Usman Bugaje
21 November 2008
opinion
From then on any discussion between the President and his CIA chief is a discussion between two failing brains, which can explain the monumental scale of the Iran-Contra scandal. The author concluded the chapter with an appeal that, "society as a whole, not just the medical professionals, must accept the ubiquity and inevitability of brain Failure. It has been suggested in the United States that leaders should undergo brain scans. There is a case for such a routine investigation to be directed towards the Good and Great who, without full examination including a brain scan, can be voted or promoted into the most responsible seats of government." (P 59)
Under swings of mood, the author brought up the case of Colonel Oliver North of US Marine Corps attached to National Security Council of the Iran-Contra armed deals investigated by the Tower Commission. Wisner of CIA station in London, the Marcos of Philippines, all of whom suffered from theses bipolar disorders with varying negative consequences. The case of Admiral Richmond Turner who, in the early forties, caused the US "one of the worst defeats in United States naval history" (P 78) and who later shot himself, was also discussed. Competitive and stressful ways of life were shown to affect the health of many people in power. The case of General Wheeler who became Chief of Staff, US army in 1962 and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1964. The increasing commitment of US forces abroad and at home under Johnson took its toll and failings were soon obvious with their consequences. Similarly, the case of the German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who took over from Willy Brandt in 1974, and who in 1981 lost consciousness and "was flown with the customary cover diagnosis of a virus infection to Koblenz Military Hospital" (P 94) where he was operated on. Following the treatment, "Schmidt returned to duty in a few days but his memory for recent events was poor although his past recall was unimpaired." (P 95)
The case of Alexander Haig, Regan's overbearing Secretary of State, was significantly different and so were the consequences. Haig came to be called CINC WORLD for his bossy and megalomaniac attitudes. On March 30, 1981, when Regan was lying in hospital, he was reported to have rushed into the white house to tell reporters that in the absence of the Vice President, "as of now I am in control here in the White House." He was oblivious of the Presence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President pro tem of the Senate who take precedence over Secretary of State. Such attitude continued to characterize his short tenure. "On 25 June 1982 Regan gave Haig a letter accepting his letter of resignation which in fact he had neither written nor submitted." (P 96) It was later that Haig's problems were traced to a double by-pass operations he had at Texas Heart Institute, Houston. "Dr Christopher Bass of King's College Hospital, London, has given a professional opinion about the psychological problems which may follow coronary artery by-pass surgery." (P 96) The case of Boris Yeltsin of Russia falls very much in this category. He had earlier been misdiagnosed, being Russian, for alcoholism. His was a combination; "it is not easy to assess whether Yeltsin's behavior and competences are, or were, influenced by valvular heart disease stress or medication; perhaps by one factor, perhaps by medication." (P 99) John Edgar Hoover, the man who dominate the FBI for over three decades and died in office in 1972 aged 72. "Hoover's experience was unrivalled but his disregard for contrary opinions led the Bureau to be involved increasingly with his own prejudices and suspicions, traits that worsened with age. Disproportionate attention was paid, for example, to surveillance of students, black or peace groups and anti-pollution rallies. His bedroom bugging of the young John Kennedy in 1942 and, later, Martin Luther King may have entertained his confidants while inspiring fear that none would be spared." (P 106) This kind of behavior, it is now suggested, may be related to the "minor heart attack in 1958 and his response to suggestions about diet and exercise" which was said to be extreme. (P 106)
The last chapter is appropriately tilled 'So What To Do Now?' In answering this very important question the author was quick, straight forward and precise. He said, "In a country, whose leaders preach democracy and whose people think they live in one, those voted to high office should surely undergo the same medical checks and conform to the same retiring age as the voters. Airline pilots undergo six-monthly official medical checks and face early retirement although an error due to medical or psychological abnormality could at worst cause only a few hundred deaths. It is impossible to compute, and for faithful followers improper to consider, the world-wide casualty list caused by the economic, political or military blunders of a head of state and his associates. Leaders and their close advisers should be in the best possible physical and mental health and not beyond a recognized retirement age, however impressive their record may be. The latter requirement would probably be the most effective." (P 123) The author proceeded to add that "It is significant that in the United States, the health of candidates only became an issue when Senator Thomas Eagleton had to withdraw as the Democrat's vice-presidential candidate in the 1972 election following the revelation that he had twice received electroconvulsive therapy for depression. In February 1976 and 1980 nearly every presidential hopeful agreed to an invitation from Medical World News to submit a current and detailed medical report. Even the president, Gerald R Ford, then aged sixty-three, agreed." (P 123-4) In an earlier chapter the author was even clearer and bolder, when he argued that, "A private citizen is only responsible to himself, his family and a small personal circle. Those in public life, who are disabled, must think or be made to think, beyond their own or their party's ambitions. They often pay lip service to their duty to electorate and country. If they do not turn their pious words into action some mechanism must be employed to remove them from the scene." (P 98)
He admitted that such can only be expected "from the most open society in the Western world and where the press and media benefit from the privilege of a right to investigate and publish." (P 121) It is not only the press, but the civil society has a responsibility. He gave the example of how as far back as 1967 an American organization, The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, received a proposal for a research project entitled 'Stress and the Decision-maker' the concern of this group was that while routine and often meticulous medical examinations are done on the minor decision-makers, the very ones at the top are not subjected to any. "He attributed this to the twin concepts of a 'national myth' and a 'hero myth' which, because of individual needs to maintain them, 'makes such an evaluation of our leadership appear as a threatening and even subversive suggestions." (P 121) The GAP went further to list "some of the problems which should be the target of their investigation: increasing suspicion, irritability and resistance to new ideas, conflicting opinions due to fatigue, and the emergence of the 'inner circle' phenomenon when the leader is surrounded by a small group of devoted men and women. This results in a 'feedback trap' as the circle acquires and in turn reports back to their chief acceptable feelings and attitudes while filtering out unpleasant or critical messages." (P 121-2)
The message of this book is essentially that ailing leaders are more dangerous than many are apt to admit. The significance of the danger is such that measures must be taken to stop them from destroying their country, albeit inadvertently. Some of these measures should include teaching this important subject in Business Schools, Medical Colleges, Staff Colleges, Policy Institutes and Leadership Programs. The import of this message for this country at this point in time cannot be contested. What can be contested is our ability to appreciate it. For here we are, 140 million Nigerians taken hostage by a cabal of who know only how to serve themselves, not their country, our future in the hands of a man whose health is a mystery, and all we do is fold our hands and imagine that some miracle would happen. Our medical professionals have abdicated their professional responsibilities by maintaining sealed lips. We seemed to have lost our courage, lost our sense of responsibility, even our sense of outrage, and have therefore placed our future and that of our children in total jeopardy. Meanwhile governance by secrecy has become a state policy and has been taken to a point where a president cannot come into his own country, where he claimed he had been popularly elected, in day light. He had to come stealthily, in the dark hours of the night. It reminds one of Plato of Greek antiquity when he said, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Indeed, what a tragedy!
Bugaje is National Secretary of the Action Congress (AC). This article is a review by Bugaje of 'Ailing leaders in power 1914-1994' by Hugh L'Etang (London), the Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd, 1995 (Pp 162+vi).
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