Opinion: RFK Jr.’s brain worm reignites this perennial debate

Editor’s Note: Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author and editor of 25 books, including the New York Times best-seller, “Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends About Our Past” (Basic Books). Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

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News that third-party presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. suffered from a parasitic worm in his brain prompted a wide range of responses this week — from shock to disbelief — in what has already been one of the most unusual presidential races in recent history. But more important than the details of the parasite was the conversation it sparked about presidents and health. Kennedy, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump should all disclose their health records. 

Some of Kennedy’s health issues were revealed in a 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings from his second wife, and while his campaign declined to share his health records, the presidential candidate provided more details to The New York Times and in the podcast “Pushing the Limits with Brian Shapiro” this week. Kennedy said he had recovered from the brain fog and memory loss brought on by the parasite, as well as a bout of mercury poisoning he said occurred around the same time, with his spokesperson brushing off questions about whether his health issues could compromise his fitness for the presidency.

While the two major candidates have not released extensive health records this campaign cycle, a six-page summary from the White House in February concluded Biden is “fit for duty.” Trump’s doctor released a three-paragraph statement in November saying he was in “excellent health.”

Many critics claim this is not enough. The majority of voters think both Biden and Trump are too old for another term, and there are always concerns that the physicians signing off on these statements are more eager to protect the public image of the candidate than to share the full and unvarnished truth about how that person is doing.

There is no requirement for disclosing a candidate’s health records in the Constitution. Nor are there any other legal requirements that candidates running for the highest office in the land need to share this information. In the second half of the 20th century, however, candidates have set a precedent of doing so, gradually succumbing to the pressure to provide a greater amount of information to voters. This has been a positive development, and one that the 2024 presidential candidates should continue. 

Some of the pressure came from the realization that many past presidents suffered serious conditions without ever telling the public. President Chester A. Arthur never disclosed that he had Bright’s disease, a kidney condition, during his bid for the Republican nomination in 1884. President Woodrow Wilson famously suffered a debilitating stroke in 1919 that affected him for the rest of his presidency. In 1944, the physician Frank Lahey produced a dire secret memo after examining Franklin Roosevelt, predicting that the president, who suffered from severe heart problems, would not make it through another term (Roosevelt ended up dying of a cerebral hemorrhage just 11 weeks into his fourth term). In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower downplayed the severity of a heart attack. And the list goes on.

Occasionally, when candidates were forced to publicly contend with their health issues, they became the source of scandal and controversy. This was the case with Sen. Thomas Eagleton, Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern’s running mate when he challenged President Richard Nixon in 1972. Revelations that Eagleton had undergone shock treatment for depression, which he had not…