6E0 4-
213 THE N
Y ORK 2'Ji ?i S
State of Nixon's Health, a Dimension of
t Because of the extraordinary But the reverberations have tion 3 of the 25th Amendment
;interest in the state of Mr. continued.
which says:
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3—"AsiNixon's mind and in his ac- In last week's issue of News- ". . • Whenever the President
long as I am physically able ..."?tions under stress, the White week magazine, the following transmits to the President pro
This
seemingly
innocuouslHouse has become ultrasensi- item appeared in the Periscope tempore of the Senate and the
phrase, used by President Nix-i, tive to
Speaker of the House of Repany interpretation of column:
on recently when insisting he; the President's behavior that "President Nixon's attack of resentatives his written decla.
would stay in office, probably! • ,
ability viral pneumonia, which put him ration that he is unable to diswould not have caused a ripplei to 'r.govern.doubt
And
this,
in turn, into Bethesda Naval Hospital charge the powers and duties
of interest a year ago. But inks shaping what Mr. Nixon
does for nine days in July, was more of hise office, and until he
the current climate of tension 1
serious than White House bul- transmits to them a written
and suspicion brought by the'and says.
His current Operation Can- letins indicated. A top official declaration to the contrary,
Watergate disclosures, it has dor,
in which he has met with recalls that Mr. Nixon was such powers and duties shall
aroused a new round of ques- Congressmen
and Governors to coughing blood before going to be discharged by the Vice Prestions and speculation about the discuss his Watergate
probPresident's physical and mental 'ems, was designed partly to Bethesda and that his condition ident as acting President."
'scared hell' out of his White That Mr. Nixon has given
state.
demonstrate that he was not House visitor."
any thought to declaring that
For some time, Mr. Nixon's suffering impairment from the Reports that the President's he was .physically unable to
health and morale, and the momonths of pressure he has
illness was worse than reported carry out his duties as Prestives behind his words and ac- undergone.
have been circulated by offi- ident and at the same time detions, have been a topic at Reaction to his "physically cials in the White House over fend himself against the
Washington social gatherings, able" statements demonstrates a period of several months. Ac- charges against him appeared
.in conversations on Capitol the difficulty he faces in allay- cording to medical reports to be pure speculation. But it
: Hill, in the departments
and ing suspicions.
made public at the time, the is an example of the kind of
even in a number of White
He first used the phrase on President had made a full re- thinking that occupies people
House offices.
Nov. 6, as an addendum to a covery. But some of his as- in Washington these days.
Theconsistently
President's spokesmen nationally televised talk on en- sistants have expressed concern Some members of Congress
have
described his ergy, saying he had no intenthat President Nixon might have been consulting medical
health as good since he recovered from a bout of viral pneu- tion of resigning and declaring have gone back to a full work authorities on their opinions as
that "as long as I am physically schedule too soon after leaving to Mr. Nixon's health and on
monia last July.
able, I am going to continue the hospital and thus was under the possibility that the PresiImpact on Events
to work 16 to 18 hours a day" an undue strain in the weeks dent's decision-making ability
Every move the President to carry out the duties of the that followed.
might be impaired in the
makes in public is watched for office.
months ahead. Under the 25th
Loophole Suspected
clues as to his latest behavior Mr. Nixon repeated the
Amendment, Congress has the
patterns. Books and articles, phrase in his televised appear- It was during that period that ultimate responsibility of decidsome shoddy and irresponsible, ance before the Associated Mr. Nixon publicly shoved Mr. ing if a President is disabled.
are coming off the press pur- Press Managing Editors Asso- Ziegler in New Orleans, slurred Dr. Walter Tkach, Mr. Nixon's
porting to psychoanalyze him. ciation in Florida on Nov. 17. his words in addresses and on personal physician, once de• 'A nationally prominent psychia- He also said, "I am relatively occasions showed a shortness scribed him as "one of the
trist who has warned of the healthy at the present time." of temper.
healthiest Presidents in hisdangers of any effort to probe His two closest assistants, In Congress and elsewhere, tory." Mr. Nixon himself has
a President's psyche on the Alexander M. Haig Jr. and however, skepticism of the reinforced this view. In aninbasis of his public appearances Ronald L. Ziegler, said in sire- White House runs so deep that terview last December, he said,
said that nevertheless Mr. Nix- sponse to questions that the there is a belief that the Presi- "I've been blessed with a strong
on's health was a topic of fre- President's use of the phrase dent's reference to his physical physical makeup. I never had a
quent discussions among his had had no particular meaning limitations and the reports headache in my life, and my
fellow psychiatrists,
and did not imply any deteriora- about his health are designed stomach never bothers me." It
All of this is a dimension don of Mr. Nixon's health. to give him a loophole in the is important, he said, "to live
of the Watergate affair that Nevertheless they advised him declarations that he will con- like a Spartan."
has received little attention in to stop using it, and when he tinue in office.
Throughout his Watergate
the major news media, because addressed the International Sea- There has been speculation troubles, Mr. Nixon's spokesof a dearth of information farer's Union here Nov. 26, by some in Congress that after men have charged that rumors
about the President's mood and again declaring his intention to Gerald R. Ford is, as epected, about the mental strain on the
the delicacy of the subject. But stay on as President, he made confirmed as Vice President, President were "simply unit has had an- impact on events. no mention of his health.
Mr. Nixon might activate Sec- founded" and denied that he
By JOHN HERBERS
Special to The New York Times
•
, TUESDAY, D •
4, 1973
Watergate Affair Constantly Being Gauged
`.has been under the care of a Congress thought was over- times his face appears a little Some Nixon observers insist
'psychiatrist or psychologist or emphasized by the President; puffy, that he frequently stum- that in almost all ways the
that he takes medication, regu- the confusion within the Ad- bles over his words, that his President was only being himministration over the energy physical - gestures sometimes self. Bruce Mazlich, professor
larly.
Several factors, however, shortage.
seem too animated and jerky, of history at the Massachuhave given rise to the specu- Another factor is the Presii- that his tendency to ramble setts Institute of Technology
dent's appearance and personal has increased, and that his dis- who is author of"In Search
lation and keep it boiling.
One is continuous accusa- behavior. Here there is ambi- plays of good spirit and hu- of Nixon," wrote recently that
tions from persons in high guity that feeds the talk. Ever mor seem like artificial gaiety Mr. Nixon's "pattern of beplaces that some of Mr. Nix- since the Watergate disclosures and that in unguarded moments havior is consistent and staon's decisions are irrational. began on a large scale in April, he seems unduly irritated and ble," that all of the traits he
After he dismissed the special Mr. Nixon has alternated be- fatigued.
exhibited under pressure this
Watergate prosecutor, Archi- tween periods of secluded Some 'of his actions are cited year had been demonstrated
bald Cox, Representative B. F. brooding and bursts of public both as signs of deterioration earlier in his career.
Sisk, a conservative Democrat appearances.
and of normality, depending on Some of the greater signs
of California, said publicly He usually looks better in the point of view being argued of stress have been seen, not
what many in Congress were person than he does on tele- —his private bursts of anger in the President himself, but in
saying privately — that the vision. Some of the Senators, at his critics; his shoving of his staff. Mr. Haig, J. Fred BuzPresident's "actions raise real Representatives Governors and Mr. Ziegler in public in New hardt Jr., Mr. Nixon's Waterquestions to me of whether or others who have seen Mr. Nix- Orleans last summer; his dis- gate counsel, and others have
not he's thinking straight."
on in his recent round of dis- trust of the special prosecu- appeared extraordinarily fatiGeorge Meany, president of c ussions have expressed sur- tor's office; his restlessness that gued from time to time. The
the American Federation of La- prise 'that he looked so well has kept him moving constant- White House's handling of the
bor and Congress of Industrial and seemed so self-confident, ly to his Camp David retreat Watergate tapes and other matOrganizations, put it more considering the circumstances. in Maryland or his Florida and inept by some in the White
bluntly, charging dangerous Some believe that Mr. Nixon California homes; his difficulty House that they concede a
emotional instability of the has been subjected to more in getting out of bed some significant deterioration in the
President. The White House personal stress this year than mornings and his playing the way the institution functions.
called the charge "incredible, any previous President, with piano alone late at night, hab- But the talk in Washington
inexcusable and irresponsible." the possible exception of Lincoln its that Julie Eisenhower re- continues to be centered on
cently 'attributed to her father, Richard M. Nixon and the state
in the Civil War.
Richardson Comment
Others, however, note at in the course of defending him. of his health.
Former Attorney General El
liot L. Richardson said one
reason for negotiating the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew as
Vice President, to make way
for a new Vice President not
under criminal . charges, was
that Mr. Nixon had "showed
a considerable sense of strain"
at mid-summer. This remark
raised in political circles the
question of how long he could
continue to govern. The White
House responded that the President was in firm control in
all matters.
Every time talk of the President's health has begun to subside, some new White House
action has revived it — the
series of disclosures of missing
conversations from the Watergate tapes recordings; the alert
of American forces in the Mid, dle East crisis, which some in