Show s Wi His Health By THEODORE IRWIN The President has learned to pace himself He knows when he needs a walk and he will take it between his offices striding from the West Wing to his sitting room office or the Executive Office Building three minutes away After hours the President is apt to unwind at a White House party The Nixons have been busy hosts to approximately 45000 guests a year There have been “evenings of entertainment' (a show followed by champagne and 'dancing) a “Baseball Dinner” (Nixon is an avid sports fan) a “Journalism Dinner an “Arts Dinner” and a “Jazz Dinner” Taking personal interest in planning the parties the President even helps choose the wines Once in a while hell play the piano for his guests a hobby also favored by former President Truman His sleep at night is generally sound and lasts six or seven hours He usually wakes about 6:45 is The main Nixon tension-break- the week and on weekends he practiced on the White House lawn He also enjoyed long golfing vacations in Augusta Ga and Denver Walking was Harry Truman’s sole form of exercise He'd take a constitutional early each morning after waking at 5:30 Striding for two miles along the Capital streets at the old infantry pace of 120 steps a minute he would generally leave newsmen and friends puffing in his wake President Johnson did not have any routine of regular exercise when he was in the White House He was an excellent horseman but rode only occasionally at his Texas ranch He would sometimes paddle about in the White House pool but he did it while keeping his eyeglasses on and conferring with aides Richard Nixon has had ample warnings of the health pitfalls inherent in his periodic release from the Washington turmoil when he heads for a week- end at Camp David and longer stays at Key Biscayne in Florida and the Western White House at San Clemente California The changes of scene and pace recharge his mental and physical batteries 'if' '! : er I rv Tfc yiv - jr V‘w r" "' 1 ' rf LrV v--- Like a medical watchdog the husky Doctor Tkach keeps an ever alert and penetrating eye on the President's health The Doctor's role is highly sensitive AI he just cant tell the President the off rest recently remarked “to take of the day and go to bed My job is to keep him on the job within reasonable limits and I set those limits according to the situation I have been extremely careful in what I give him There must be nothing that could dull his thinking or slow his mental responses This rules out strong antihistamines hypnotics or analgesics” Doctor Tkach describes the President as a cooperative patient one who will tell the Doctor when he isnt feeling well and will readily obey the Doctor's orders g President Nixons habits differ markedly from those favored by his predecessors John F Kennedy particularly loved sailing and was ll also a fanatic until his back ailment ended his participation in that sport He did his swimming in the heated pool of the White House usually before lunch and after dinner Dwight Eisenhower was of course associated with the sport of golf During - s-- f’V-- v 1 j v ’TV 7 low-key- ed The President seen here behind mass of work at White House office is aware of need to keep himself fit At left he casts off line from boat ' while vacationing in Key Biscayne Fla is known to cause mood changes alter- ing a negative personality to one that is euphoric and optimistic was very The impact of marked in the case of FDR After suffering a series of “little strokes” he wa$ approaching death in 1945 when he took part in the fateful decisions at the Yalta Conference that affected the shape of the postwar world President Woodrow Wilson under the devastating strain of World War I was by a stroke for 17 months His deterioration was later ill-hea- brain-damag- physical-conditionin- lth ed termed an “international disaster” touch-footba- his job He is very cognizant of the toll the Commander-in-Chirole has exacted in the past He knows better than ef most men that almost any illness or adverse health condition that reduces the vitality of a President may have a pro found or subtle influence on history Did LBJ’s operations affect his decisions on Vietnam? Economists have blamed the recession of 1957-5- 9 partly on the uncertainty over Ike's health Consider JFK: he took cortisone which These and similar lessons of history are familiar to Richard Nixon When he was serving as Vice President under Ike he remarked that the cares of the Presidency were “eroding Now as he runs in place those 400 steps each morning he is fully aware of how vital it is to the nation that he keep in the best of health 7 V |