Grover Cleveland he has been the only President of the United States who served two non-consecutive terms:1885–1889 and 1893–1897. Regardless of his decisions, he was considered an honest politician whose motto was “ I only have one thing to do, and that is to do the right thing ”. In June 1893, a very advanced tumor was discovered on his palate. After studying all the alternatives, and even at the risk of a possible stroke and even not surviving the operation, it was decided to remove the tumor.
Grover Cleveland
Cleveland accepted... but on one condition:the intervention would be done in secret. The United States was recovering from economic decline (Panic of 1893 ) and thought that if news of his intervention leaked it would affect Wall Street. So, for the good of the American economy, six doctors boarded the yacht Oneida , owned by his friend Elias C. Benedict , to intervene on the high seas. After 90 minutes of intervention, the tumor and five molars were removed without any external sign that would reveal the clandestine intervention. A month later, and with a rubber prosthesis that covered the hole, Grover Cleveland appeared at the White House after a “terrible toothache ”.
On August 29, in The Philadelphia Press an article appeared, signed by Elisha Jay Edwards , correspondent of the newspaper in New York, in which the serious illness of the President was reported. Rumors of the intervention had circulated but no one had dared to publish anything for fear that it could have dire consequences for the country's economy... until Edwards found the anesthetist Ferdinand Hasbrouck and confirmed the news. The White House machinery went into overdrive and launched a brutal campaign to discredit the journalist. Edwards's career was ruined and it was even published that she was an embarrassment to journalism. For 15 years nobody dared to hire him…
In 1917, nine years after Cleveland's death, after many years of struggling with his conscience and after having witnessed the journalist's lynching, Dr. W.W. Keen , one of the surgeons who intervened in the operation, decided to tell the truth. He made it public in an article published in The Saturday Evening Post hoping to rehabilitate Edwards' name and work. He wrote a letter to the doctor thanking him for rehabilitating his reputation. Edwards did his job… but at a very high price.
What would you have done?
Originally Posted in Control Session