What killed George Washington?
There is no question that Washington suffered a sore throat. It started Dec. 13, 1799, the day after he had made a tour of his Mount Vernon, Va., estate in a freezing rain. But the took nothing for it, since, according to his secretary Tobias Lear, the general was always averse to nursing himself for minor complaints. Early the following day Washington’s throat worsened. Breathing became difficult and swallowing was painful. At daybreak, the estate overseer was summoned to bleed Washington. Bleeding was a common medical practice of the day, performed by lay persons as well as physicians. Washington was given a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter, but he could not swallow it. Applications of poultices and soaking the feet were of no help. In the course of the day, three physicians were summoned to Mount Vernon. Their initial diagnosis was “inflammatory quinsy,” and their only treatment was bleeding. The youngest of the medical trio proposed performing an immediate tracheostomy–cutt
