Surrounded by well-meaning aides, physicians sworn to confidentiality, and in some cases, sycophants, the president of the United States usually keeps the state of his health well-guarded from the American public. Though the intention of the 25th Amendment is to provide for the removal of an impaired president, the level of discretion involved in such a decision has caused many to question whether it serves the national interest. In large part, the men who have served as president have been past middle age and susceptible to the dame maladies as the rest of the aged population. The complete medical history of each of the first 41 U.S. presidents, emphasizing illnesses that affected them during their administrations, is here set out for the lay reader by a physician. The presidents' health care regimens (diet, exercise, home remedies, etc.) and physicians' treatments are also discussed.

Corruption within the Nixon administration was not limited to Watergate; his Committee on Health Education ignored and suppressed the opinions of professional health educators. In this history, two education insiders explain why and how the committee was a sham from the beginning. One of the authorsJoy Garrison Cauffmanparticipated on the committee and was threatened by President Nixons representatives for expressing her opinions. Now Cauffman and her coauthor, Ronald L. Linder, reveal how political insiders took steps to form the bogus committee; how President Nixon and his people quashed the recommendations of educators; how slush funds drive what goes on in Washington, DC; and how bureaucrats continue to distort the issues related to health education. Several committee members argued against the predetermined outcomes of the committees work, but they were silencedand the price they paid for speaking up is shocking. The future of health care in America is critically dependent on our ability to educate people on how to establish and maintain their health. But to make that possible, we must learn from the mistakes showcased in A Forty-Year Retrospective of President Nixons Committee on Health Education.