How Hugh Hampton Young's treatment of President Woodrow Wilson's urinary retention and urosepsis affected the resolution of World War I.

Abstract

President Woodrow Wilson was never able to gain ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace accord to end World War I. Before he could convince the American people of the importance of ratification, Wilson suffered a stroke followed by life threatening urinary sepsis due to urinary retention, and was treated by the father of modern urology, Hugh Hampton Young. The effects of these health problems are examined in the context of their implications on international affairs. Biographical sources and primary documentation of Wilson's physicians were reviewed to determine the effect of Wilson's stroke on his voiding habits. Hugh Hampton Young's evaluation and decision making is examined in depth. In the fall of 1919 President Wilson was recovering from a stroke. Shortly after the stroke his preexisting voiding dysfunction progressed to urinary retention from which urinary sepsis developed. Hugh Hampton Young advised on Wilson's case and counseled patience over surgery. The President began voiding spontaneously and recovered from sepsis. The illness left him severely weakened and unable to mount an aggressive campaign to persuade the U.S. Senate of the importance of ratifying the Treaty of Versailles. His personal physician, Admiral Cary T. Grayson, stated that the President was mentally never the same after the sepsis. Wilson's voiding dysfunction contributed to his inability to win approval for the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. As a result, the United States returned to a policy of isolationism and Europe plunged into 2 decades of upheaval, leading to World War II.