THE PRESIDENCY: What a Bellyache!

In Operating Room 6 of Walter Reed General Hospital, a massive, bowl-shaped lamp bathed the operating table in its shadowless glare. Bending over the table with hawklike attentiveness were the four surgeons in their blue-green gowns, white skullcaps and masks, tersely and softly directing a team of 20 physicians, nurses and technicians. On the table, his breathing regular as he fell into a deep sleep, lay Dwight David Eisenhower, 65, 34th President of the U.S., undergoing major surgery to relieve an obstruction of the small intestine. Nearly two hours later, with a...

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