Overview
"FDR's Deadly Secret is an expose of the breakdown of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's health during his third and fourth terms of office, and the massive, continuing deception that followed his death." "The death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945 sent shock waves around the world. Roosevelt's personal physician had repeatedly asserted that the president was a picture of health and that his death was completely unexpected. A quarter century later, his cardiologist admitted he had been suffering from hypertension and that his death - from a cerebral hemorrhage - was "a cataclysmic event waiting to happen." But even this was a carefully constructed deceit, adding to the trail of deception begun by Roosevelt himself when, at thirty-nine, he contracted polio and realized it might put a premature end to his political career. Thereafter, he could never afford to look sick again; and FDR took extraordinary measures to ensure he would not. His doctors routinely admitted no more serious ailment than a head cold or an intestinal flu. But the true diagnoses were very different." "In this medical detective story and narrative of a presidential cover-up, a physician-journalist team performs an exhaustive study of all available medical reports of FDR's health and a comprehensive review of thousands of photographs. They reveal that, at his death, Roosevelt was suffering from cancer that had likely metastasized to his brain. He had suffered not only from severe cardiovascular disease but also from melanoma, the deadliest cancer known in the 1940s - and he had known about his ailments for years, going to enormous lengths to hide their full extent from even his close associates and family, andespecially the American public. Roosevelt's condition was not merely physically disabling; it must have substantially affected his ability to make decisions and to function mentally in the days when the nation was imperiled by World War II." This raises the question: Was Roosevelt an even greater president than we knew, for having prevailed despite being wracked with illness? Or was he indeed the sick man of Yalta, a world leader who should never have shouldered the burden of a wartime presidency in his debilitated state?
Synopsis
This persuasive re-examination of Roosevelt’s last years reveals a more profoundly disabled president than the nation knew—and a massive cover-up
Publishers Weekly
Despite the lurid title, this is a superior addition to the diseases-of-famous-men genre. Journalist Fettmann and neurologist Lomazow assert that they've discovered the true cause of FDR's 1945 death, building on a 1979 medical paper by Dr. Harry Goldsmith and revelations in the 1995 publication of the diary of FDR's cousin Daisy Suckley. A lifetime smoker, Roosevelt suffered from extremely high blood pressure. In 1944, a cardiologist found him in severe heart failure. Although historians blame these for his fatal stroke at the age of 63, the authors point out that photographs show a dark spot over his left eyebrow that grew throughout the 1930s. Experts nowadays agree it resembles a melanoma, a highly malignant skin cancer that often spreads to the brain. Metastatic cancer, not heart disease, may have produced the increasing frailty, weight loss, and confusion that alarmed observers during his final year. We will never know the truth, but the authors make a reasonable case. As a bonus, they recount Roosevelt's numerous medical problems and questionable care at the hands of a personal physician who relentlessly assured the public of the president's excellent health and possibly destroyed FDR's medical records after his death. (Jan.)