Janet Travell became the country's first female presidential physician on this day in 1961. She had already worked with President John F. Kennedy for five years before her appointment. Travell was recognized as a leading expert in the treatment of chronic myofascial pain, even pioneering the concept of an ergonomic chair. Kennedy had been experiencing such myofascial pain in his back for years. She was also instrumental in helping to cover up the president's affliction with Addison's disease.
The revelation that the president had Addison's, which prevents adrenal glands from producing hormones, could have sunk his political career due to its severe side effects that included muscle weakness, fatigue, and chronic infections, among other major health issues. Kennedy was first diagnosed with the disease in 1947 and had even received two back surgeries in secret. They hadn't worked, though, and during his term Travell prescribed the president phenobarbital, librium, meprobamate, codeine, demerol, and methadone. She also recommended several other interventions like the use of orthopedic shoes. When Lyndon B. Johnson leaked the Addison's diagnosis to the press during a bare-knuckled Democratic primary in 1960, Travell falsely stated publicly that Kennedy had never had the condition.
Despite their interpersonal issues, Johnson went on to serve as vice president under Kennedy when he became president in 1961. Ironically, Travell would go on to work with LBJ when he became president after Kennedy's assassination.
You can learn more about Travell in this essay by her daughter Virginia Wilson.
