Sept. 19, Anniversary of death of President Garfield

Today, The New York Times historical front page is from Sept. 20, 1881, the day after President James Garfield succumbed to the gun shot wounds inflicted on July 2, 1881, by an attorney who failed to get patronage job.

It caused me to reflect that the Presidents elected in 2o year intervals have died in office or been grievously wounded in gunshots.

1840 -- William Henry Harrison, died
1860 -- Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in second term
1880 -- James Garfield, assassinated
1900 -- William McKinley, assassinated
1920 -- Warren Harding, died in office
1940 -- Franklin Roosevelt, died in office
1960 -- John F. Kennedy, assassinated
1980 -- Ronald Reagan, survived attempted assassination

Let us pray that President Bush, who was elected in 2000, remains healthy and the Secret Service safely protects him. It would be a terrible tragedy if he were killed, by an act of violence, or a bicycle mishap, or anything else. His death in office would be terribly destabilizing -- whether he were succeeded by Vice President Dick Cheney or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If through a terrorist act the President and Vice President were both killed, given the political suspicion and mistrust that pervades the nation, many are likely to charge that the act was motivated to bring a Democrat to the White House.

The crime would be just terrible for the nation.

Mental Illness -- the tension between diagnosis and treatment

Sally Satel has a very illuminating, non-polemical op-ed in The New York Times today.

Taking off on the revision of the DSM by a DSM-V due to come out in five years, she notes that we still know very little about the causes of mental illness.

She points out that a lot of treatment is directed at the symptom rather than an certain underlying condition.

If you think about the role of mental illness in our society -- and who does not? -- this is a very thought provoking little essay.