This thread is for a general debate about the health of the POTUS and how it relates to how good a job they do. With all the latest about Clinton’s recent health issues, it occurred to me that some of our best presidents were ill while they were in office. FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson were all ill while in office and managed to do a good job. Then their was Wilsom and Reagan, who at least got by (they weren’t disasters) with the help of their advisors and family. On the other hand we’ve had healthy presidents like Ford, Carter, and Bush (both of them) who were arguably mediocre despite the good health they enjoyed while in office. Given this history of how well a president does not seeming to be related to his health, why should Clinton’s health even be an issue? I’m also interested in hearing any opinions on the general issue of the health of the POTUS and job performance in office.
Add me to the people perplexed about why we would worry about a candidate getting pneumonia. I’ve known people who got pneumonia. They generally get better in a few days to a week, and can return to their jobs. They don’t suffer brain damage from it. And, none of them got it again in the next 8 years.
Yeah, count me in as another one puzzled by all the brou-ha-ha over this. A hundred years ago pneumonia was much less treatable, but even then people often survived it. Nowadays? Pfft. There are other things I’m much more concerned about.
I’m guessing people are afraid of a Harding situation.
But I personally think the whole thing is a non-issue.
McCain had a history of health problems. Cancer, for one. And he was getting on in years.
I think his choice of a VP might have cost him a few votes. President Palin?
It’s an issue because one side sees advantage in making the health of the other candidate an issue - it’s about the classiest thing I’ve seen for weeks in US politics.
This election is an embarrassment to democracy.
It’s not that much of an issue for a sitting president. It’s a potential issue for someone running for their first term as president because THEY are the nominee…not their VP choice. If their VP choice would make a good candidate then they probably would have reversed roles.
She isn’t in office…yet. If she has major heath issues then it’s a factor at this point in the race. If she were the sitting president and running for her second term then it would be less so.
Note that all of them went to varying degrees to hide or obscure this fact from the public when they were running for their first term…and some of them even during their terms in office.
Well, of course Trump et al are attempting to use this as something to pry votes from Hillary since they are losing so bad, so that’s the main issue. Assuming Hillary just has pneumonia then it’s a non-issue, unless she has serious complications due to her age. If it’s NOT just pneumonia then it could be a serious issue, however, since being president even while healthy is a rough job. Have you noticed how it ages the people who get the job? Look at Obama. Now consider how rough it might be on someone who is older and also may have a serious health problem. It would be brutal…and even though the succession is planned out it wouldn’t be optimal to have to go through that. It’s not an issue to hand wave away if she actually DOES have serious problems before she even becomes president.
This is most of it. A candidate who can’t get thru the rigors of an election campaign is a candidate who is more likely to not get thru the rigors of being President. If Hilary is going to fall over dead on Inauguration Day, her running mate should be the candidate, since he is going to be President.
People who vote for a candidate would like some reasonable surety that that candidate is who they are going to get.
This is now the second time Hillary has passed out - this time from pneumonia, and in 2012 where she fainted and suffered a blood clot on her brain. Earlier she fell and broke her elbow.
She’s 68. Her health isn’t the only factor, but it is a factor.
Regards,
Shodan
I don’t think pneumonia in a 68 (almost 69) year old is ever considered a minor problem.
I’d say running for president is more physically demanding than being president.
And whatever, we’re really voting party here. If something happens to Hillary, we have a perfectly acceptable VP. What exactly are we worried about if her health goes South? As others have said, I would vote for her over Trump even if she were in a coma on election day.
Well, yeah, but having HAD pneumonia in the past is a non-problem. If she still has pneumonia on Inauguration Day, it might be worth worrying about; otherwise, not so much. Hence the fact that most of the current conspiracy-mongering about Clinton’s health revolves around the idea that she doesn’t “really” have pneumonia, but it’s a coverup for Parkinson’s / MS / epilepsy / catatonia / some condition or other that causes her to use a urinary catheter. (Seriously, I have seen ALL of these theories advanced in the last 48 hours, because for some reason I can never resist reading the comments section.)
IMO the Clinton campaign gave the conspiracy theorists way too much fuel by not owning up to the pneumonia in the first place; it was a silly, unforced error.
[QUOTE=Procrustus]
I’d say running for president is more physically demanding than being president.
[/QUOTE]
I would totally disagree with that assessment. Running for President is certainly grueling, but BEING president is life draining. The pressures are incredible, and the schedules they keep are unreal. I have no idea why anyone would want that job, since it eats people up.
I’m not voting for a party…I’m voting for Hillary. I think most people in the US vote for a candidate…certainly most people who actually affect the election, i.e. the independents and non-aligned voters aren’t voting party.
Who is ‘we’? I wouldn’t be perfectly happy with someone else.
I don’t know about you, but I would be happy with someone else. Practically anyone else, in fact - except one someone.
I am trying really hard not to wish ill on anyone, but “maybe a meteor will hit both of them and we can start over with their running mates” is a sore temptation.
Regards,
Shodan
Yeah, except it probably would be Sanders, assuming that’s who you meant…I certainly wouldn’t be happier with him that Hillary. And if Trump bought the farm it would most likely be Cruz…who I wouldn’t vote for either, though I’m unsure of who is ‘worse’ in this case. They are both equally bad, though for perhaps different reasons.
Isn’t it great to see heart felt concern among candidates who feel their duty lies in public office.
I’m less interested in Clinton’s health than in whether Trump’s mother had him tested, and if she followed up with the specialist in Houston.
The Republicans have nothing else - they have not come forth with any concrete ideas or visions of their own on how to govern, other than the “Hillary bad” narrative, so they need to make hay over any perceived weakness, real or imagined.
I meant the only someone who I would not prefer to Hillary is Trump.
If both Hillary and Trump drop out/drop dead before the election, I know the respective parties are not bound to choose their running mates as replacements. But Sanders vs. Cruz? From your lips to God’s ear.
That’s one of the things I didn’t and don’t understand - there was basically one candidate in the GOP primaries who had no chance to beat Hillary, and he got the nomination.
Go figure.
Regards,
Shodan
It’s almost as if Trump made a deal with Bill and Hillary to fuck up the Republican party. They are all good friends, as I recall, so it makes sense.
As I read in some article or other today, it is not so much the diagnosis, but the secrecy of it.
Like I know there have been musical performers that have been sick and fainted on stage (or had to leave quickly during a show to avoid problems) or had to cancel a show and did so without prior acknowledgement of the illness. And then people’s speculation goes crazy.
And how many times has it turned out to be something bigger.
Prince had an issue at his last show in Atlanta, and then they had to land the plane early due to the “flu” and then he died shortly thereafter.
Secrecy from a public figure almost always ends up with speculation.
If she had come out immediately “Hillary has pneumonia” maybe it would not be such a big deal.
But the fact that it took them hours to respond that she had been dealing with it for the last couple of days. And the fact that her believability is already quite low and it is in the campaign season, so all weaknesses get pounced on.
It is a difficult job. And we have gotten sort of used to the younger candidate with the last 3 being less than 60.
And considering 3 yrs ago, she fainted, fell, hit her head and got a concussion and ended up with a blood clot, not being forth coming with her current problem, makes for juicy speculations.