In 1893, President Grover Cleveland noticed a lump on the top of his mouth. It grew over the next few months and was diagnosed as cancer. The physician recommended that it be removed as soon as possible. However, President Cleveland did not want to alarm the county by announcing that he had cancer. The U.S. was in an economic depression and the President was afraid that a public announcement would make Wall Street panic and the stock market would crash. He needed to find a way to have the surgery in secret- and insure that his iconic mustache wasn’t damaged in the process. Find out how it happened in this new book:
Author Matthew Algeo is interveiwed about his new book “The President is a Sick Man” on NPR. Listen to the interview here.
Melnick Medical Museum 