By the time the next president of the United States is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017, he or she will have reached or come close to reaching 70 years old.
Yet, in spite of the stakes for the American people, there is no independent source that can provide an adequate accounting of the medical condition of the next president.
Historians have examined the ways that previous administrations have been affected by the medical problems of presidents including Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, LBJ and Ronald Reagan. The news has not always been positive.
So what have we done to help independently vet those who would lead the most powerful nation on earth? Nothing.
Currently the candidates release information produced by their own doctors, entirely at their discretion.
Aren't voters owed an independent accounting?
What about their physical capacity for the job?
Our system invests so much authority in a single individual as head of state, chief executive of the federal government and commander in chief that the ways in which any medical conditions might affect performance must be explored by a process that doesn't allow for self-censorship.
An independent examination by a panel of physicians would at least provide voters with some trustworthy information. The results might influence not only the voters' thinking but also the selection of a vice president whose "heartbeat away" status might become much more intensely apparent.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...on-president-perspec-0518-20160517-story.html