Sen. Moses Says Wilson Had Cerebral Lesion but "May Live"
Title
Sen. Moses Says Wilson Had Cerebral Lesion but "May Live"
Creator
Boston Herald
Identifier
WWP15970
Date
1919 October 12
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Language
English
Text
MANCHESTER, NH—In a letter to a Manchester friend received today, Senator George H. Moses says that President Wilson “may live” and adds, “but he will not be any material force or factor in anything.” Senator Moses also announces in his letter that he will be a candidate for renomination. He writes of President Wilson:
“The President is a very sick man. He suffered some kind of a cerebral lesion, either during his speech at Pueblo or immediately thereafter, and one of the readily discernible results is a slight facial paralysis.
“His condition is such that while this lesion is healing he is absolutely unable to undergo any experience which requires concentration of mind and the consequent suffusion of blood in the brain, the pressure of which would be likely to reopen this lesion, or to cause new ones with a probable fatal result.
“Of course, he may get well—that is, he may live. But if he does, he will not be any material force or factor in anything.
“One of the interesting rumors here is that Col. House is coming home to try and impress on the President that he should abdicate for a few months and call Marshall to be acting President.
“Physicians here describe the cerebral lesion, when followed by paralysis, as a shock, or rupture of the cerebral arteries. It might take the form of apoplexy and is sometimes called cerebral hemorrhage.”
_______
An eminent Boston alienist, when informed of the statements in Senator Moses’s letter last night, said:
“Medical annals instance a number of cases to prove that a cerebral lesion is not followed by any loss of the mental faculties. Notable among such cases is that of Pasteur, the celebrated French physician and scientist, who carried on some of his most important research work after suffering a cerebral lesion. There is also on record the case of an American writer who published works of great value under the same conditions.”
“The President is a very sick man. He suffered some kind of a cerebral lesion, either during his speech at Pueblo or immediately thereafter, and one of the readily discernible results is a slight facial paralysis.
“His condition is such that while this lesion is healing he is absolutely unable to undergo any experience which requires concentration of mind and the consequent suffusion of blood in the brain, the pressure of which would be likely to reopen this lesion, or to cause new ones with a probable fatal result.
“Of course, he may get well—that is, he may live. But if he does, he will not be any material force or factor in anything.
“One of the interesting rumors here is that Col. House is coming home to try and impress on the President that he should abdicate for a few months and call Marshall to be acting President.
“Physicians here describe the cerebral lesion, when followed by paralysis, as a shock, or rupture of the cerebral arteries. It might take the form of apoplexy and is sometimes called cerebral hemorrhage.”
_______
An eminent Boston alienist, when informed of the statements in Senator Moses’s letter last night, said:
“Medical annals instance a number of cases to prove that a cerebral lesion is not followed by any loss of the mental faculties. Notable among such cases is that of Pasteur, the celebrated French physician and scientist, who carried on some of his most important research work after suffering a cerebral lesion. There is also on record the case of an American writer who published works of great value under the same conditions.”
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Citation
Boston Herald, “Sen. Moses Says Wilson Had Cerebral Lesion but "May Live",” 1919 October 12, WWP15970, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.