alternatehistory.com

Nov. 15, 1968
November 15, 1968

Humphrey announces he has cancer

Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic candidate for President, announced today that he has bladder cancer. [1][2] Humphrey’s cancer announcement came as a shock to many, as he seemed to be in excellent health, though rumors about his health have been swirling since his bouts with the flu in July and September. [3] Humphrey will undergo the removal of his bladder next week, followed by a round of aggressive chemotherapy treatment. [4]

Messages of sympathy have poured in for Mr. Humphrey from politicians and voters alike. But not everyone in Congress expressed sympathy for Mr. Humphrey. Republicans were outraged, and accused Humphrey of hiding his condition from the public. Several members said that electors should not choose a man who may not live to see his own inauguration. Despite the controversy, Humphrey’s defenders claim that his health status is his own personal business and did not need to be disclosed to the public. They state that with advances in medicine, cancer is no longer a death sentence, and are optimistic about Humphrey's prognosis.

[1] In OTL, Humphrey died of bladder cancer in 1978, but a tumor had been found on his bladder as early as 1967: https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2011/05/final-chapter-hubert-humphrey-returns-public-life/

[2] You may recall at the very beginning of the TL I mentioned that Humphrey was staying at a motel only a few miles from Fermi at the time of the accident. Maybe this is a little ASB, but it’s plausible that Humphrey’s visit could have led to an advancement of his cancer, which in OTL eventually killed him in 1978. Interestingly, there is evidence that the incidence of bladder cancer increased in Ukraine after Chernobyl: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15010889

[3] Humphrey really was sick with the flu in July in both OTL and ATL, but in September in ATL he was actually receiving radiation treatment during the three weeks he was “sick”. The public was kept unaware of this.

[4] In OTL, starting in 1972, Humphrey was treated with an anti-cancer drug, and in 1973 he had radiation treatment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/08/19/humphreys-cancer-is-inoperable
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