keep one eye closed to prevent double vision
1c.
Comment:
Dr. Zebra is unsatisfied with these accounts of Taylor's visual problems. It would be
nicer to have a single pathological explanation for the two problems noted. Could it be amblyopia?
In November 1838, during the Second Seminole War, Taylor (by now a Brigadier General) developed
fever. Probably malaria, it "confined me to my bed for near two weeks when so many was
[sic] dying around me"
1d.
While stationed at Ft. Jessup, LA in July-August 1844, Taylor suffered several attacks of "bilious
fever" (malaria). He resumed his duties after a few days during which his condition had
been of concern, but remained weak for many months thereafter. After this episode he was ill
more than he had been in the past
1e.
Taylor was confined to bed with fever for a few days in May 1846, as he prepared to take his
Army across the Rio Grande into Mexico
1f.
While on a Presidential tour of the north in summer 1849, Taylor became ill a few days after
leaving Washington. It was thought to be the beginning of "cholera," but he recovered
rapidly and continued the tour -- only to have a relapse of severe diarrhea and fever in Erie,
PA. His physician feared for Taylor's life. The President recovered, continued the tour briefly,
then returned to Washington where, after about a month, his health appeared to normalize
1f.
Scandal involved three members of Taylor's cabinet during the summer of 1850. During this stressful
time, Taylor's friends noticed he was looking tired and haggard
1f.
July 4, 1850 was a hot day in a hot and humid summer in Washington, DC. Dysentery was circulating
in town, though some said it was cholera
1g.
President Taylor, not in the best of health already (see above) attended various Independence
Day ceremonies. That evening he began having abdominal cramps, possibly the result of something
he ate. He steadily worsened: diarrhea and fever developed, and the diarrhea turned bloody.
His doctors tried what they could. He died on July 9.
Some details of those days are available
MORE,
but the cause of Taylor's death will probably never be known with certainty. Typhoid fever
has been proposed, with suspicion directed at the cherries Taylor ate on the 4th
2a.
Like virtually all Presidents, there were many people who might have wished Taylor dead. Because
of theories that Taylor might have been poisoned (most notably by strychnine), his body was
exhumed on June 17, 1991. With permission of descendants, samples of it were analyzed. Some
arsenic was found, but in quantities said to be too small to cause harm
1e.
This has not satisfied some commentators, who find flaws in the testing methods
3.
Comment:
A casual look at Zachary Taylor's health history shows that he was pretty well beaten up, medically,
by the summer of 1850. Furthermore, during the 1800s Washington, DC was a very unhealthy place
to be during the summer. Thus, it would have been easy enough for Mother Nature to carry off
Zachary Taylor without help from a poisoner. The burden of proof remains with those who suggest
Taylor's end was not natural.
Odds and Ends
- Little is known about Taylor's childhoood health 1h.
- Taylor did not drink alcohol 1d, which seems odd for someone with the nickname "Old Rough and Ready."
- Taylor was the second cousin of James Madison 4a.
Doctors
Before Presidency
Resources
Cited Sources
- Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994.
a p.75 - He was right. b pp.72-73 c p.73, citing Marx, who, in turn, never provides references d p.73 e pp.73-74 f p.74 g p.75 h p.72Comment: Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
- MacMahon, Edward B. and Curry, Leonard. Medical Cover-Ups in the White House. Washington, DC: Farragut, 1987.
a p.18
- Parenti, Michael. History as Mystery. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1999.
Comment: Pages 209-240 discuss Taylor's demise and the 1991 testing for toxic substances. Dr. Zebra has not read this book. Apparently, however, Parenti criticizes the arsenic testing performed on Taylor's hair because the arsenic concentration was reported as an average over the entire hair shaft. This would indeed tend to underestimate the arsenic concentration if Taylor had been poisoned, because if Taylor had been poisoned, arsenic would have been deposited only in the part of the hair that grew between the time of the poisoning and death -- supposedly just a few days. Thus, only the smallest bit of hair nearest the scalp would have arsenic and the rest of each hair shaft would be arsenic-free. The concentration of arsenic in the entire hair shaft is therefore irrelevant, and only the concentration nearest the scalp matters. This value was apparently not reported. - Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981.
a p.127Comment: Maps -- in great detail -- the ancestors and descendants of American presidents through Ronald Reagan. They would have had an exhausting time with President Obama's family tree! MORE
Other Sources
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