Did George Washington’s Doctors Kill Him?

If not, they certainly made him suffer

Washington on his deathbed (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1799, George Washington was enjoying his retirement on his estate at Mt. Vernon, Virginia. He had been out of the presidency for two years, although he still technically held the title of Commanding General of the Army and Chancellor of the College of William and Mary. He was immensely popular and incredibly important as both the first president and the man who set a precedent for a peaceful transfer of power at the end of two terms. Washington was, and is, a titan of American society, but that didn’t save him from his doctors.

While out on his horse in December, 1799, Washington came down with something. It was wet and cold; people encouraged him to change out of his damp clothes, but he didn’t, because he didn’t want to be late for dinner — he had always been a punctual and stoic man. Washington woke the next morning with a cough and a sore throat, but that didn’t slow down the hero of Valley Forge. He went about his business, supervising the slaves and hired workers on the plantation. Washington paid the price for his stubbornness, waking up at two in the morning on the 14th, quite hoarse and short of breath.

So far, this was an unpleasant illness but possibly not a deadly one. Nobody knows exactly what he caught that December, but modern doctors’…