![]() ![]() In 1893, in secret, Grover Cleveland underwent life-threatening surgery to remove a tumor in his mouth. Beginning in 1882, Chester Arthur battled a severe case of Bright’s disease which would kill him a few years after he left office. ![]() In May 1865, Andrew Johnson suffered a serious enough illness that the president pro tempore was put on notice. On 2 July, however, a letter from the first lady, Dolley Madison, exaggerating the president’s recovery put a halt to the discussions. Both houses of Congress engaged in lively discussions about the possibility of Madison’s death and Vice-President Elbridge Gerry’s succession. The first close call came in June 1813, when James Madison fell seriously ill for three weeks. The fact that only eight presidents have died in office is nothing short of a miracle. These include a president being kicked out of his own party and annexing Texas in response, a senator trying to shoot a colleague on the Senate floor, violent brawls in Congress, a vice-president accused of conspiring to murder the president, not to mention the 19 times when a president was almost killed by assassination, accident or illness. ![]() Their stories illuminate how America confronted some of its darkest moments. ![]()
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