A habitual cigar-smoker, Cleveland developed oral cancer requiring immediate surgery in the summer of 1893. The president insisted the surgery be kept secret to avoid another panic on Wall Street. While on a yacht in New York Harbor that summer, Cleveland had part of his upper jaw removed and replaced with an artificial device in an operation that left no outward scar. The cancer surgery remained secret for another quarter century. Cleveland's aides explained that he had merely had dental work. His vice president little realized how close he came to the presidency that summer.
A habitual cigar-smoker, Cleveland developed oral cancer requiring immediate surgery in the summer of 1893. The president insisted the surgery be kept secret to avoid another panic on Wall Street. While on a yacht in New York Harbor that summer, Cleveland had part of his upper jaw removed and replaced with an artificial device in an operation that left no outward scar. The cancer surgery remained secret for another quarter century. Cleveland's aides explained that he had merely had dental work. His vice president little realized how close he came to the presidency that summer.