These Presidents And World Leaders Hid Their Health Problems

Konstantin Chernenko Led The Soviet Union For Just Three Months Before Passing

Photo Credit: Régis BOSSU/Sygma via Getty Images

Konstantin Chernenko was a Soviet politician who served as the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party. A heavy smoker since he was nine years old, Chernenko wasn’t exactly the picture of perfect health. He had emphysema and right-side heart failure and was absent from his duties for three months due to bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia.

Despite concerns over Chernenko’s health, he replaced Yuri Andropov as the leader of the Soviet Union in February 1984. He died just three months later from a combination of chronic emphysema, congestive heart failure, and cirrhosis of the liver.