Past Presidents’ Physicals: What We Know So Far

CNN looked at old reports from physical exams of former presidents. These reports usually include basic information like height, weight, and blood pressure. But they also include details like how Obama’s doctor removed a skin tag, how George H. W. Bush’s doctor drained a cyst on his finger, and how Gerald Ford’s doctor pushed for a swimming pool at the White House.

Presidential candidates aren’t required to share the results of their medical exam, but Jackson did so during a meeting on Tuesday and said on Friday that Trump was in “excellent health.”

Here is a look at how healthy past leaders were based on the exams they had.

In July 1976, Ford had another physical. During this visit, his doctor said, “He has had no complaints … other than mild discomfort in his knee following periods of prolonged standing. The President has maintained his physical capacity for long working hours. He sleeps very well and continues to follow his diet and weighs between 195 and 198 pounds.”

Ford’s doctor wrote in 1975 that “the completion of the new White House swimming pool will provide him with short intervals for relaxation that can easily be fitted into his busy schedule.”

“I would like to take the time to acknowledge those citizens who, by their contributions, make a swimming pool available for the President in the White House,” Dr. William Lukash said at a press meeting in January 1976. “I might add that the President was reluctant to use the pool during the winter months because of his concern about energy conservation. I spoke to him about this and felt it was to his advantage to have the use of this pool because I thought it would be an improvement in his sense of well-being and make him more conducive to his feeling better the next day. … The President swims approximately 24 lengths of the pool, which adds up to about a quarter of a mile, and he does this in about 14 minutes.”

Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989

Bush’s press assistant said in a statement that a “sebaceous cyst on the third finger of his left hand was drained. The President is wearing a Band-Aid on the finger, which he can remove within the next few hours. This cyst has been present for many years and does not present a medical problem.”

“In excellent health,” Reagan was told by the White House physician after being checked out by 14 experts in October 1981. Notably, he said that the president had “fully recovered” from the gunshot wounds he got in March 1981 during an attempt on his life.

Related Posts

The Final Beat: Rob Hirst’s Life in Music, Protest, and the Australian Ocean

Revered Midnight Oil co-founder and iconic drummer Rob Hirst has died after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving behind an immense legacy. The global music community…

The Dark Line in Shrimp Explained: What It Really Is—and Why Cooks Argue About Removing It

That dark streak isn’t a vein at all, but the shrimp’s digestive tract—its intestine, often filled with whatever it ate: algae, plankton, and tiny particles from its…

Fetterman, Other Dems Break Ranks On Shutdown: ‘Sends Wrong Message’

Fetterman’s defiance slices straight through the usual party script. By backing a Republican stopgap bill, he signaled that keeping the government open matters more than scoring ideological…

G.W. Bush Teams With Democrats To Denounce Trump’s USAID Cuts

The quiet alliance between George W. Bush and Barack Obama over USAID is less about nostalgia and more about a brutal reckoning with what America chooses to…

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel under fire again

Kimmel’s latest monologue unfolded like a political thriller disguised as comedy. From 6,000 miles away, Trump’s allies at the FCC invoked an 80‑year‑old “equal opportunities” rule, signaling…

New Approval Ratings Reveal How Americans Really Feel About Trump’s Second Term

Trump’s second term has become a clash between spectacle and sentiment, between what is proclaimed from the podium and what people actually feel in their lives. He…