Synopses & Reviews
On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland vanished. He boarded a friends yacht, sailed into the calm blue waters of Long Island Sound, and--poof!--disappeared. He would not be heard from again for five days. What happened during those five days, and in the days and weeks that followed, was so incredible that, even when the truth was finally revealed, many Americans simply would not believe it.
The President Is a Sick Man details an extraordinary but almost unknown chapter in American history: Grover Clevelands secret cancer surgery and the brazen political cover-up by a politician whose most memorable quote was Tell the truth.” When an enterprising reporter named E. J. Edwards exposed the secret operation, Cleveland denied it. The public believed the Honest President,” and Edwards was dismissed as a disgrace to journalism.” The facts concerning the disappearance of Grover Cleveland that summer were so well concealed that even more than a century later a full and fair account has never been published. Until now.
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"[A] breezy, enjoyable book." —Washington Post
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"One of the best non-fiction books of 2011." —PopMatters.com
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"Algeo writes entertainingly, but the themes he develops are serious ones, well worth the attention of serious readers." —History Book Club
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“Matthew Algeos ‘Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was Americas Favorite Spectator Sport (Chicago Review) is one of those books which open up a forgotten world so fully that at first the reader wonders, just a little, if his leg is being pulled.” —The New Yorker
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“Algeo brings to life an inspiring and fascinating account of human endurance from athletes centuries ahead of their time.” —Rory Coleman, International Performance Coach, ULTRA-marathoner and Guinness World Record holder
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"An entertaining biography, step by step, of a diversion in the earliest days of todays sports industry." —Kirkus Reviews
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“This book offers a fascinating take on what was once ‘Americas favorite spectator sport...The overall writing style is captivating and treats its obscure subject matter with zest. Readers interested in lesser-known aspects of American history and tradition will be fascinated with the stories of the major players of this oft-forgotten pastime.” —Library Journal
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“Algeo’s mastery of the time period and his approachable writing style turn an obscure pocket of sports history into an interesting weekend read.” —Chicago Book Review
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Riveting and engrossing as the best detective novel, The President Is a Sick Man is an exceedingly well-documented and overdue account of one of the great presidential cover-ups of all time.” James McGrath Morris, author of Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power
Synopsis
An extraordinary yet almost unknown chapter in American history is revealed in this extensively researched expos . On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland boarded a friend's yacht and was not heard from for five days. During that time, a team of doctors removed a cancerous tumor from the president's palate along with much of his upper jaw. When an enterprising reporter named E. J. Edwards exposed the secret operation, Cleveland denied it and Edwards was consequently dismissed as a disgrace to journalism. Twenty-four years later, one of the president's doctors finally revealed the incredible truth, but many Americans simply would not believe it. After all, Grover Cleveland's political career was built upon honesty--his most memorable quote was "Tell the truth"--so it was nearly impossible to believe he was involved in such a brazen cover-up. This is the first full account of the disappearance of Grover Cleveland during that summer more than a century ago.
Synopsis
An extraordinary yet almost unknown chapter in American history is revealed in this extensively researched exposé. On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland boarded a friends yacht and was not heard from for five days. During that time, a team of doctors removed a cancerous tumor from the presidents palate along with much of his upper jaw. When an enterprising reporter named E. J. Edwards exposed the secret operation, Cleveland denied it and Edwards was consequently dismissed as a disgrace to journalism. Twenty-four years later, one of the presidents doctors finally revealed the incredible truth, but many Americans simply would not believe it. After all, Grover Clevelands political career was built upon honesty—his most memorable quote was “Tell the truth”—so it was nearly impossible to believe he was involved in such a brazen cover-up. This is the first full account of the disappearance of Grover Cleveland during that summer more than a century ago.
About the Author
Matthew Algeo is a public radio reporter. He is the author of Harry Trumans Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip, which was one of the Washington Posts Best Books of 2009, and Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles--The Steagles”--Saved Pro Football During World War II, which won the 2006 Nelson Ross Award for best pro football historiography.