The oral surgical operations of Grover Cleveland: A presidential cover-up

Abstract

Stephen Grover Cleveland was known as one of America's great Presidents, leading the nation during a year of severe financial disarray, known as the Panic of 1893. The world's gold standard was in ruin and banks throughout America were closing; the Sherman Silver Act of 1890, enabling Congress to purchase 4½ million ounces of silver bullion per month, threatened to deplete the United States' gold reserve to dangerous levels. In addition to the weight of the nation on his shoulders, Cleveland had a personal health crisis early in the second term of his presidency, a crisis that today would be handled by the oral and maxillofacial surgeon. It was a time for strong leadership from the White House; any knowledge of the President's illness would be disastrous to the world's financial markets. The cover-up of Cleveland' s surgeries would make today's Secret Service proud. On June 18, 1893, Cleveland's physician, Major Robert Martland O'Reilly, was summoned to the Oval Office to examine a rough place on the roof of the President's hard palate. Cleveland stated that this ulcerated area had been present for the previous 4 to 5 weeks. O'Reilly obtained a biopsy of the lesion and sent it to what is now known as the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for evaluation. The following day, he wrote to Dr Joseph Decateur Bryant, a New York City surgeon and friend of the President: