# Which Presidents Would have Survived Assassination with Modern Medicine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665 "2013-05-29T23:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/41 "2013-05-31T03:14:03Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > No. 1981 was three decades ago. Knowledgeable users of the English language consider “several” to be significantly more than “three”, and would consider “three” to be “a few”. March 1981 is now more than 32 years from today, placing it in the fourth decade before the present. Ergo, use of the term “several” is perfectly acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/42 "2013-05-31T16:07:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Uhmmm … why? 😕 Addison’s means that the body responds very poorly to trauma which causes renal shutdown. The trauma of being shot would have triggered an attack. It was very lucky that he was able to survive his back surgery. I have read that he was originally treated with steroids to treat his colitis. He started on steroids in 1937 and was diagnosed with Addison’s in 1947. I have also read that there is speculation an autoimmune disease caused both his colitis, his hypothyroidism, and his Addison’s though that is impossible to know now. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/43 "2013-05-31T16:12:15Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > Fascinating topic and read. I don’t know that it fits into the “President” discussion (but I hope it’s not considered a total derailment of the thread), but any opinions / documentaries you may have seen, about whether Robert Kennedy or Martin Luther King could have possibly survived their wounds, if they had been shot in this day and age? MLK was shot with a deer rifle and hit in the neck. His jugular vein was cut and his spinal cord was severd. I am not a doctor but I don’t think there is anyway he would have survived any longer today. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/44 "2013-05-31T16:19:23Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > Fascinating topic and read. I don’t know that it fits into the “President” discussion (but I hope it’s not considered a total derailment of the thread), but any opinions / documentaries you may have seen, about whether Robert Kennedy or Martin Luther King could have possibly survived their wounds, if they had been shot in this day and age? RFK had a wound alot like Lincoln’s. It was behind the ear from a small caliber revolver. It caused alot of blood loss and swelling. He survived until the hospital and died after surgery. Most people today who make it to the hospital with a head wound from a revolver survive, so it is possible he could have lived if it happened today. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/45 "2013-05-31T19:36:38Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sarah Vowell goes into detail on his “treatment” as well in _Assassination Vacation_. [hijack] Man, I love that book. Really, I love all her books, but that’s my favorite. I’ve listened to all of them as audiobooks, which she reads herself. Her physical voice matches her writing voice just perfectly. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/46 "2013-05-31T19:42:42Z")
> [@RickG](#): > > [hijack] > Man, I love that book. Really, I love all her books, but that’s my favorite. I’ve listened to all of them as audiobooks, which she reads herself. Her physical voice matches her writing voice just perfectly. > [/hijack] I really wish she’d re-release it as a deluxe version with photos, or have an accompanying web site. I’d love to see pictures of some of the places (especially the obscure ones). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/47 "2013-05-31T21:48:14Z")
Also to be considered is whether modern medicine could have saved them if their assassins were using modern weaponry? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/48 "2013-05-31T22:01:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Modern medicine includes near-perfect treatment for strokes, so long as it’s administered within an hour or two of the event. Maybe on TV. IRL, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/49 "2013-05-31T22:39:21Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Addison’s means that the body responds very poorly to trauma which causes renal shutdown. The trauma of being shot would have triggered an attack. It was very lucky that he was able to survive his back surgery. > I have read that he was originally treated with steroids to treat his colitis. He started on steroids in 1937 and was diagnosed with Addison’s in 1947. I have also read that there is speculation an autoimmune disease caused both his colitis, his hypothyroidism, and his Addison’s though that is impossible to know now. No way would he have gotten into the military nowadays with health problems like that, either. Guess he must not have had flat feet. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/50 "2013-06-01T00:36:51Z")
McKinley’s bullet did a heckuva lot of damage, taking out part of his pancreas, as well as perforating his stomach, IIRC. I think he would have survived today, but back then, I kinda doubt it. And, to add to the OP for other presidential deaths: I think William Henry Harrison probably would have survived today, assuming that pneumonia was his only ailment. Also we have better treatments today for people who are stricken with eating strawberries on warm days, so Zack Taylor probably would have lived. Harding and Roosevelt, probably would have still died. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/51 "2013-06-01T00:47:43Z")
I have read that in the early/mid 20th century, doctors frequently prescribed lots and lots of bed rest for people who had suffered heart attacks and strokes, as in weeks of doing as little as possible. Today it’s the opposite- initial rest obviously, but they want you up and exercising and (in the case of stroke) beginning physical therapy as soon as it is at all a possibility. Does anybody know if this was the case with Wilson? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/52 "2013-06-01T00:56:01Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I have read that in the early/mid 20th century, doctors frequently prescribed lots and lots of bed rest for people who had suffered heart attacks and strokes, as in weeks of doing as little as possible. Today it’s the opposite- initial rest obviously, but they want you up and exercising and (in the case of stroke) beginning physical therapy as soon as it is at all a possibility. > > Does anybody know if this was the case with Wilson? If the dramatizations I’ve seen are true, Mrs Wilson pretty much kept him bedbound and literally in the dark while she assumed most of his day-to-day responsibilities. (At the time, there was no protocol in place for the Vice President to take over in the event of presidential incapacity.) Wilson never did make a full recovery. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/53 "2013-06-01T01:34:54Z")
I read that McKinley’s pancreas was basically obliterated, which at that time would have been fatal because it was prior to the discovery of insulin. Even if that had been available, he would also have had lifelong digestive issues. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/54 "2013-06-01T02:41:00Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Maybe on TV. IRL, not so much. Well, to be fair, on TV, _everything_ happens within an hour or two of the event. You know, unless you’re in a miniseries, or something… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/55 "2013-06-01T03:06:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I read that McKinley’s pancreas was basically obliterated, which at that time would have been fatal because it was prior to the discovery of insulin. Even if that had been available, he would also have had lifelong digestive issues. Pancreas, stomach, and kidney were perforated. Still, the immediate cause of death was gangrene. They never did find the bullet, not even during the autopsy, which Mrs McKinley ordered cut short. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665/56 "2013-06-01T04:10:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Drive through a poor black neighborhood and hear mournful gospel music emanating from the shacks. hehe…I couldnt quite figure it out…but I was trying. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-presidents-would-have-survived-assassination-with-modern-medicine/659665.md?page=2)