Maxillary Prosthetics, Speech Impairment, and Presidential Politics: How Grover Cleveland Was Able to Speak Normally after His “Secret” Operation

In the summer of 1893, President Grover Cleveland discovered a mass on the roof of his mouth. Two physicians examined it, determined that it was a neoplasm, and recommended resection. In an effort to avoid revealing the illness to the public, the President and his doctors boarded a yacht on July 1 1893, where the surgeons resected the affected portion of his maxilla and several teeth under an ether anesthetic. Afterward, Kasson C. Gibson, a New York dentist, created a rubber obturator, which was placed in the surgical defect in the maxilla and restored the President's facial contour and speech. Due to the precise reconstruction with the rubber appliance crafted by Gibson, the President lived the rest of his public life without facial or speech abnormality. This article will review the details of the work of Kasson Gibson and the President's maxillary prosthesis.

The Clandestine Operations Performed on President Grover Cleveland and the Rationale for Surgical Secrecy

The 1893 operations to remove a maxillofacial tumor from President Grover Cleveland aboard a private yacht remained a secret until long after his unrelated death from heart disease. Many historical studies have suggested that Cleveland kept his health and surgical care confidential because of the fragility of the economy during the Panic of 1893. Although that observation is true, it does not fully address the underlying reason for why the public would react poorly to news about an operation on the president. The death of Ulysses S. Grant eight years prior unearthed the denial, stigma, and fear of cancer felt by many Americans. Despite revolutionary 19th century advances in anesthesia, pathology, and surgery, the social history of “cancerphobia” ran deep.

A Recognized and Respected Part of the Body Politic

This chapter documents the aftermath of Butler’s defeat for reelection in 1883. Butler’s supporters and a growing group of black independents backed Grover Cleveland for president of the United States. They hoped that Cleveland’s election would inaugurate a national black commitment to political independence and push the national Democratic Party towards a pro-civil rights agenda. Black Bostonians worked with like-minded activists in other states to leverage black political power towards recognition from the Cleveland administration. Despite some success, the limited gains in black rights during the Cleveland administration illuminated the limits of siding with the Democratic Party.