Thread by @InsideEdition

For our 2nd edition of #IETheIssue, we’re examining the modern misinformation landscape. In this piece, @mayanyani reports on the history of presidential illnesses, and how they may have been downplayed. THREAD:
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1/ When President Donald Trump was diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this month, his condition brought new attention to presidential health and the secrecy that surrounds it. 
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2/ Trump recovered and returned to the campaign trail within a week. The president’s rush to get back to business, as Election Day swiftly approaches, isn’t a new attitude when it comes to presidents, according to historians. 
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3/ “Presidents hate to look weak and they don't want anybody to know. So they'll do anything they can to cover up an illness. When they do and the doctor goes out and gives us misinformation, the doctor is just doing what the patient wants.” – @malgeo
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4/ In 1893, President Grover Cleveland, in the beginning of his second term, had surgery on a yacht to remove a cancerous tumor from his mouth because he didn’t want anyone to know about it. 
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5/ The surgery was secret for years, even after a reporter, EJ Edwards, broke the story that year. Cleveland completely denied the report and ruined Edwards' reputation. In 1917, a doctor came clean because he’d felt bad about what happened to Edwards.
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6/ Another case of presidential health secrecy happened with President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson had a stroke during his term, but his administration played it off as exhaustion for months. He ended up being incapacitated for the rest of his presidency.
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7/ Ronald Reagan nearly died after an assassination attempt was made on him in 1981. He walked into the hospital that day.
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8/ “He didn't realize that a bullet had penetrated his side. He wanted to look healthy and he knew he was in some pain, but he didn't realize exactly how serious the situation was.” – @malgeo
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For @mayanyani’s full story for #IETheIssue, President Trump Isn't the Only President in History Who May Have Downplayed an Illness:
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