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Hugh Evans
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Local doc poll watching
BY Seth Augenstein
Staff Writer
Dr. Hugh Evans has been a respected doctor and educator for years.
While many pundits and onlookers will debate the general merits of U.S. presidential candidates for the next nine months, Dr. Hugh Evans of Tenafly will be looking at some very specific criteria: the physical and mental health of the candidates.
Dr. Evans wrote 2002’s The Hidden Campaign, a well-received history of the 1944 Franklin Delano Roosevelt reelection campaign. Although Roosevelt won the campaign by hiding the extent of his many medical problems, he died only months into his fourth term. Evans’ book analyzes the outcome of the election, the tremendous health hazards the modern presidency puts on a person, and the public’s right to know even personal medical information about its possible leaders. The Northern Valley Suburbanite sat down with Evans and got a prognosis on the book, a second opinion on the 2008 election and a check-up on a health history of the White House.
Q: What can we learn from FDR’s 1944 presidential campaign?
A: The election of 1944 was unprecedented; nothing like it has happened before or since. FDR’s health was always an issue, though at times it was not predominantly discussed. The thing is, he was a buoyant personality, which he needed to combat paralysis to Pearl Harbor, and back again… He was about as close as anyone’s ever come to indispensability.
Q: Are you watching the 2008 presidential race with a doctor’s eye, an historian’s eye or both?
A: I’m watching it with both – and also with a political eye, as a citizen of this country… There have been possible medical concerns in this race. Just recently we had Hillary Clinton’s crying episode. It’s too early to tell, but that has got to raise questions, in a non-partisan way. John McCain has been very open about his lymphoma and how he had it taken care of, but he would also be the oldest elected president. At any rate, the health of candidates in the nuclear era assumes a very special importance.
Q: The tremendous strain and danger for presidents is well documented in The Hidden Campaign. What lessons can be drawn from previous presidential morbidity and mortality rates?
A: Whether there should be complete disclosure of a candidate’s medical history is an extreme controversy. There is the 25th Amendment (which allows for crisis decision-making while the Commander-in-Chief is incapacitated), which was invoked during the Bush Administration, when the president was incapacitated with anesthesia. But it’s cumbersome, and may not be all that helpful in a crisis. In 2008, almost all the candidates seem robust and vigorous, no matter the politics… All the campaigning, appearing in public for 13-hour days, can be like a stress test for the job itself.
Q: What is the next project for you?
A: At first I was researching the mental health history of Richard Nixon, but I’ve put that aside for now. What I work on next will depend on the results of the 2008 election. I try to stay up-to-date as a citizen.
E-mail: augenstein@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6723
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