Trump would not be the first American president to suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's disease. On November 5, 1994, Ronald Reagan handwrote a letter to the American people stating that he was suffering from Alzheimer's. But some historical accounts strongly suggest that Reagan, as may currently be the case with Trump, had the disease while in office. In his book, "My Father at 100," Reagan's son, Ron Reagan, asserts that his father was first suspected of having Alzheimer's during his third year in office. In 1993, a year before Reagan announced his Alzheimer's diagnosis to the public, Reagan gave former President Richard Nixon a private tour of the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California. Reportedly, Nixon later told advisers that Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's. When the aides expressed astonishment, Nixon is said to have replied that he was told Reagan had the debilitating disease while president.
On October 2, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke. Wilson's wife, Edith Galt Wilson, and White House aides kept Wilson's mental and physical impairment a secret from the congressional leadership, and even from Vice President Thomas Marshall, who should have become president. However, there was no 25th Amendment to deal with presidential incapacitation. Essentially, until March 1921 and the end of Wilson's second term, the First Lady, Mrs. Galt Wilson, was the de facto president of the United States.
Not all cases of dementia have been fraught with disastrous after-effects. Had it not been for the "Madness of King George (III)" of England, who, in reality, suffered from dementia and not insanity, the American War of Independence may have never been fought.
History, however, instructs us that leaders suffering from dementia/Alzheimer's, who are permitted to remain in office with their mental impairment, generally bring disastrous consequences upon their nations.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).