These Presidents And World Leaders Hid Their Health Problems

Woodrow Wilson’s Health Cost Him His Presidency

Photo Credit: Bettmann / Contributor

Woodrow Wilson worked tirelessly during his presidency. He spent months negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and planning for the dawn of the League of Nations. He took on a national speaking tour across the country determined to wage peace and eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts. Despite his accomplishments, Wilson didn’t know when to listen to his body.

As the POTUS, he was constantly exhausted but ignored signs of looming health problems until he suffered a series of strokes. The strokes left him paralyzed on the left side of his body, and he was forced to use a wheelchair. What’s interesting though is that the public had no idea that he was in a wheelchair for quite some time. Once his secret was uncovered, Woodrow had to give up his title due to the 25th Amendment, which states that the Vice President will take power if the president dies, resigns, or becomes disabled.

See how John F. Kennedy kept his life-threatening disease a secret next.