Did Ronald Reagan have Alzheimer’s Disease while he was President?
June 9, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Did Ronald Reagan have Alzheimer’s Disease while he was President?
Dr Larry Altman, who was a Senior Medical columnist for the New York Times, once looked into this question and was…
“…unable to find any evidence by any medical criteria that is known to the medical profession that Mr Regan had any symptoms or signs of Alzheimer’s when he was President.”
He did discover, though, in an interview he did with Ronald Reagan in 1980, that
“…his mother had been senile for a number of years before she died. The word ‘Alzheimer’s’ was not a household word at that time, and Mr Reagan interrupted the interview to ask me about that, and I explained the new knowledge of Alzheimer’s and senile plaques in the brain and the new findings that were going on, and I had asked him, given that family history, what he would do if he were found to be senile, or to have dementia or to have Alzheimer’s, as we know it today, as President, and he said he would resign. And when I asked him how he would know that, he said, ‘I’d expect my doctors to follow me and to tell me’. They did in their everyday examinations, interchanges with him, but they did no formal testing for Alzheimer’s. The first formal psychological test only occurred about I guess it was the year following, he fell off a horse, and that was the year following he left the White House.”
Reagan’s four main White House doctors also say…
“…they never detected any evidence that his forgetfulness was more than just that. His mental competence in office, they said in a series of recent interviews, was never in doubt. Indeed, they pointed out, tests of his mental status did not begin to show evidence of the disease until the summer of 1993, more than four years after he left the White House. “
The first official announcement was a letter written by President Ronald Reagan announcing he has Alzheimer’s disease that was released on Nov 5, 1994.
However, Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk, a prominent neurologist and psychiatrist believes that Ronald Reagan was indeed starting to display early signs of Alzheimer’s Disease as the time of the presidential debates between candidates Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Those who are looking to find evidence of incompetence will say he had the beginnings of Alzheimer’s. Those who have no problem with his decisions, will not be nitpicking for this evidence. Since no formal tests were made it would be difficult to say his Alzheimer’s condition had begun while he was in office and affected his decisions. However, I’m sure there are those who will disagree with me.
I have no affiliation with any political party, and from an objective point of view, if you look at the facts, the idea he wasn’t starting to have onset is silly. He was the oldest president, and Alzheimer’s never just OCCURS. It’s a slow degradation. I also would wager, if this was the case, he wasn’t necessarily calling all the shots either. So the decisions people don’t agree with would not be Reagan’s fault.
It would be great if Dr. Gottschalk looked at speeches of John McCain. Sometimes he’ll be speaking then go off in left field. Such was the case when they were asking him about Spain’s PM/ally.
If a loved one of mine had any form of dementia I wouldn’t try to hide it. I’d want to get them on the latest medication or some kind of brain booster to stave it off as long as possible.
@Mary Emma: I don’t think anyone is nitpicking. The more lies one tells while the evidence is clear, makes people want to dig a little deeper. I saw Dr. Gottschalk’s tapes and if Reagan didn’t have the beginnings of Alzheimers than I’m blue. Perhaps he could’ve been given early treatment. There’s not a cure but there are drugs that are working to keep it at bay a while longer.
On 60 Minutes, Ron, Jr. was asked if his father had Alzheimes in office. He said “we’ll never know.” I’m quite sure he and his family knew.
Yes, I think McCain has early Alzheimers, My husband, 2 of his sisters and one brother their father all had Alzheimers, and the signs are readily available in McCain. I am two years older than McCain and it is hard to concentrate and be as young thinking as I once was.
It always amazes me to hear an “ist” statement (ageist, sexist, etc.) from a person who fits the category. So, you’re 2 years older than McCain, and because you’re forgetful, he must have Alzheimer’s?
Yes, yes…it all makes sense now.
I could tell you that my grandmother is significantly older than McCain, and she’s on FIRE, but I won’t, because it really doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not McCain (or anyone else his age, or gender, or anyone with any other similarity to McCain) is competent. A man could say, “Well, I’m the same gender as McCain, and I forget things, so it only makes sense that McCain will, as well.”
Apples, meet oranges. No, you’re not the same, but you’ll often be compared by people who really have no other basis for a comparison.
Actually, you should of paid attention to what the woman said. She was merely speaking that she has noticed with age, the mind is less virile.
and since you don’t seem to understand, age effects memory far more often than gender. How many elderly people do you know are ON FIRE? the fact your grandmother is “ON FIRE” an exception, doesn’t that go against your debate here?
Is Dr. Larry Altman a Republican? I must seriously question his credibility on this subject.
Mr. Reagan said untold times that hs “couldn’t recall” during the Iran Contra hearings. If he seriously, honestly could not recall it certainly suggests that he was suffering the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Whether or not this meets Dr. Altman’s definition of medical criteria is the big question.
So, in a sense, the US has already had a woman president – Nancy Reagan.